Netflix's thirteen-episode new drama "Iron Fist," released in March, may seem likely a boring joke to Chinese viewers:
The male protagonist Daniel Rand appears as a disheveled and scruffy image, and as soon as he appears, he violently destroys the conventional rules of order in Western society, and tells his childhood friends about the mysterious and mysterious concept of the East, but he does not have the wisdom of the East, does not know how to compromise at the right time, cannot deal with the relationship between "and" and "with", habitually resorts to force, plays childish fist and foot kung fu, and repeatedly reincarnates between being beaten by the villain and relying on the protagonist's aura to defeat the villain.
In the story, this blonde American young man who has been practicing on a mountain in China for fifteen years is not only regarded as the embodiment of stupidity by other characters with Western backgrounds in the story, but also does not have any sense of "wisdom" in the eyes of real Chinese audiences.
He is like the male protagonist of a domestic rotten romance drama, mistakenly entering the American drama set full of mysterious kung fu, even if there is a divine protective body, such a "Marvel superhero" will inevitably become a sad and ridiculous comedy role.
As a superhero of the Marvel Universe, "Iron Fist" was born in the 1970s and had a brief intersection with the current red-haired Iron Man.
In the comic version, when Daniel Rand was nine years old, he was in an air crash while visiting Kunlun with his father, and Harold Mitcham, who was riding with him, forced Daniel's father, Wendell, and his mother died to protect Daniel.
The Jade Emperor, the leader of the mysterious city of Kunlun, arranged for Daniel to become a disciple of the master "Lei Gong", and Daniel followed the master to learn martial arts, qigong, tai chi and meditation. Ten years later, Daniel returns to New York to seek revenge on Harold.
In the process, Daniel developed compassion for Harold and did not take his life. But shortly after Daniel relented, Harold was murdered by a mysterious ninja organization, and Harold's daughter blamed Daniel for her father's death and took revenge on him.
The web drama version of "Iron Fist" also ends with the end of Harold Mitcham's life and the misunderstanding and confrontation between Joey Mitcham and Daniel as a paragraph, but the plot and comic story are very different.
Like comics, Daniel Rand in the web series is the typical comic book-style hero with a miraculous protective body and huge wealth. Unlike the comics, he had different enemies, different demands, and practiced in Kunlun for five years. Unfortunately, Daniel doesn't seem to have become richer and wiser by prolonging his practice.
The protagonist of the comic returns to the United States to take revenge on a specific person (Harold Mitcham, who forced his father to die), and in the web series, this setting becomes a more ambiguous "hand ensemble" to protect Kunlun and fight evil.
Interestingly, the Chinese dubbing in web dramas does not refer to the villain organization as such, but refers to it as the "mafia". When he first officially appeared, the gang members were armed with axes and dressed in black, resembling the underworld organization in Stephen Chow's films.
In the web series, revenge against Harold is an important part of defeating the Hand Guild. Because "Iron Fist" sets up a hero who is really not smart, the characters associated with it, especially the characters who hinder the hero's achievements, are not very cognitive and intelligent.
Harold's children, Ward and Joey, have a wrong understanding of the world. Against their background, the intelligence of the protagonist Daniel will not appear inferior to ordinary people.
Ward Mitcham, son of the main villain Harold.
In Iron Fist, Harold is like Faust who betrays his soul to the devil, surrenders to the Hand Society, gains eternal power, and can defeat him only daniel, the "Iron Fist" of the Divine Guardian Body. However, the last typical American action fight scene in the play really does not reflect the results of Daniel's cultivation in Kunlun.
In fact, the Chinese kung fu components contained in the entire web drama are concentrated in the silhouette of the opening film. The action scenes look more like mixed martial arts with big jumps and jumping movements, or the kind that fights ugly.
Whether from the aspect of "Tao" or "Skill", "Iron Fist" can hardly be called a "hero" in the eastern sense. The martial arts novelist Jin Yong said that "the great hero is for the country and the people", and the chivalrous should be righteous, but not all those who serve the country and the people can be called "heroes". The "iron fist" in the web drama is not enough, and it is not yet called a "hero".
One of the characteristics of the Marvel Universe is that there are many "heroes", and the "Spider-Man" in English is upgraded to "Spider-Man" in Chinese, called "Iron Man" in English, and is also upgraded to "Iron Man" in Chinese. There are some differences in the process of text translation, just like the tattoo on the chest of the male protagonist Daniel, according to some people's proposals, it can not be called "dragon", but can only be called "tugging root".
In the comic, Daniel fights the immortal dragon "Shou Lao" in Kunlun, and the divine power of the iron fist comes from Shou Lao's heart, and the dragon-shaped pattern on Daniel's chest is also given by Shou Lao. "Divine power" is a reward for "punishing evil and promoting good" in comics, and in web dramas, the death of "Shou Lao" becomes a sacrifice.
Just like the dragon with Western characteristics on Daniel's chest, although the concepts of "Zen", "Qi" and "Five Elements" continue to appear in the entire web drama, in essence, it still shows the East in a imaginary world.
The biggest progress in American film and television works in the past decade is that in the vast and complex Far Eastern imagery, the countries to which these images belong, which elements are Japanese and which elements are Chinese, but how these elements are used and how to use them are still not skilled enough.
In the comics, Kunlun's relationship with the Americans was planted by Daniel's father, Randall; but in the web drama, the most important reason why Kunlun accepted and cultivated Daniel was that Kunlun had the legend of "a great man from heaven", because Daniel who fell to Kunlun in the air crash literally met the requirements of this legend -
The turtle master of the Emerald Palace in "Kung Fu Panda" also uses this as an element to cultivate the protagonist Panda Ah Bao. Unfortunately, Daniel's mind is not as bright as Apolles,' and Daniel's most obvious flash is his fist.
"Striking iron also needs to be hard."
Most American film and television works have the problem of falsification when highlighting Chinese elements, and the acceptable Image of China in mainstream American culture has gradually moved from ambiguity to clarity, from stereotypes to pluralism, but it is still inaccurate and impressionistic.
As a distinctive Chinese film and television genre, Kung Fu film and television works will involve many traditional Chinese cultural elements. The authenticity and purity of tradition affect the audience's sense of identity, and any kind of deformation and transformation may be regarded as a taint.
This is also the biggest dissatisfaction of Chinese audiences when watching purely American-made film and television works such as "Iron Fist": the creators are still facing mainstream American culture, not traditional Chinese culture.
Creators and audiences do not recognize the same "China", and Americans only see the China they want to see.
"Iron Fist" is not at the top of the echelon of Marvel superheroes, and Netflix's resources are also very limited. As far as "Iron Fist" is concerned, the superhero with ties to China can't be like other superheroes in the Marvel Universe, with enough strength and ability to conquer Chinese audiences across the Pacific, making them obsessed with his charm and willing to pay money.