Power, trauma, tragedy, subtle satire, and what family really is, these are all parts of Netflix’s newest series : Iron Fist.
The series centers around Danny Rand, played by Finn Jones, an orphan whom, after surviving a plane crash that killed his parents, is adopted by a group of warrior monks and becomes the greatest warrior of their culture, The Iron Fist.
Appropriation, but not like ya think
One of the biggest controversies surrounding the series has been the fact that the lead character, who has been a white male since the character inception, was cast with a white male. Screams of appropriation, racism, and failed cultural narrative have all been thrown at the series along with white privilege, at the producers, cast, and show staff.
This show does bring up appropriation but not the way that you think. Several times during the series Danny deals with cultural confusion, which is a concept that children who were adopted by a ethnic or racial group other than their own, which leads to his issues of identity. Along with feeling out of sorts as a child of two worlds, he was only ten when the monks took him in, he also deals with the Western appropriation of what he sees as part of his adopted culture. For example, in an episode where he is observing teenage students in a dojo, he becomes frustrated with the kids playing around during training. He uses a shinai stick to slap the feet out from under one of the students. When corrected he asks the question of the dojo’s sensei, “Is this a place to train warriors ?” She responds that it is a safe space for kids with no where to go, although he is bothered by the response, he apologizes and shows proper respect to the sensei.
Several times during the series he uses the expression, ‘where I’m from’, meaning the mystical land of K’un-L’un where he was raised and trained, rather than New York city where he lived until he was ten. To him, NYC is a foreign place, full of everything he lost along with his parents.
YEAH, IT SEEMS BLAND NOW, BUT WAIT
Another big complaint of the series is that Danny Rand seemed bland and boring. Deemed by some critics, who seemed to have watched only the first few episodes, (most admit to only have been issued/watched the first four to six episodes), and did not see the development of the character.
In the first arc of the thirteen episode series, Danny is a delightful mix of warrior monk, naive young man, and compassionate friend to others. So, unlike Daredevil and Jessica Jones, we don’t see that our hero is as messed up as the rest of the Netflix/Marvel heroes. We have to wait to see that the severe psychological trauma of seeing your parents die or that being raised by warrior monks that believe that beating you as part of your training will screw you up . As the series progresses we see more and more that Danny’s mental trauma and anger issues continue to affect his abilities and skills throughout the series.
THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME, MAYBE
Probably the most telling part of this series is the search for family. After losing his parents Danny tries to adopt K’un-L’un as home, and winds up being forced into the role of ‘chosen one’, one he seems not to have really wanted. After returning to the U.S. , he tries to claim his father’s company as home. Trying to find his place amongst The Meechums, family of his father’s business partner Harold Meachum( psychotic undying CEO) played by David Wenham. He tries to be part of of this old extended family but seems to be juggled in and out of play by Joy (conniving business woman and blackmailer) his first love, played as an adult by Jessica Stroup, and Ward, (addict and accomplished liar)an acquaintance and bully to Danny, played as an adult by Tom Pelphrey. Although these are names from the comics the fact that they are also names from happy family sitcoms and kids shows add a subtle layer of satire and subversion once we see how messed up the Meechums really are.
Even when finding a possible mentor and friend in a character called Bakuto, played by Ramon Rodriguez, he winds up in the middle of dealings with the enemy he was sworn to destroy an evil, mystical ninja/drug cartel/terrorist group called The Hand. Antagonist to Daredevil, these bad guys even brought the hurt to the lynchpin of the Marvel/Netflix universe, Nurse Claire Temple.
THANK GOD FOR CLAIRE TEMPLE
Besides being a support system for our heroes through out the Netflix series, Claire has lost her initial shock and awe of these heroes and can now stand toe to toe, emotionally at least, with them. From falling for Luke Cage, and patching up Daredevil, Claire is now at a point where she willing to call our favorite “Living Weapon”, Mister Danny Rand, on the carpet for his stupidity. Grounded, wise and as tough as nails, Claire shows a couple of time that sh can even hold her own in combat and doesn’t shy away from confrontation. When Danny’s psychological issues and anger begin to overwhelm him, Claire’s the one who yanks him back down to ground level.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Throughout the series, Danny becomes a beacon of hope and strength , as well as an object of contention in the run of his story. The fight scenes are reminiscent of old school Kung Fu movies, with many similarities to the fight choreography used in the Daredevil series. Using the same flashback/parallel storytelling templates from the previous Netflix series, is a weak pint at times for the show due to so much done through the filter of Danny’s anger and guilt. It would have been better approached like the meditative memories of David Carradine’s Kwai Chang Caine, rather than anger induced trances/hallucinations. Also, at times the series seemed to tread the line between Netflix’s grittier predecessors and The offerings of The CW comic book TV shows, and this created some of the disparity in the plotlines. Despite the issues the critics had with the series, overall it was a huge hit with the fans, and tried to make Iron Fist relevant without sacrificing it’s background story. Iron Fist was refreshing in that despite the darkness involved there was always some light, a light that cam from an Iron Fist.
Four out of five bunny style hops
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