Scifi series apprehension
SyFy ordered a pilot based on Frank Miller's comic Ronin, which is about a samurai from feudal Japan time-travelling to a dystopic near-future New York on a mission to slay the demon who killed his lord.
My first thought? "No way, an Asian main character? Surely they're going to whitewash the samurai somehow!" And you'll never guess: turns out the samurai inhabits someone else's body in NY, namely the body of Billy, "a medical experiment".
I'm going to go out on a limb here and bet the medical experiment in question will be entirely non-Asian - and, in fact, blindingly WASP. Anyone willing to take me up on that bet?
SyFy also ordered pilots for several other scifi shows that fill me with apprehension, including Pax Romana, in which WW3 soldiers travel back to Ancient Rome. That is a set-up just begging for enraging historical ignorance and modern-day chauvinism.
Also, there's an adaptation of Lev Grossman's The Magicians, which actually might be less aggravating in series form. It can hardly be more enraging than the novel.
In conclusion, I am easily enraged by fictional narratives. And I am not sorry.
ETA:
Spoiler warning! There are spoilers for the Frank Miller version of Ronin in the comments.
My first thought? "No way, an Asian main character? Surely they're going to whitewash the samurai somehow!" And you'll never guess: turns out the samurai inhabits someone else's body in NY, namely the body of Billy, "a medical experiment".
I'm going to go out on a limb here and bet the medical experiment in question will be entirely non-Asian - and, in fact, blindingly WASP. Anyone willing to take me up on that bet?
SyFy also ordered pilots for several other scifi shows that fill me with apprehension, including Pax Romana, in which WW3 soldiers travel back to Ancient Rome. That is a set-up just begging for enraging historical ignorance and modern-day chauvinism.
Also, there's an adaptation of Lev Grossman's The Magicians, which actually might be less aggravating in series form. It can hardly be more enraging than the novel.
In conclusion, I am easily enraged by fictional narratives. And I am not sorry.
ETA:
Spoiler warning! There are spoilers for the Frank Miller version of Ronin in the comments.