Is the Ancient One from Doctor Strange just a racist stereotype from the 70s?

Ok, with Doctor Strange about to debut just about everywhere, old wounds are open. Sorry, I know this is supposedly a 'dead issue', but, obviously, since the internet is still claiming racism on Marvel back in the later sixties, it's not! The controversy surrounding the casting of Tilda Swinton as the ANCIENT ONE has cooled a bit and we know that the REAL REASON that Marvel pulled the whitewash was political...no...wait...it was all about the money, right?

And a lot more cashola than this! Marvel was afraid to insult China who doesn't believe in Santa Claus or Tibetans. So, instead of loosing all of that Chinese cash, they threw an ole bucket of whitewash all over it and called it the progressive right thing to do. Nice. Anyway, if you want to hear any more ranting about that, go HERE.

That's not why I started this article. It was actually about the whole fact that in the space of most conversations about this issue, there are ongoing rants about how the original Ancient One was a racial stereotype.

Ok, that might hold water if it wasn't for the fact that the same people throwing out the argument from the opposite end that Iron Fist, a white character, in taking martial arts from Asians has caught 'yellow fever'. On the one hand, they think casting Asians or the mythical Tibetans (lol) in these roles is 'stereotypical' but, on the other, they will argue that casting a white, Celtic woman in a traditionally Asian role is perfectly fine.

Yeah, I know. I'm confused too.

First of all, the mystic or martial arts being taught in its purest sense in an Asian country isn't that big a stretch. Sure, there are different types of magic and the Ancient One could be from anywhere. But that isn't the point is it? The point is that the original Ancient One from the comics was of oriental descent (Ok, Marvel, I'm gonna say it. He was Tibetan.) and to pull a white actor of any type is whitewashing. The fact that this character was written as coming from Tibet or any Asian country is not so much racist or stereotypical as damn factual.

“Diversity is the responsibility of directors, and I took that as seriously as I could,” he said. “Whitewashing, if you use the term the way it’s used now—it’s what I did with the role."

Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson

In the sixties and seventies, the western world was being invaded by mystical Asians bringing new ways of thinking and looking at the world. The martial arts mastery of Bruce Lee (born in Hong Kong) was just beginning to be sampled. Although he had spurned movies for the development of his marital arts teaching, he starred in one season of THE GREEN HORNET (see picture on left) as well as guest appearances in Here Come the Brides, Blonde and Ironside. Of course, this was the later sixties, several years after the first publication of Doctor Strange.

But other shows of the mid-sixties had begun to use Asian actors. Man From Uncle repeatedly used oriental actors as well as a myriad of other nationalities in their international spy show. James Hong (pictured above), who has a long film and television career, appeared in three episodes. Star Trek went as far to cast several multicultural actors in leading, ongoing roles. But, once again, this began in 1966, but I believe these actors entry in the public eye was an echo of a change of society that happened years before.

"Writers (in the 60s) increasingly wrote about ethnic themes and characters

from distinct ethnic groups"

http://www.historycentral.com/sixty/culture/late.html

(Maharishi mahesh yogi with the Beatles 1967)

The yogis and gurus of the sixties captured the imagination of the American people. And, yes, some took it too far into Stereotypes, but I don't see that with this case so much. Marvel had always tried to stay 'true to life' and having the mantle passed from the 'Ancient One' of Far Eastern descent to an American surgeon was just an homage to whole genre.

And, if you want to get real and talk about racism, the portrayal of Stephen Strange as a prideful, arrogant, self-centered white man of privileged and high social standing could be seen as a caricature of what a stereotypical white American was construed as. In fact, this whole story could be seen as the bad American from the West getting schooled in truth by the wise guru from the East. Never was the Ancient one shown in a bad, insulting or buffoonish light. But from the very beginning we see Strange as a broken mess of a man who needs to be taught a thing or two about life. And a trip down mystic lane is just the ticket. Once again, I don't believe Marvel did anything 'stereotypical' here or in any of their story in the sixties. In fact, they were notorious for taking typical tropes and turning them on their ear; shattering the stereotypes and forging new territory.

This is what they did with Doctor Strange, Luke Cage and Iron Fist. You may think you're getting the same ole cookie cutter types, but you find yourself enlightened and entertained by something new and different. The characters are not two dimensional. They live and breath. We see Luke cage break from his 'Blacksploitation' roots and his ghetto hero image and become the consummate family man and Avenger. Most of Marvels heroes and villains broke the molds they came from.

(The Mandarin was many characters build out of the old stereotypes that continued to grow and change, escaping the old and forging the new. Thank you Marvel!)

I believe, for the most part, the story was a mirror of the West's fascination with everything oriental and mystical. There was a great deal of spiritual experimentation going on at the time and the entry of a 'Master of the Mystic Arts' was perfect for the early sixties. It would have been an insult for the wise master of the most sacred arts to be of any other nationality. If Marvel HAD chosen a Caucasian Celtic female to portray the Ancient One back in 1963, we would have raged the other direction and decried the move as disrespectful. And, today, we would have and DO call it 'whitewashing'. The torch had to be passed from the orient to the West; that was the point of the story in a way. It was a breaking through of the wall of American culture and introducing other ways of thinking.

I haven't seen the movie yet, but I feel that's the theme we may get. I also don't have any personal problem with the direction of the casting. I'm just fed up with hearing the retro-trolling calling out racism where there is none.

The idea that everything you've been lead to believe falls short of reality is prominent. And, in the words of the Movie's director:

She (The Ancient One) says, ‘Who are you in this vast universe, Doctor Strange?’” And then: “‘It’s not about you.’"

Somewhere in that question and statement is the whole of the film.”