One of the biggest surprises of last month’s San Diego Comic-Con was the introduction of actor Simu Liu as the man who will bring Shang-Chi to life in the upcoming Marvel Studios film “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.” Since the announcement, Liu has found himself a bit of a fan darling, with people bringing up old tweets showing how he’s always been interested in playing the part and his humility after receiving the call. But in China, the fact that Marvel is making an Asian-led superhero film isn’t enough.
Recently, a YouTube channel posted a video where a man went to people on the street in China and asked them a rather odd question — is Simu Liu attractive? The point of the video is to show that Chinese people have very different definitions of beauty than Western audiences and that even though people outside of China are happy with the casting announcement, the people there aren’t necessarily pleased. And if you want to boil it down even further, the video is basically almost 10 minutes of Chinese people saying that Liu is ugly.
Well, in a Facebook post (via Huffington Post), Liu responded to the video and explained why the video ultimately didn’t bother him, though he is troubled by the message.
“A lot of teachers thought I’d never amount to anything, a lot of producers, directors, writers AND costars have questioned my acting ability, and I’ve been rejected from countless conservatories, grants, programs, etc. I’ve been second-guessed at every single possible step of my career,” he wrote. “The reason why I’m still standing is because I’m singularly focused, I have the utmost belief in my abilities and I refuse to let the opinions of others define me.”
Of course, being rejected is one thing, but being blatantly called “ugly” over and over is quite another. And the actor pointed out that he had “never been called ugly so many times in my entire life.”
Liu added, “For me, it’s never been about trying to shut the voices out – it’s a fruitless effort (especially if people happen to be making Youtube videos about it lol). Rather, it’s about learning to let the voices exist and be OKAY with it. “I’m still doing my thing, and I’m still over the moon happy I get this amazing opportunity.”
As for his thoughts on the YouTube channel, Asian Boss, specifically, the ‘Shang-Chi’ actor has some ideas for it, as well.
Liu wrote, “I sincerely hope this Youtube channel will attack topics with a bit more journalistic and creative integrity in the future… there are a lot of real and valid reasons why audiences find Shang Chi’s source material to be controversial and I love the discussion that’s taking place. This… not so much.”
The source material debate the actor is referencing is the fact that Shang-Chi regularly appeared in Marvel Comics through the decades with yellow skin, compounded by various other offensive Asian stereotypes. Obviously, we’re expecting Marvel Studios to correct many of those issues in the film.