Daredevil, aka Matt Murdock, should be either Latinx or Filipino in all modern incarnations of the character and them’s the facts
I don’t disagree, but I’m wondering if you have specific reasoning?
Oh yes, yes I do.
Daredevil the show is full of anachronisms that come with being a fairly direct modern adaptation of a piece of work from the 1960′s, most notably the fact that Hell’s Kitchen has gentrified. IMO, though, the biggest anachronism, is Matt’s ethnicity.
In the original comics, Matt is Irish American. Being a second generation Irish-American in the 1960′s meant was a LOT different than being a second-generation Irish American in 2017, and a lot of the things that were important about Matt being Irish in the originals are better represented if he were
Because Matt IS an immigrants story- the story of being the 2nd generation (his mother immigrated young in one of the comics I read? IDK, his dad is really Irish-AMERICAN, but the point still stands.) The one who actually “makes it” to fully blend into American culture, the one who lives goes to a fancy university and works a white-collar job in a suit. That divide between the way he was raised, and the circles he works in now, still as a hero for the working person but surrounded by wealth and the upper class- that makes up a really interesting segment of his character.
Matt’s mother was a young woman who slipped through the medical industries cracks and suffered from acute postpartum depression. He’s raised by a single father who makes ends meet by boxing, who instills a strong work ethic in him but dreams of him “rising above.” He has a chance to become very wealthy and both literally and figuratively move from where he was raised, but he chooses to stay and fight for it, because of what a formative place it is for him.
He’s also super Catholic. (Made even more Catholic, I would argue as a practicing one, by how generally mediocre he is at being Catholic.) And that’s really tied into his Dad and his family and were they’re from.
(I’m not saying that there still aren’t Irish Americans that fit this profile. I’m just saying that there are currently a lot more Latinx and Filipinos who do, and that it would provide amazing representation and breathe new life into the character in a way that’s really fitting with his original. Probability wise, if you were to find a young, Catholic, working class lawyer with a background in boxing, he wouldn’t be white. )
The reason I suggested he be either Filipino or Latinx is because they are the some of the largest groups of recent immigrant Catholics, and have strong boxing cultures. Matt could technically be Syrian Catholic or Samoan or Indian or Rwandan. Personally, my grandfather was a Filipino boxer, so I have some skin in this game.
Long story short, I think race bending Matt actually brings him closer to his Irish origins and honors them more, and I am ready to welcome the age of Mateo Miguel Munoz!
That’s so true! I’m so down with that!!! And the world would also have one less white saviour. I was thinking more Italian, myself, based on immigration patterns of my own family. I was thinking a darker Italian though. But yes!!! Thank you for taking the time to explain your reasoning. Hopefully marvel will adapt this at some point.
<3 <3 <3
In their effort to modernize and diversify the show to match modern NYC w/out doing the same to Matt they’ve made SUCH a white savior complex, that and the Hand Plotline that I will Not Mention BEcause I Hate It with the Fire of A Thousand Suns and the Only Good THing It Brought Us was Elektra.
They’ve started race bending characters, which is nice, but they’ve yet to do it to any main characters so even though it would make all practical sense I think we’ve got white Matt for the foreseeable future
Ohhh, if you haven’t hear of her you might really like Helena Bertinelli, the Black-Sicillian Catholic vigilante queen of my heart. Truly she is #everything and if DC wanted to give us nice things she’d have a full series
I love this, so much!!! ❤ My only criticism is that it should be Muñoz, instead of Munoz (the ñ is so pretty and has such a nice ring). Also, you can bet he is all the time correcting the mispelling, especially when done in any kind of official records, and he doesn’t let anyone say “can I call you Matt? is easier to pronounce?” And he’s there like “my name’s Mateo” (and his friends would call him Mati, like isn’t that cute? *3*)
But it’s never been suggested that Matt is a second generation immigrant. Both of his parents were likely born in NYC (and their parents probably were as well).
The Irish settlement in New York started in the mid-1800s. Having grown up as a member of an identifiable and distinct minority (Irish-American) is not the same as having an experience of recent immigration. It may be for a lot of people, but not in this case.
IDK, I’m not nearly as well versed in the comics canon as you are, but I think I do remember immigration being mentioned in one of the arcs with Maggie.
The point still stands that:
1. Being Irish-American in the 1960′s is a very different pie than being Irish American in the 2010′s. Irish Catholic Americans in 2010 are in every way dominant in the American social structure, and mostly very assimilated. (I don’t think I know a “pure” Irish person- most Irish Americans I know are mixed, not white, and like ½ to an 1/8 Irish. Which is definitely an aside, but having, say, Matt be part Irish, part Mexican, part Filipino? VERY realistic.)
2. There is an absolute dearth of Latinx characters in the MCU, considering that Latinx people make up around 17% percent of the US population and 27% of NYC’s population. Following the general statistics of the city, over 1 in 4 of the characters in the Netflix MCU should be Latinx. This is clearly not the case- Latinx people still remain under-represented in the MCU. (Filipino people are a different story- we’re the 2nd largest Asian nationality in the US but still a relatively small group. Nevertheless, the Netflix MCU is also lacking in Asian representation and having Matt be an Asian protagonist would help with some of the show’s “yellow peril” and “white savior” issues.
3. Matt makes just as much sense in modern NYC as a Latinx and/or Filipino character. He’s still a blind, Catholic lawyer and vigilante. But he provides representation that is desperately needed. There still aren’t any superhero shows aside from Agents of Shield were the front-and-center lead is Asian or Latinx.
4. It’s a more minor point but Matt’s fighting style is quite Filipino as well. As well as having elements of boxing (extremely popular in the Philippines and sections of Latin America!), it’s got a clear visual parallel to arnis and some of the other Filipino martial arts. A quick google search informed me of styles of stick fighting exist all of the world, from South Africa to Afro-Brasillian communities, and I’m up to pretty much every interpretation of Matt’s ethnicity, but it’s something I associate with him.
5. The MCU has no issue race-bending secondary characters- Ned Leeds and Elektra Natchios are now both Southeast Asian! There’s no reasons that main characters like Matt can’t be as well!
In conclusion, making Matt Latinx/Filipino is true to the character AND modern America, and provides important representation!
Oh, and I love your blog, btw