Today I wanted to talk about the newest Disney/Marvel series called Ms. Marvel.I usually watch all the new marvel content. I would call myself a fan but not a diehard fan.

So I don’t wanna write a review about what happened on the show because that’s not what I wanna talk about. I want to talk about how to show made me feel. When I watched the trailers originally, I was spectacle. Since I’m a Muslim, I was curious about how they were going to portray Ms. Marvel. They chose a Pakistani American Muslim girl which is based off the comics. I will say that I wasn’t too excited because I feel like I’ve seen so much Bollywood in my life time that I felt it would be to similar. I’m not sure if that makes sense but that’s the honest truth. Nothing against anyone’s culture but it would be nice to see a Muslim person from a less known background like Afghanistan or China.

I watch the first two episodes. First off, Ms. Marvel‘s best friend is a white male teenager. I don’t love this choice but I understand they’re just trying to honor the comic. He seems like the typical white guy to come save the immigrant girl. Next, the fact that her family is OK with her having a male best friend who comes over and hangs out with her all the time was shocking. If you’re a Muslim girl or a girlfriend the Middle East/Asia, there is an unwritten rule about having male friends. This isn’t just for my family. I’ve actually never seen a Muslim/Middle Eastern/Asian family that is OK with it. Occasionally Iranian’s are more open-minded but if your a traditional family, which Ms. Marvel’s family is, then that wouldn’t be common. I don’t want everyone to think oh well that’s really strict. It’s just the way it is because girls are the honor of the family. I mean you could have a male friend but the fact that she hangs out with him all the time that just seems unrealistic. I had male friends but no way in hell did any of them ever come over. Then she sneaks out to a random roof and hangs out with him at night. I get it she’s just being a teenager but that’s not how these cultures teenagers are.

Honestly other than that I really enjoy the show. It was refreshing to see a different family dynamic and it was funny. It was relatable and fun. I loved the cartoon aspect of it and the comic bubbles on the walls. It was artistically well done. I thought the colors were engaging and brought a sense of warmth.

The first episode was OK but the second episode I was hooked.

I wanted to see what the rest of the world thought about the show so I went online. I saw reports that Ms. Marvel was rated high but it had the lowest viewings for a Marvel show. It made me sad. The whole world is always talking about representation and inclusion which to be honest I’m just so burned out on all of it. Why can’t we all just support each other? I read many different articles about how some people don’t watch it because it has a brown girl/Muslim girl as the lead.

One of my tables at the restaurant, an Asian family with two kids mentioned the show. The kids thought it was boring (two male preteens) but the father loved it. He said it was relatable for him because he’s an immigrant. He told me not to pay attention to the viewership because that just might be haters trying to bring the show down. I appreciated his thoughts.

I laid in bed and I was inspired to write about the show for the blog and support. Then I thought about how I am so open about my ethnicity and my religion. Is that the right thing to do? Should I change my name to something more white? Is this the reason why I’ve struggled so much to reach my goals? You know it never really dawns on me how others might see me. I always hear comments from people whenever I share my religion or ethnicity but it doesn’t really bother me. I’ve become numb to it.

It does make me sad though that Ms. Marvel isn’t doing as well as the other shows.

I wanna mention how jealous I am of the main character. There is a time that all I wanted was to break into the film industry and be a voice for Muslim girls/asian/Middle Eastern girls. I guess it was always just use against me even though I thought that was my super power. I feel kind of silly about it now. I should have known better. To many people hate people like me.

Oh well, I love who I am.

Anyways, you should go watch Ms. Marvel because it’s fun and simple and colorful.

Cheers,

Frshta