In 2019, Canadian Chinese actor Simu Liu was chosen to play the titular character of Shang Chi, in the first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to centre on an Asian lead. Iconic, right?
But, when the announcement was made, the celebration around his casting was marred by criticism. Now, the character itself is seen as having problematic origins (explained here!), one that would – understandably – raise the ire of Chinese fans. But, changes to the upcoming ‘Shang Chi and the Legend of The Ten Rings’ seems to have fixed that. Yet, the most prominent criticism was the idea that Liu was not physically up to par to play the character. Apparently, the trolling was amped up because of a YouTube video – released by the channel Asian Boss – titled, “Is The Asian Lead For Marvel ‘Too Ugly’ For Chinese People?” The channel has 1.7 million subscribers and describes itself as delivering “the most authentic voices and perspectives on the latest news, social issues, and cultural trends from Asia.” At the time, Liu had responded to the video by saying:
“I sincerely hope this YouTube channel will attack topics with a bit more journalistic and creative integrity in the future,”
Now, he’s revealing the extent to which the trolling really got to – and how he manages to not let it affect him.
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Speaking to Men’s Health, Liu shared:
“I got a ton of trolls. They’d leave Chinese comments on my page, and I’d be so excited to translate them, because I thought ‘ooh they must be voicing their support.’ And [instead] it would be like, ‘Your face looks like a dog’s an*s, you don’t deserve this role.’”
Talk about HARSH. The feature by Men’s Health pointed out that the criticism levelled at the ‘Blood and Water’ actor seemed to stem from the fact that beauty standards in the East and West differ. It notes that Western standards view muscular, toned men – aka what we’ve seen thus far in the MCU/DCEU – as a good fit for superhero characters while Eastern beauty standards lean towards softer, more boyish ideals.
https://www.flyfm.com.my/flycelebrity-kumail-nanjiani-endured-true-physical-pain-training-for-mcu-role-but-people-are-now-body-shaming-him/
Liu went on to admit that, if he had been subjected to the same amount of trolling earlier in his career – when he was “was obsessed with being desirable” – he wouldn’t have been able to handle it as well as he can now.
“I have days where I really feel sexy and on top of the world, and I have days where I don’t. But more than everything I can be at peace with who I am as a whole—my charisma, my humor, my soul.”
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But how did he get to that level of “peace”? By realising a very, very important point: that our self-worth is not tied to our attractiveness.
“When I learned to let that go, I probably became the most self-assured and self-confident version of myself. 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.””
After all, the phrase ‘there’s more to this than meets the eye’ can be applied to how we view ourselves: we are more than the way we look. We’re all unique in the way we’ve lived our lives, we understand our circumstances, choose to respond to the situations presented to us and reflect our core values. Although it’s easier said than done, it is not impossible to reach the level of peace that Liu has with himself. Remember: you are beautiful, loved and appreciated for who you are so don’t let the voice in your head tell you otherwise.
*Cover image credits: @simuliu as photographed by @patrizzy
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