This week, Janine chats about Marvel’s latest movie, Shang Chi, and the women in the movie. She discusses four female characters and explains what makes them powerful women.
What to expect from episode 33: Kung Fu Queens of Shang Chi?
Welcome back
Janine welcomes listeners back and introduces the topic of today’s discussion: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Janine also thanks her Patreon supporters and gives her overall impression of the movie. She then recounts one of the funniest scenes from the film – the Planet of the Apes scene.
Authenticity of the movie
The next topic Janine goes into is the fact that the characters don’t always speak English in Shang-Chi. She goes into the idea of language in cinema and how films set in China have Chinese characters speaking English.
Summary of characters
Before going into a discussion of each character, Janine gives a brief overview of each female character. She lists Katy, Xu Xialing, Leiko Wu and Jiang Nan, and then fangirls over Michelle Yeoh (as usual). Janine also speculates on the fighting styles seen in the movie.
Katy
The first character Janine discusses is Katy. She mentions the significance that there is no romantic relationship between and her and Shang-Chi. Janine also elaborates on her as a great driver and a great shot with the bow and arrow.
Xu Xialing
The second character Janine discusses is Xialing, Shang-Chi’s sister. Janine explains the subtle feminist commentary that this character makes. She explores how Xialing’s journey as a fighter is a kind of a feminist story.
Leiko Wu
The next character Janine discusses is Shang-Chi’s mother, Leiko Wu. Here Janine first explores the significance of this character’s fighting style. Janine then goes on to explain what it might mean that she loses her power when she gets married. She also relates all this back to second wave feminist theory.
Jiang Nan
The final character Janine discusses is Shang-Chi’s aunt, Jiang Nan. Here Janine explores more about Tao-Lo itself than the character. She explains the dichotomy that is set up between the more “feminine” Tao-Lo compared to the “masculine” emperor.
Episode wrap up
Janine wraps up the episode by talking some nonsense. She recommends the original Planet of the Apes for this week’s movie recommendation.
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