I’ve now seen Doctor Strange twice, once in 3D IMAX and another time in 2D, both times with THCv blazing through my system. I cried twice during the first time, and three times during the second showing, as I made connections to my own past and current willful participation in a racist system.
Always the smartest guy in the room, Doctor Strange is an arrogant, naturally talented white man so bored with his current accomplishments that he engages in thrill-seeking behavior while diagnosing potential new cases. His recklessness for his own life, which mirrors his disregard for how he makes others feel, makes him a perfect example of a white person stuck in their own bubble. After his bubble and hands are shattered thanks to his own carelessness, he channels his frustration toward other doctors who treat him the same way he did with dangerous patient cases with too high failure risk, prompting him to search outside his bubble for help.
This search leads him to The Ancient One, which just so happens to be a bald white lady. She, understanding the universe and reality in a way that Doctor Strange has yet to be able to, toys with the stubborn Strange and then throws him out. Strange, willing to suffer the indignity of waiting a little while longer on a porch stoop, is eventually brought inside and given access to knowledge the group uses to protect the Earth from multi-dimensional attacks.
There he befriends Mordo, a black dude who’s seen some shit but continues to abide by a strong ethical code limiting access to power. Strange is often overpowered by the more “natural” fighting Mordo, always looking for another way instead of meeting his sparring partner’s strength with more strength.
Naturally, the dangerously curious Strange eventually gains access to knowledge beyond his ability to understand the full ramifications of, revealing that The Ancient One has been drawing power from a timeless realm seeking to devour everything in its path. He confronts The Ancient One about this, leading her to admit she was stealing power from “the way things were” (timelessness) to preserve “the way things are” because she’s scared if she dies there will be no one left to fight Earth’s battles.
Her “real” power, stolen from a place Mordo was warned never to take from, feels exactly like the nice type of racist that doesn’t openly discriminate, but sure as shit doesn’t share willingly.
Mordo, realizing that drawing upon energy from the timeless realm causes real problems for people on Earth, sets out to strip from the people using it selfishly any power from the dark realm. Sorta like being able to pull the privilege right out of somebody, no?
7 Comments on “Doctor Strange Is What White Supremacy Looks Like To People Who Don’t Know They’re Racist”
You don’t get that Strange was so selfish because he only thought about himself. He’s stuck in a bubble where only money, influence, and skill mattered. The ancient one is using a sort of “the ends justifie the means” mentality which means that she can use the power of what she is meant to keep locked away. Mordo also isn’t good, I mean he kills an inocent man that just used magic to be able to use his legs. And the system isn’t racist, there might, and probably are some racist in the system. You can’t just twist everything to fit your own opinions.
Yes, his whiteness and what he achieved with it insulated him from most of the world.
The system is racist, period.
Sorry that you’re racially illiterate.
It’s a shame. Hollywood screams for more diversity, but dosn’t follow through. I watched Dr. Strange movie and enjoyed it. Cumberbatch made an excellent Dr. Strange. However, it would have been more believable if Dr. Strange was portrayed by an Asian actor as it’s done in the comics. Plus the powerful baldheaded woman could have been acted by another Asian, too. In fact for future Dr. Strange films make ‘him’ a female, Asian Dr. Strange!
Definitely a missed opportunity. I was hoping for Ken Watanabe as the Ancient One.
Agreed that Benedict was fine. Again ideas on Asian lady? Michelle Yeoh?
Are u one of those white guilters
r u 1 of those racists
Watanabe is a Japanese last name. For someone Chinese, I’d go Jackie Chan for humor, or Jet Li for his skill. Also, is Mordo white in the comics? Is Hollywood whitewashing heroes and putting black people as villains again?