Doctor Strange (2016) – Spirituality and morality, arguments about whitewashing and a snazzy cape.

Now I knew there is a reason why I SHOULDN’T make a promise of the timing of blog entries on this page, and this is it. Now as an official graduate, I really have no excuse to not keep this page running, but as per usual, I will probably always find one.

Without keeping the personal talk going for too long I would like to talk about a more recent film than the ones that were objects of my last reviews. After finally seeing Doctor Strange (Scott Derrickson), I decided it still qualifies as a catch-up, especially for a Marvel fan like myself. This review is also a very personal milestone for me as it would be the first one written by an actual Bachelor of Arts. That’s right, this Bulgarian girl has graduated.

Now let’s get to the film.

I admit that I did like Doctor Strange. It didn’t leave me in any overwhelming emotional state, but it provided interesting characters and decent character development, and an all-star cast. Stephen Strange begins his journey on screen as a character you’re clearly not meant to like (which I believe is a trope Benedict Cumberbatch goes for most of the time). His charm, wit and collar almost remind you of an American Sherlock, with an accent a lot of people threw a hissy fit about, but I did not notice to be bad on a first watch. Honestly, my eardrums could be quite damaged when it comes to accents, since Keanu Reeves’ attempt of a British accent in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

After a car accident, the plot follows Stephen in a path of desperation, hope for recovery and eventually revelation, presenting a whole other world of magic, energy and spells that ties into the verisimilitude of the Marvel Universe similarly to the way Thor’s storyline does. Bringing him back to the level of a pupil, the spectator gets to give the chance to witness his growth into a protector of the Earth.  On the other hand, my personal impression of the compulsory training montage we get was that it felt rushed. It wasn’t enough to change my perspective of Strange as the rest of the film that, which did that exceptionally well with moments such as when Stephen realises the ambiguity of morality he must deal with as he comes to terms with the fact that he took someone’s life after years of saving lives. Morality plays a big role in the film also with the realisation within the characters of the power of the Ancient one coming nowhere else but the one source, they are fighting against.

Combining talk of morality and spirituality with Marvel’s humour, connect well as comedic moments happen in their own pace without feeling out of place and even sometimes play with the plot aspect of spirituality, e.g. Strange stealing books from the library using a spell while Wang has decided to catch up on Beyonce’s hits. Another favourite of mine is Kaecillius’ wit as he re-names Benedict’s character to Mister Doctor, combined with Mads Mikkelsen’s charm, this scene had me rolling on the floor (on which I was already lying btw). This reminds of another aspect of the film – its villain and Catherine. Kaecillius’ goal contributes to the moral conflict in the film – the fact that the good and bad side use power from the same Dark dimension. However, despite the wit, humour and resilience, I would’ve preferred to see more character development using up all that Mikkelsen acting power. Catherine on the other hand, being only a secondary character, does have quite an impact and presence on the screen at the beginning of the film, nevertheless as the action shifts to follow Stephen’s quest, she remains on the backlines. Her character reminded me of Jane from Thor – a very intelligent scientist, with a love interest that is off in the “magical” world doing their own thing. If Doctor Strange is to return in another standalone film, before or after the new Avengers film, I would love to see her being more involved in the plot.

After looking at the characters, I would like to write about a discussion that started very soon after the casting was announced. A lot of people expressed their opinion on social media that casting Tilda Swinton as The Ancient One is whitewashing, as the character in the original comic is a Tibetan man. After talking to friends about the issue and reading a bit about it online, I can definitely see where the problem is and where both sides are coming from. The arguments and questions are usually of this sort: “Would it not be considered progressive the fact the character is gender bend?” -  to which I say – yes, definitely, I’m all about genderbending, making characters female or genderqueer, or making a gender-bend version of a film classic; “The original was an extremely racist portrayal so that’s why Marvel switched it up.” – I mean, that’s a great step, erasing racism is what the whole world should aim for but since when casting a white lady instead of an Asian actor, actually, erases racism? If they were aiming for a genderbent version of the Ancient one – an Asian actress portrayed in a progressive way would’ve helped to avoid a drop in the controversy den, and probably be making people of that demographic incredibly happy. On the other hand, I appreciate the fact that as the concept of the secret society as a gathering of people from around the world is explained, we see people from different races as protectors and pupils. I also do realise that some people would not think of this as a major issue and enjoy the film nevertheless, which is fair enough. I can’t diss those people as film is not always analysed as art and sometimes just consumed as produce and entertainment. Tilda Swinton's casting as an all-knowing leader character could be seen as problematic and NOT the worst case of whitewashing at the same time. She is after all a talanted actress and people that do not mind the change of race focus on her performance. However, if you do notice a problem like this as a well...problem and, like me, you are into analysing the heck out of representation, it is important to raise issues, talking about them even casually. 

All in all, Doctor Strange is an insane visual spectacle, with what I find to be very interesting conflicts and entertaining characters, it has its flaws as any other superhero film and as any other modern film will spark a discussion with a problematic aspect.