9
Thursday May 23, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com MICHIGAN IN COLOR
WARNING:
SPOILERS
AHEAD!
Recently I went to go watch
“Pokémon
Detective
Pikachu.”
Why? I can’t really tell you. For
context, I’m not a major Pokémon
fan. Sure I played “Pokémon GO”
for a little bit, but to be fair I think
everyone did. My brother was the
major Pokémon fan growing up, so
I did spend a fair bit of time watch-
ing Pokémon movies and TV shows
with him. Every once in a blue moon
when he was feeling generous, he’d
even let me play one of his precious
Pokémon DS Games.
So mostly due to my brother,
Pokémon did play some part in
my childhood but was not signifi-
cant enough for me to feel any pull
towards this movie when it came
out. If I’m being honest with myself,
the only reason why I went to see
this movie is because the ticket was
cheap and I had time to spare.
If you’ve been paying atten-
tion to recent box office sales, then
you’ll know that “Pokémon Detec-
tive Pikachu” has broken the video
game movie box office record and
has also beat “Avengers: Endgame”
in box offices overseas. Which is no
small feat, considering “Endgame”
recently took the worldwide record
for highest opening weekend gross.
Needless to say, “Pokémon Detec-
tive Pikachu” has been received
extremely
well.
Many
people
watching the movie were probably
struck by things like the impressive
use of CGI, the complex character
arcs and the realistic integration of
fictional creatures in a world that
seems so similar to ours.
But the thing that struck me most
about the film is something that
hasn’t been a topic of conversation.
It’s diversity.
To start, the introductory scene
of the film is two young men of color
trying to catch a Pokémon.
One of them is Karan Soni,
an Indian actor known from the
“Deadpool” franchise, and the
second is Justice Smith, a Black
actor known from films like “Paper
Towns” and the Netflix TV show
“The Get Down.”
I was immediately excited upon
seeing that the first two important
characters introduced in the film
were people of color, especially
considering that I never see that in
action movies.
We go on to learn that the Justice
Smith plays the main character in
the film, a 21 year old named Tim
Goodman who works for an insur-
ance company.
I was completely blown away by
the fact that Justice Smith was play-
ing the main character in this film,
because I 100 percent expected the
main character in this film to be
white. As that was standard to all
other films I’ve seen similar to “Poké-
mon Detective Pikachu,” and just
most of the blockbuster films I watch.
But the main character of this
film being Black, biracial specifi-
cally, was a casting choice that the
directors didn’t have to make but
chose to anyway. Seamlessly too,
to the point where Tim’s race
didn’t overshadow his character
or become a hindrance to him but
instead just became a fact of his
identity. Different scenes in the
movie show Tim’s Black grand-
mother and mother and we get to
see Tim’s white father for a short
period of time in the film, but that’s
the most his race comes into play.
Tim is built to be a lovable
character who’s introverted and
awkward but still finds a sense
of self-confidence after undergo-
ing a tumultuous journey to find
his father. He’s funny, imperfect
and relatable which is a refreshing
change from the offensive stereo-
types Black characters are often
made out to be in film and tv.
More than just the casting of
the main character, the diversity
of the movie was stood out because
the majority of the other people in
the film were people of color. The
majority of the film takes place in
Ryme City, a diverse and bustling
metropolis akin to Tokyo, Japan.
Throughout the city you could
spot multiple billboards and glow-
ing signs, just as many in Japanese
as English. Over 40 percent of the
people in the city were Asian, pre-
sumably Japanese, and the many of
the other people held other under-
represented minorities.
For example, the mayor of the
city was a Black man and the head
scientist was played by Rita Ora,
a Yugoslavian singer-songwriter.
This was all really refreshing, as
for one, most current movies are
centered in the western world, not
in the Eastern Hemisphere. It was
also refreshing because in most
films today the majority of people,
regardless of whether they’re main
characters or extras, are white.
In this movie, there were only
about 3 white major characters
(Ryan Reynolds spends the major-
ity of the movie as a Pokémon, and
not as Ryan Reynolds, and for so
he’s not counted within the 3). And
also, of those three characters, two
of them were villains. Which was a
nice change from having people of
color fulfill the racist villain tropes
in movies (i.e. Arab terrorists, Afri-
can warlords, Native savages, etc). It
was appreciated because it showed
that a character’s “evilness” doesn’t
have to be conflated with their race
or a product of it.
“Pokémon Detective Pikachu”
is a dynamic film that has made
giant strides in the video game
world and in mainstream Holly-
wood for its representative cast-
ing. I loved watching this film
because it was an unexpected
chance to see people of my race
and other minority races well
represented and I am excited
to see more films in the future
that follow “Pokémon Detective
Pikachu”’s progressive footsteps.
The diversity in ‘Pokémon Detective Pikachu’ spans
beyond the types of Pokémon
I’ve worked hard to get here, so why do I still feel that I
have prove myself?
EFE OSAGIE
MiC Senior Editor
I have not raised my hand all class.
I know what to say; I have something
worthwhile to share … I want everyone to
hear what I have to say. I say to myself:
“Michaela, you can do it. Raise your
hand. You’ve done this before.”
It is almost as if I am playing hot potato
in my head — in the end, I do not raise my
hand. Another opportunity is missed, and
I am left scolding myself until the next
day.
Why do I feel like I will be laughed at if
I give an answer to a question during dis-
cussion? Why do I feel that I have to make
sure that anything I say “sounds intelli-
gent”, so that I can feel that I belong?
Sometimes it feels as if I have to con-
stantly prove that I am competent enough
to sit in the same class as other students.
Coming out of high
school I knew that
there would be some
challenges I would
have to face because
my high school was
severely underfund-
ed; the sky was the
limit for some, but
for most, this is was
untrue.
Sometimes I do
muster up the cour-
age to answer a ques-
tion during instruction. I did just this in
my Biological Anthropology class I built
up the confidence and cleared my throat.
I did not flinch or appear nervous when
I provided an answer. Suddenly, someone
replies with a scoff:
“No, I think this is
the answer”
This
moment
is
when I realized that
the feeling of hav-
ing to prove myself
was reality. And that
gut wrenching feel-
ing of not feeling good
enough
takes
time
to cope with — it can
mess with your mental
health. Knowing that
you have worked hard
in high school with all that was offered to
you, but realizing that you will always have to
work ten times harder can be discouraging.
However, one thing I continue to remember
as I walk around campus and see other students
that have similar stories to my own is that we
are still here. We are going to graduate from the
University of Michigan, we are going to pass
that hard class that everyone warns us to never
take, we are going to succeed even though the
odds are against us. And even more important,
as a black woman, I am even more motivated to
do well because not only do black students make
up about 4 percent of the population at the Uni-
versity of Michigan, but the graduation reten-
tion rate is lower than our white counterparts.
Though I may have to work a little bit
harder than others to get an A in a dif-
ficult class, I am learning to understand
that working harder does not mean that I
am not competent enough, but rather that
I am determined to accomplish the goals
— no matter what.
MICHAELA MINNIS
MiC Columnist
The first two
important
characters
introduced in
the film were
people of color,
especially
considering I
never see that in
action movies
Another opportunity
is missed, and I am
left scolding myself
until the next day