It's United Nations month and Power Rangers has a racially diverse team. It was alleged that Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers was racist -- never mind that Zack and Trini did their job pretty well. If it were so then Battle Fever J should be accused of racism -- because Battle Kenya wore a BLACK suit! I remember finding Disney's era of Power Rangers "racist" -- which was probably because I started hating Disney because of Hannah Montana or some other shows. It may be an American production but Power Rangers' racially diverse team says something. It's that an AMERICAN is a CITIZEN and/or NATIONAL of the USA. Yes, whether it'd be a natural-born or naturalized person -- they are STILL AMERICAN.
Doing some research on the original Mighty Morphin' cast -- I wasn't surprised to learn the late Thuy Trang was a Vietnamese migrant. Thuy was two years old when she moved to the US -- which explains why she speaks with an American accent. That's why I thought Thuy wasn't a migrant but she was a migrant. The rest of the cast were born in America. However, under American law, Thuy has been NATURALIZED like every Vietnamese American. Thuy was already an AMERICAN CITIZEN before Mighty Morphin' was even shot.
America has a long history of racism. Who can remember how non-white Americans were mistreated or made fun of? Anybody who watched The Bruce Lee Story may be familiar with racist tensions between Americans and Chinese Americans. However, the late Bruce Lee built the bridge with Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). Later, the late Martin Luther King Jr. also fought for equal rights when African Americans were treated as low-class citizens. It's a long battle as Americans of different ethnicities strive to be united. It's because it's the UNITED States of America. That should also include people of DIFFERENT COLORS who are all considered AMERICAN.
I may dislike Power Rangers compared to its source material. HOWEVER, I understand why it exists in Toei's inventory. It's not Power Rangers' fault that Super Sentai no longer airs in the Philippines! Instead, it's because of marketing reasons. I still feel that Power Rangers carries this message that what makes an American isn't the skin color but devotion to America.
I believe Saban understood Marvel better than Toei. Yes, I don't like Toei's bizarre spin on
Spider-Man! Fortunately, Toei decided to create more Japanese superheroes inspired by American superheroes than adapting them! Saban succeeded where Fox TV failed. The TV pilot
Pryde of the X-Men didn't kick off as intended in 1989.
Saban managed to adapt X-Men into X-Men: The Animated Series in 1992. The show was split into several seasons like any American show.
Marvel dealt with multiracial teams and
X-Men was one of them. Sure, there wasn't much representation of Asian Americans at that time. However,
X-Men didn't only deal with mutants but different nationalities. The same went for other teams like the Avengers.
Storm was an African American. Jubilee was an Asian American. Gambit was a French American. Wolverine was a Canadian with an American citizenship. Professor X is a British American. Saban was handling a multiracial team of mutants before
Power Rangers.
X-Men carried a message against discrimination against people deemed different. Saban may felt
Power Rangers could give that message. Sure, most
Power Rangers cast are white but there's a respectful representation. If Marvel can carry out that theme then why not the
Power Rangers?
The idea to create Power Rangers based on Super Sentai started with the late Stan Lee. Yes, Taiyo Sentai Sun Vulcan was planned but it was DROPPED. Margaret Loesch was also involved and she worked with Marvel properties as well. It was easy adapting X-Men which was an AMERICAN product. Super Sentai was a Japanese product. Itwasn't the digital age either. It was most likely intentional that Power Rangers would be racially diverse. It's a respect for diverse ethnicities. There are cultural differences between Power Rangers and Super Sentai. American culture is different from Japanese culture. I may dislike Power Rangers BUT I refuse to call it a bootleg (due to license and pleaes get a business dictionary) or call it an act of cultural erasure. If I don't like it then why bother watching it? That's the best mature way to handle dislikes or use terms that don't match it!
What does it mean to be an American? I used to think of American as a race than a nationality. Now, I view American as a nationality. I used to have an on/off hatred for Americans until I saw
The Bruce Lee Story. Knowing Lee married a white American and taught African Americans -- it's inspiring! However, it's time to put that thinking aside because of
this essay:
Being American to me means, having a freedom of speech, being equal to everyone no matter what the race, being united as one, and of course reaching your dreams. There are many people out there that believe being American means that they have to be a specific race, and look a specific way, or they need to be born here to be an American. Others who come to America believe that being American means to have opportunities and to have freedom. Then there are other people like those who believe that being American is to be united, having equal rights.
People come to America for better opportunities, to be free, and so they can get another chance on reaching their dreams. They come to America because they know that there are better opportunities here that they had from where they came from because their voices will be heard here, they’ll have a freedom of speech, as the Bill of Right states “congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble.” I think this matters because its stating that we can say whatever we want and they didn’t say we have to be a citizen to say whatever we want even if it is the U.S Bill of Rights. Which is what makes a person an American because they have the freedom of speech while in other states/countries there will be consequences if you speak up for what's right.
While there are other people that believe that being American means that they they have to be a specific race, or look a specific way, which is obviously not true. If we look at a lone fro the Pledge of Allegiance there are many important meanings to it, “I pledge of allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all.” (1882, Rear Admiral George Balch) This line represents what being American means because it means being equal, respectful to one another, and unifying together for justice and liberty. The U.S stands for the United States, hint the word united meaning we are supposed to stand together to be better, to unite when we are attacked, and unite to be stronger together no matter what religion you are, no matter what race you are, it just matters that we come together as one when tragic happens.
Power Rangers is an American franchise based on a Japanese franchise. The Power Rangers is an American team by default. The multiracial team shows that no matter how different they are RACIALLY -- they are still an AMERICAN TEAM AT HEART!
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