It wasn’t too long ago that seeing a show about brown or Asian people was a big deal. It was considered a breakthrough to make a show about minorities for a non minority audience. I saw it as a stepping stone, and perhaps even one in the wrong direction at times.
Representation has always been a difficult issue. The goal, ostensibly, is for it not to be an issue. The goal is to watch characters of multiple races stream across the screen and it just feel natural. The goal is for the scene to feel like it comes from the place it represents. That’s part of why I really enjoyed Banshee on Cinemax. Their community, bordering on tribal land, presented a surprising mix of race in rural America. It spoke to race only when the specific characters who defined such things in negativity spoke to race. It was highly stylized and had other representation issues, but it wasn’t a really good start (and a pretty fun and layered story). The Punisher, I believe, picks up right there and takes us over the goal line.
I’m a longtime fan of the Punisher. I’m a pre-MAX comic book guy who dutifully sat through all the movies. This latest show (the only real show) is very good. It also is the first show in recent memory to expertly layer in race as not to even seem as though race was forced in. Instead it feels natural. It feels like New York, and Ohio, etc. The people of color aren’t always background. They have real roles and lives and problems that aren’t two dimensionally fixated on the color of their skin or the qualities of their culture. They are story worthy as individuals and rarely, if ever, does race come up—save for when it is defined by a specific character within the boundaries of that characters view of the world.
Good job, Marvel.