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Marvel fandom ramblings.
Jan. 6th, 2019 01:59 pmSome fans -- and let's be real, it's mostly gentile fans that do this -- focus entirely on the Scarlet Witch's Jewish heritage without at all mentioning that she is also Romani. Wanda's Jewish heritage is an important part of her character, and so is being Romani. Some people seem not to know that she's Romani at all, or that she wasn't raised by Magneto, and is a practicing pagan. Those two things don't negate her Jewish ancestry, but it does tell me that people are jumping on an outrage train without actual knowledge of or feelings for the character.
The Scarlet Witch was revealed to be the daughter of Magneto and a Romani woman named Magda back in 1979. She was raised by a Romani couple, Django and Marya Maximoff. It was later retconned that her birth mother was a different Romani woman named Natalya Maximoff.
The issue that Olsen misses is that she's a white actress who took a role that could have gone to a Romani actress. (One popular choice in fancasts is Alina Serban. There have also been white-passing actresses suggested if one insists that she should have a similar skin color as she does in the comics, but I don't feel that's important.) It would also be really great if Magneto could be Wanda's dad, or if the MCU had at least given her a new Jewish father.
Instead they made Wanda white and erased her Jewish heritage (see: the crosses in MCU Wanda's room). We should be angry about both of these things. Neither should be forgotten.
When asked about whitewashing, Elizabeth Olsen -- possibly confusing the terms "Romani" and "Romanian" -- said that she wasn't aware that the character is Eastern European before taking the role. No one cares that you aren't Eastern European! The issue is that you're aren't Romani.
The Roma are a racial, ethnic, and cultural group that trace their ancestry back to South Asia. They face extreme prejudice on the basis of their race, including having their children taken away if they look "too white". The stereotype is that Romani people steal white children, so to this day there are people who assume a pale Romani child must have been kidnapped from a white family. Romani people have spoken before about not being white, and not having broad access to white privilege. Some white Europeans argue that they are to invalidate their identities and struggles, but the racism that Romani people face speaks for itself.The Scarlet Witch was revealed to be the daughter of Magneto and a Romani woman named Magda back in 1979. She was raised by a Romani couple, Django and Marya Maximoff. It was later retconned that her birth mother was a different Romani woman named Natalya Maximoff.
The issue that Olsen misses is that she's a white actress who took a role that could have gone to a Romani actress. (One popular choice in fancasts is Alina Serban. There have also been white-passing actresses suggested if one insists that she should have a similar skin color as she does in the comics, but I don't feel that's important.) It would also be really great if Magneto could be Wanda's dad, or if the MCU had at least given her a new Jewish father.
Instead they made Wanda white and erased her Jewish heritage (see: the crosses in MCU Wanda's room). We should be angry about both of these things. Neither should be forgotten.
