In a joint fundraising event involving Bayside High School and Cardozo High School, Townsend Harris’ Key Club hosted a viewing of the global hit Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. The fundraiser took place on Saturday, September 18 at the AMC Bay Terrace 6 theatre. A total of $344 was donated to Alex’s Lemonade Stand, a pediatric cancer charity. Harrisites who attended the event gave positive reviews of the new film, which has grossed 400 million dollars since its worldwide release in September.
As the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s latest release, the film focuses on martial artist Shang-chi (Simu Liu) and his battle against his father.
Many of the Harrisites who attended the Key Club event enjoyed the cinematic features of the movie. Junior Leonardo Finzi said, “It was really well done, especially the fight scenes which had amazing choreography and pacing.” Freshman Cristian Marroquin said, “My expectations were beyond fulfilled”
Junior Erica Jin said, “As much as it was really heartbreaking and sad, there were plenty of scenes that made me laugh to the point I couldn’t tell if I was crying from laughing or the overwhelming emotions.”
Additionally, many Harrisites at the viewing said that the movie, which is the first Asian-American Marvel movie, appropriately portrayed Asian and Asian-American culture and traditions.
Senior Darren Leong said, “I thought [the movie] reflected Asian culture really well especially since there was a perfect mix between Asian American characters like Katy and traditional Chinese characters like the aunt (Jiang Nan).” Junior Amanda Ip added, “This movie was more integrated into Chinese culture with at least a quarter of the movie in Chinese.” Amanda said this had one drawback for non-Mandarin speakers, however. “If one did not speak Mandarin, they needed to read the subtitles which I personally feel does not give off the same emotion as not needing subtitles.”
Some students said that the Asian-American culture and characters are what inspired them to watch the movie in the first place. Erica said, “Initially, I just expected the movie to hold sentimental values towards my culture since I don’t typically watch Marvel movies.”
“Shang Chi was the first Asian superhero movie I’ve ever seen so it has a special place in my heart,” Darren concluded.
Artwork by Andy Chen
