‘The Batman’ scene depicting a subway attack on an Asian man criticized as 'triggering,' 'insensitive'
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An early scene in the new DC Film “The Batman” has sparked concerns over its depiction of violence toward an Asian person.
Some members of the Asian American community have taken to social media to debate the sensitivity and relevance of the scene, which occurs within the film’s first 10 minutes and shows an Asian man at a subway being followed by a group preparing to assault him.
Before the man is actually attacked, the costumed vigilante intervenes and fights off the group. After he takes care of the bad guys, he tells them that he is “vengeance.” The Asian man is then shown to also be afraid of Batman.
On Twitter, some users called out the scene for being insensitive to the plight of Asian American communities who have been facing an increased level of violence in the last couple of years.
“Was this supposed to be commentary? Was it a blindspot? Was this filmed before or after the surge Asian hate crimes? It was quite triggering,” Dino-Ray Ramos, the editor-in-chief of entertainment website Diaspora, wrote in a tweet.
The Batman was a good two hour movie inside of a not as good three hour movie.
And if you’re Asian American and have been paying attention the first ten minutes—in which a gang of subway thugs violently assaults an Asian American man on a platform—are triggering as hell.
— Jeff Yang (@originalspin) February 28, 2022
Seriously, can we talk about the first 10 minutes of #TheBatman and how a gang of men attempt to beat up an Asian man on the subway? Was this supposed to be commentary? Was it a blindspot? Was this filmed before or after the surge Asian hate crimes? It was quite triggering.
— Dino-Ray Ramos (@DinoRay) March 4, 2022
In many tweets, netizens warned other Asian American moviegoers about the controversial scene.
Content warning for Asian Americans watching #TheBatman this weekend. https://t.co/DPPYo6b6tn
— jes vũ (@jesthevu) March 3, 2022
Meanwhile, other Twitter users expressed contrasting opinions while discussing whether the scene was an oversight or intended to highlight the rise of hate-related crimes and incidents against Asian Americans during the pandemic.
Really not cool how #TheBatman decided to have a bunch of dudes beating up an Asian guy on the subway in the opening act.
This kind of ✌🏽cultural relevance✌🏽 tells me people are still unserious about anti-Asian violence. This shit is killing us & shouldn’t be spectacle.
— Roy Mong 孟繁旭 (@iamroymong) March 4, 2022
The three-hour film was filmed mostly between January 2020 and March 2021, a period that heavily overlaps with recent spikes in anti-Asian hate.
The film, which stars Robert Pattinson and Zoë Kravitz, premiered on March 1 and was released on March 4.
Featured Image via Warner Bros. Pictures
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