so i'm sure countless other people have said this before, but i'll say it again.
as a desi, muslim girl who grew up being a huge marvel fan, ms marvel is incredibly important to me.
i remember reading the comics around 2020 and 2021, and when the news that it was becoming a show came out, i vividly remember screaming and jumping up and down BECAUSE HOLY SHIT
yeah, the comics are pretty different compared to the show and they got the whole "djinn" concept completely wrong, but yknow
the representation means everything to me.
i remember when i was like, 7, i was watching Iron Man with my mom. The terrorists in the movie speak fluent urdu, just like me.
So obviously, little me was pretty confused. I remember asking, "Mama, why do the bad guys talk like us?" and she simply avoided the question.
It was years after when I understood islamophobia.
now, i'm sitting in my living room and the superhero on tv isn't a skinny blonde blue-eyed white girl.
she says salam, she watches bollywood movies, and she wears a shalwar kameez. her mom doesn't like the idea of her going to parties. she goes to the mosque to pray. she makes wudhu in those crusty mosque bathrooms with taps that barely work.
she believed that it wasn't the brown girls of jersey city that saved the world.
just like countless other brown girls all across the world.
yes, the show may have some... flaws - but the representation was, for once, done somewhat correctly. i'm happy beyond words, and thrilled for younger generations of muslim and desi kids to grow up with a superhero who's like them.
thank you gwendolyn wilson, and everyone who worked on the comics; writers, artists, publishers, everyone. you made a dream reality, and now you have a show.
on behalf of young muslim brown girls everywhere, thank you.
theartofmadeline
annaxmalina
dededos
snowghoul
kaledo-art
