Let's talk about Shang-Chi and His Reversible Jacket
Spoilers for Marvel's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings are below the line.
In Vanity Fair's YouTube video "Notes on a Scene", Director Destin Daniel Cretton gave his breakdown of the now-iconic Bus Fight Scene in the movie. Destin gave his thoughts and revealed the processes of how they shot this absolutely insane fight scene. (And in my opinion, the best fight scene in all of the MCU.)
At the 4:20 mark, Destin explained the scene where Shaun used his jacket to fight off the goons, giving homage to Jackie Chan's fighting style. Destin was particularly emphasizing that Shaun's gray/red jacket was actually reversible.
Shown here as Destin pauses the moment where Shaun's jacket turned inside out, showing its Mustard Yellow and Blue inner lining. Destin then marks the jacket as "reversible".
After that fight scene and throughout the movie, Shang-Chi started wearing the jacket in its reverse side.
Why would Destin point this out in this breakdown video? In truth, I think not everyone, if no one, who watched the movie could have noticed that the jacket had that feature. Destin and the costume department might have made that conscious choice for a reason.
The reversible jacket is a subtle representation of Shang-Chi's double life and his character development.
The Gray/Red side represented Shaun's identity, the side that he wanted everyone to see. The mild-mannered, sweet, and carefree Chinese Immigrant who had no real direction in life besides parking cars for a living and hanging out with his best friend since high school (with an equally aimless life), Katy Chen. This was the identity he lived and wore for ten years.
However, he has another identity as Shang-Chi; represented by the Yellow/Blue side of his jacket. The Master of Kung Fu, a trained assassin at the tender age of 14, and would-be heir to his father's Ten Rings (both the magical artifacts and the organization). But this identity wasn't what he wanted to be so he ran away and kept this identity hidden.
Eventually, his past came back to hunt and haunt him.
When the bus fight scene happened, after the goon forcefully pushed Katy, Shang-Chi's other side came out in retaliation and all hell broke loose. While he was fending off the bad guys, we are given a peek of the reverse side of his jacket as Shaun used it as a defensive.
Notice how he shrugged his jacket after the first act of the fight?
It's like he's saying, "Okay, this fight is over. I'm going back to being Shaun now."
However, this revelation would not escape Katy, who is by now contemplating if her relationship with this dude she considers her best friend was potentially a lie.
"Holy shit! Who are you?"
Shaun's face fell a bit, realizing that their ten years of friendship could suddenly go down the drain.
And of course, in true MCU fashion, Razor Fist had to show up to make things more difficult for Shaun to handle. Thankfully, Katy was there to help him out as they instinctively work together as a team.
After the bus fight scene, Shaun hurries back to his garage apartment to pack up and fly off to Macau to warn his sister. Katy followed him, she wasn't letting go of what she just saw her "best friend" did.
"I've been by your side for half your life. I get that there are things you don't want to talk about, and I don't want to push. BUT A GUY WITH A FREAKING MACHETE FOR AN ARM JUST CHOPPED OUR BUS IN HALF, SHAUN! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?"
Shaun was hesitant at first to let Katy know what was going on, he might have been afraid that Katy would reject him if she knew who he really was. But to his surprise, Katy insisted on going with him to Macau so he could explain everything on the plane.
After revealing everything to Katy about who he was and his past on the plane (Well almost everything. He lied about not pushing through in killing his mother's murderer), Katy still accepted him and stayed by his side through the adventure.
Now he has the assurance that his best friend accepts him, he started wearing his jacket on its reverse side, showing the yellow/blue inlay. It could mean he somehow also had accepted his secret identity, and it was time for him to show the world who he really was.
However, this is Shang-Chi's hero's journey of rediscovery. He was still unclear of his true self. His auntie Nan in Ta Lo helped him realize that he was a product of all who came before him, the legacy of his family.
"You are your mother. And whether you like it or not, you are also your father.”
"Your mother knew who she was. Do you?
This made Shang-Chi realize that he hadn't accepted every aspect of who he was, especially the aspect that he had killed someone at a very young age. The very reason why he ran away and hid in America to live another life as Shaun.
During Shang-Chi and Katy's conversation besides the lake, he confessed that he did push through in killing his mother's murderer. Which made him realize what Wenwu trained him to become, a killer. Because of this, Shang-Chi was resolved to finally become what his father made him to be. In order to stop his father from opening the gate, Shang-Chi has to kill Wenwu.
But Shang-Chi didn't go through in killing Wenwu, instead, he showed love and compassion for his father. With this act, Wenwu gave his life for his son and gave the Ten Rings to Shang-Chi, which he used to defeat the Dweller-In-Darkness.
When Shang-Chi and Katy returned to San Fransisco, he was wearing a new jacket. A reflection of who he has become, a product of both the good and the bad, working together within him to become the worthy wielder of the Ten Rings.
Shang-Chi's character arc was metaphorically shown by a simple reversible jacket.
If this is what Destin was trying to convey, that's a really cool touch that I didn't realize while watching the movie.
Or I'm just looking at this too much and Shaun just hadn't had enough money to buy another jacket so he went for a reversible one, so . . . . (surge)
Anyway, it's fun to speculate. Thanks to Director Destin for pointing this out.
(Note: Sorry if my grammar is a bit wanky. English isn't really my first language. I keep adding some thoughts here as I go. But the premise of this meta-analysis is the same.)
I love that even after everything is over and Xialing adjusts to a new life, she brings Jon Jon along. Her chaos companion!
Post Credits Scene under the cut!!!
So, I figure that Jon Jon has been cleaning things up back at the Golden Daggers Club while Xialing was off with Shang Chi and Katy, saving the world.
Now, Xialing is taking over the Ten Rings. By her side are Razor Fist (her Dad's right hand who will help get her up to speed) and Jon Jon. Jon Jon has some business experience since he helped her set up the Club, but he's also her best friend. She gives him a smile as she settles in.
Jon Jon shares her smile, but then realizes he's supposed to be important and serious now, and copies Razor Fist's stance. It's adorable.
Jon Jon's smile.
Realizing it's time to be serious.
Serious face Jon Jon.
I wanna know all about Xialiing and Jon Jon's adventures. Was he the first person she met that actually tried to help her when she set off on her own? I need to know more.
Shang Chi: screaming Hotel California lyrics in a random karaoke bar with Wong and Katy
Meanwhile, Xia Ling: taking over the ten rings, rebuilding the entire organisation with a trained army of elite men and women, adapting technology and modernising the entire thing
I can’t even enumerate all the ways I loved that Marvel finally gave us realistic heroes who ride the bus and sing karaoke on work nights. Shang-chi and Katy were pretty much strictly platonic buddies throughout the whole movie. I would have been happy with that! Up until the funeral scene, all their scenes together could’ve passed off as best friends supporting each other (yes, even the post battle hug).
I wouldn’t have shipped these two if not for the 2nd to the last GIF. The sequence of this scene was made deliberately. We get a shot of the first gif and then a shot of the sea and then second gif. Based on Shang-chi’s tilted shoulders, he actually offers his shoulders to her and, for lack of better words, he just cuddles her with his face and really looks at her. Ying Nan’s words (”A thousand years ago and a thousand years from now, we will always be together”) seem to add another layer of meaning in this scene.
To top it all off, the freakin’ dragon forms a heart!
Shang Chi perfectly captured that estranged (Asian) family dynamics like the entire relationship between Shang Chi and Wen Wu was just portrayed so well?? They’d fight, clearly losing their tempers at one another, but they obviously care about one another a lot. That evident pause and stiffening in Shang Chi’s shoulders when he reunited with his father, their foreheads pressed together??? When Wen Wu was caught and that passing down of something so precious to his son, as a last goodbye, a sort of apology??? I’m just
The Shang Chi and Katy scene that really sealed the deal for me that this was an honestly wholesome relationship I’ll root for regardless of whether platonic or romantic was during the bus fight scene. When Shang Chi first kicks the bad guys’ asses, he hurriedly turns to Katy and just asks her, with so much genuine worry and care, “are you okay?”. Like. The concern evident in his voice, the tiny frown, the sad apologetic eyes, IM?? THE TENDERNESS??? SIMU LIU REALLY GOT TO ME
titsay
kianamaiart
baratheonpilled
pixelskylines
izzy806
origamiaround
