Marvel Studios’Ms. Marvelis immersing audiences in the world of Kamala Khan, a 16-year-old Pakistani-American teenager exploring her newfound superpowers. While it could just be a coming-of-age story about a teen hero, Kamala’s world is shrouded in bits and pieces of her culture and religion. Her best friend, Nakia Bahadir, is dealing with a similar scenario, and one conversation between the two friends in episode 2 stands out as describing their struggles in simple terms.
The two best friends inMs. Marvelmay be growing up in New Jersey, but they are culturally different.Iman Vellani’s Kamalahas Pakistani roots, whereas Yasmeen Fletcher’s Nakia comes from a Turkish family, as confirmed in the comics. The two characters are what many would refer to as third culture children or kids, which as Merriam-Webster defines, is “a child who grows up in a culture different from the one in which his or her parents grew up in.” They often struggle to fit in due to their cultural or religious beliefs, and Nakia manages to voice the situation effortlessly.
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Duringthe second episode ofMs. Marvel, the two friends are seen having a heart-to-heart about life and the struggles of being a teenager. Kamala has just learned that she can shoot cosmic beams from her hands, and is unable to control her power. When her nose begins to glow in class, she runs to the washroom to hide. Nakia follows her there, and even though her assumption about why Kamala is hiding is off the mark, the two friends are seen bonding over their personal struggles.
The conversation begins with Kamala revealing that “everything is changing really fast.” That is a concern that most teenagers have in high school, and it has no cultural implications. But, Nakia’s parents not being able to “make eye contact” with her because of her hijab, the headscarf, is a different story. Her revelations about howgrowing up in a society that did not align with her cultureis the true definition of being a third culture kid. On one hand, she is trying to keep up with her everyday life, but on the other, she has to deal with her parents’ judgments about her choices, based on their culture.
“My whole life I’ve either been too white for some people, or too ethnic for others,” she says. She refers to the whole situation as a “very uncomfortable, sucky in-between.” This situation is relatable for anyone who has grown up in a country other than the one their parents are originally from. While third culture kids try very hard to fit into their current environment, they either look different, have a different skin color than the mass population, or are too “ethnic” by the traditional standards in the country. To deal with the situation, Nakia decided to put on the hijab, but it didn’t exactly solve the problem.
She reveals that when she first wore it, she “was hoping to shut some people up.” However, when people’s attitudes remained the same, she soon realized that it didn’t even matter. “I kinda realized I don’t really need to prove anything to anybody. When I put this on, I feel like me. Like I have a purpose,” she says. It’s great that Nakia has managed to deal with the situation, despite being a third culture child, because many of them usually end upexperiencing racism and Islamophobiafor a long time. It doesn’t help that the representation of minorities in mainstream media isn’t the most positive as well.
For years, South Asian or Muslim characters have been designed around racist stereotypes. Anyone from India or Pakistan in Western cinema speaks with an accent, and is often shown as clueless about certain policies or world issues. In the past decade, the involvement of Pakistani and Indian actors has increased in Hollywood, with them scoring relatively more meaningful roles. But, unfortunately, most are still shown as the villains, terrorists, or the extreme opposite, nobles of some sort. There seems to be no balance. However, what many studios are missing out on is the fact that many of the South Asian actors have either studied or lived in the West at some point in their lives, and many are even raised here. So, while they appear different, they carry similar ideologies.
Being raised in New Jersey,Kamala’s life inMs. Marvelis obviously influenced by her surroundings, friends, classmates, and many external factors. She is well aware of the culture of her land, and is just a teenager who is trying to come to terms with the sudden changes in her life. The only difference is that when she is at home, her family says “bismillah” before starting a task or says “Assalamu alaikum,” which literally translates to “peace be upon you,” when greeting their fellow Muslims. To judge her based on these traits and form racist stereotypes would be unfair, because at her core, she is just a girl living in New Jersey.
So far inMs. Marvel, Kamala’s ethnicity and race have not been a huge part of the narrative. Yes, she wears a necklace that is her name in Arabic, but she isn’t called out for it, or ostracized for her faith. However, inserting Nakia’s experience into the narrative was an important decision on the part of Marvel Studios. While racism isn’t overly exposed in the series so far, the conversation between the two friends confirms its existence. The underlying issue does still exist, and while these two young girls are just trying to be themselves, they are being considered as outsiders by both sides. Their so-called friends believe them to be “too ethnic,” whereas their own families believe them to be “too white.” It isalready difficult being a teenager, what with having to figure out their lives at such a young age, but dealing with the judgment of those around them for what they believe in can be a difficult experience. And this is something that everyone who has ever been a third culture child will entirely relate to.
