June 2022 Marvel launched the new miniseries “Ms. Marvel” portraying a Muslim Pakistani-American teenager as the newest superheroine of the marvel universe, and the world is loving it.
Not only is the representation joyful but the actual portrayal has been described as everything Muslim-Americans have been look for. The show fails to adhere to the Muslim women stereotypes that have been pushed in film and media over many years.
Unique Plot Points
The plot begins with 16-year-old Kamala Khan from Jersey City who is an avenger’s mega fan. She struggles to fit in through out her life until she gains powers of her own from a family heirloom, a magical bangle.
It is interesting to see the character as a Muslim.
“She is also a regular South Asian Muslim teen who goes to mosque, performs wudu or ritual ablution before praying, sometimes wears traditional attire called shalwar kameez, dances to Bollywood numbers at her brother’s wedding, and breaks curfew to hang out with her buddy Bruno Carrelli at AvengerCon.”
Portrayal of Representation
Many people are praising the show for it’s amazing portrayal of Muslim-American teenagers as accurate and normal compared to representations in the past. People note that she does not wear the hijab, like many Muslim-American girls, an her family is unapologetically Muslim.
It is refreshing to find that children can grow up with superhero’s that look like them and they can look up to.
“For too long Hollywood and the media have relied on reductive, one-dimensional monolithic characters, as well as lazy sign-posting, Kamala … represents a huge number of Muslim females who don’t wear a headscarf and aren’t consumed by angst over their faith – nor do their white friends need to liberate them from the oppressive structural patriarchy supposedly inherent in Islam.”
Rifat Malik, who runs American Muslim Today