All the recent talk about the new Marvel superhero
being Filipino or FilAm or Filipinx—Specifically,
Captain America, following up on the premise
delivered at the conclusion of Avengers:
Endgame as the shield is given to Sam Wilson.
Furor, though, over the name this character is
given—Ari Agbayani, private school scholarship girl,
hair bobbed & uniform-skirted. Short, too,
if you look closely at the sketches. She's bent on
justice for her best friend, but does it really
kick audiences in the face if they can associate
"labia, genitalia," with "Ari?" I'd like to know
more about her: like, does she know how to use a tabo?
need to eat rice at nearly every meal? This
ordinary girl— does she know anything about the
People Power revolution that toppled Marcos,
quelling the old corruptions at least for a while?
Remember that other guy who draped
stars & stripes over his shoulders, held a walis
tambó affixed to a shield to join the January 6
uprising in the Capitol? Since Ari's described as
vigilante-like, would she have swept this
wannabe Captain America into the Potomac?
Xenic cultures of rabid flag-smashers,
yelling deranged slogans— A world that teeters on
zombification, desperate to replicate heroes.