The new Doctor Strange movie is in theaters today, starring Elizabeth Olsen as the Scarlet Witch, so I thought it would be a good time to remind everyone of few very important facts about Olsen and her character.
Wanda Maximoff, created in 1964 by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, is depicted in the Marvel Comics source material as a Romani woman. Wanda's background and ethnicity were initially ambiguous, and her backstory was not fully established until the late 70s/early 80s. By 1983, however, it was clearly established that Wanda's biological mother was a Romani woman, and that she was adopted by a Romani couple and raised in their culture. The exact details of Wanda's origins have been retroactively changed many times, as is typical for superhero comics, but these core elements of her birth, upbringing, and racial background have remained consistent for over forty years. [x] [Avengers #186 (1979); Vision & The Scarlet Witch v1 #4 (1983); V&SW v2 #5 (1985)]
The Romani people are part of a diaspora which originated in South Asia, in what is now northern India and Pakistan, who have endured systemic racism ever since their arrival in the West. That history includes slavery, continued displacement and ghettoization, disenfranchisement, and attempted genocide. During World War II, Romani and Sinti Europeans were targeted on a similar scale to the Jewish population. [x][x][x]
The modern Romani community is widespread and has become both racially and culturally diverse, particularly in Europe, where our largest and most concentrated populations reside. Although there are many Romani people in the world who may pass or present as white, they are not the majority. At the end of the day, the Romani diaspora is NOT of white ethnic origin, and are recognized as a racialized minority in Europe.
Much of the history I just described is reflected in Wanda as a character. She was raised in a migrant, working class family which experienced racist discrimination, and her birth parents, in most stories, are Jewish and Romani Holocaust survivors. The language and imagery in these stories is flawed and problematic, but the history they represent is real and important-- and it's also underrepresented.
Beyond that history, though, Wanda's character is inextricably to her ethnicity and culture. The name "Maximoff" is a Romani family name borrowed from a real-life historical figure, as are "Mateo" and "Django," which belonged to members of her immediate family. Wanda's relationship to witchcraft is also colored by her background-- divination, folk medicine, and yes, even spellcasting, have historically served as family trades for Roma when more conventional employment wasn't available. Wanda's mother and uncle came from such a family, and Wanda actually inherited the "Scarlet Witch" title from them. Elizabeth Olsen is playing a character with an ethnic Romani name whose history, life experiences, and even her powers are all deeply tied to her Romani identity-- but Elizabeth Olsen is not Romani.
The problem is bigger than a fictional character's identity, though. The erasure and distortion of Romani history is is a major factor in real-world anti-roma racism-- it breeds ignorance and creates obstacles for advocacy. Superhero movies won't fix that problem, but they don't have to contribute to it, either. Moreover, many of the people who have worked on these movies-- including Whedon, Park, and even Olsen herself-- have knowingly exploited racial stereotypes or used racist language to develop this character. Even though the character has been divorced from her origins, she is very much laden with anti-Romani racism. [x][x][x]
Please take time to read and share this information. It's really important for people who consume popular media, like the MCU, to acknowledge when that media perpetuates racism. If you like these characters, please, be an ally to the real people they represent.
Donate to the ERIAC/ARCA fundraiser to support vulnerable Romani communities in Ukraine || Support two of my favorite Romani podcasts and their activist/educational work [x][x]
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