OPINION: Taking the Mickey – Disney too wimpy to stand up for what’s right
It's pure cowardice that a Jewish comic superhero has been made Russian by Disney in the new Captain American movie
Many of us have the privilege of having strong, Israeli and/or Jewish women in our lives. Over the years, we’ve mostly learned not to mess with them. Sadly, Marvel have not got the memo.
The character Sabra, set to be played by Israeli actor Shira Haas, is meant to be a superhero Mossad agent with the alter ego Ruth Bat-Seraph. Original comic book depictions of the character, which began in the 1980s, show a woman with big, curly brown hair and a Magen David emblazoned on her outfit.
But now Sabra has been stripped of her Israeli identity in the forthcoming “Captain America: Brave New World” film. Instead, she has become… Russian.
Seriously.
Lest anyone think this about a post-October 7 backlash, this row has been going on for two years, ever since it was made clear that Sabra would be in the film.
The protestors are one thing. We probably shouldn’t expect any better from people who clearly want the elimination of Judaism and Israel from cultural life and have done so for decades. But from Disney, the owners of Marvel, it is pure cowardice. As the American Jewish Committee posted on Twitter, the move is “a capitulation to intimidation.”
Different iterations of comic book stars have been created in recent years. Indeed, in the film in question, Captain America is going to be Black, played by Anthony Mackie. In some other comic books and TV shows, Ms Marvel is depicted as Muslim – a relatively secular Pakistani American.
Such alterations provide a welcome new perspective on much-loved characters and enhance the Marvel universe. They do not change their fundamentals in the way the repatriation of Sabra does.
It’s easy to dismiss this as just a character in a silly superhero movie. But it shows just how happy major cultural institutions are to wipe away Israel and Isrealiness in the face of pressure. And how weak they are to push back when under pressure of anything to do with Israel and the Middle East.
Don’t forget, this all comes at a time when institutions like the Royal Academy have been forced to apologise for showing artwork that compared the current Gaza conflict to Nazi Germany.
That this Marvel rows is about a female character make its worse, given what Israeli women endured on October 7 and some continue to endure in captivity. That torture, murder and sexual violence was designed to humiliate and denigrate Israeli women, seeing a powerful one in a major movie would have made for a nice moment of relief.
Just because mega-corporations like Disney are too wimpy to stand up for what is right, it doesn’t mean the rest of us have to tolerate Israel and Israelis being removed from both high and low culture.