I don't see a problem with either the Mandarin in general or his rings in particular; as far as the latter are concerned, they're not magic--they're extraterrestrial power sources (the Mandarin found them in the crashed starship of a dragonesque alien) that he channels towards particular effects.
And as far as his role, The Hurting eventually got around to what I would have thought was pretty obvious: the Mandarin stands against American/Western hegemony, and if he affects the style of an imperial bureaucrat, it's because he wishes to discard the vestiges of Maoism. He's no more racist than an Englishman who affects Victorian style, or anyone else from any other culture who affects the regalia of a previous era. Done right, it might be debatable as to whether he should be considered a villain at all.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-05-29 08:04 pm (UTC)And as far as his role, The Hurting eventually got around to what I would have thought was pretty obvious: the Mandarin stands against American/Western hegemony, and if he affects the style of an imperial bureaucrat, it's because he wishes to discard the vestiges of Maoism. He's no more racist than an Englishman who affects Victorian style, or anyone else from any other culture who affects the regalia of a previous era. Done right, it might be debatable as to whether he should be considered a villain at all.