In recent years, Disney has been finding much success in reviving their animated classics like "Alice in Wonderland," "Sleeping Beauty," "Cinderella," and "The Jungle Book" by turning them into live-action films. In fact, they've been so successful that Disney is scrambling to pump out at least 13 more of them in the near future.
Among those upcoming live-action features is "Mulan," based on the eponymous Chinese legend and released during the tail end of the Disney Renaissance in 1998.
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When news broke back in March of last year that Disney bought a spec script for a "Mulan" live-action remake, it elicited reactions ranging from hopeful to skeptical. People were excited to potentially see the Chinese heroine on the big screen again and/or worried about its Asian representation, worries which were soon heightened by the whitewashing controversies surrounding other live-action adaptations such as "Ghost in the Shell" and "Doctor Strange."
This past week, an anonymous letter posted to "Angry Asian Man" — a blog focused on Asian American news, media and politics — revealed that the "Mulan" spec script that Disney originally bought features a 30-something-year-old white male lead who falls in love with a teenage Mulan and ends up becoming the hero of the story.
"I am deeply disturbed that a remake of the beloved Disney classic rejects the cultural consciousness of its predecessor by featuring a white male lead, once again perpetuating the myth that cultural stories are not worth telling without a western lens or star," the letter says.
"Instead of seizing the opportunity to highlight a tenacious, complex female warrior, this remake diminishes her agency."
Shortly after the letter was published, the contents of the spec script were confirmed by an outside source and the hashtag "#MakeMulanRight" began trending on Twitter amidst frustration and outrage.
So you're telling me they're going to make Mulan a secondary character in her own movie and make it about a white man? #MakeMulanRight
pic.twitter.com/pcfp5NVMQ7
— laura (@ezrsmillers) October 10, 2016
#Mulan isn't a girl-needs-saving love story. It's about HER saving her father, about family & honor - not Hollywood romance. #MakeMulanRight pic.twitter.com/NaEV7eylgS
— Krystal Lin (@lin_krystal) October 10, 2016
Since then, Disney has addressed people's concerns and stated that Mulan will be the lead character and that all the main roles will be Chinese, although the fact that they bought that spec script in the first place was still considered troubling.
Mere days after Disney's statement, it was revealed that Sony is also developing a live-action "Mulan," placing them in direct competition with Disney. As a result, both studios are aggressively searching for Asian directors and initiating global casting calls to find Asian leads for their respective films.
While it's definitely a step in the right direction, the "Angry Asian Man" letter also points out that America already has an abundant source of Asian American talent just waiting to be tapped for this project, criticizing Disney's apparent decision to seek out established Chinese actors instead.
"The fact that 'Mulan' resonated so strongly with American audiences with its all-Asian character lineup and Asian American voice actors is a testament to what this live-action film could accomplish if it would simply trust the successful 1998 form." the anonymous writer explains.
"If this live-action film tries to cater to both the Chinese and American markets without understanding the cultural implications of its creative choices, this film will fall short of both. "
Indeed, back when the original "Mulan" premiered in China in 1999, it was a box-office bomb because of how Americanized it was. Many Chinese filmgoers called the character too "individualistic" and "self-aggrandizing," traits which are frowned upon in Chinese culture.
Even though "Mulan" is rooted in Chinese legend, it's very much an Asian American story and should be represented as such because frankly, we really, really need it.
Although Asian Americans make up a little over 5% of the America's population, a USC study--which evaluated 800 of the most popular films from 2007 to 2015--found that Asian Americans only represented 3.9% of the films' speaking roles.
As an Asian American woman, I remember watching "Mulan" when I was as young as five years old. Since then, Mulan has always been my favorite Disney princess, not just because she's the only Asian one, but also because of her courage, bravery, determination, sacrificial love and how she was able to soundly kick Hun butt, all of which resulted in her becoming the heroine of all of China.
Definitely not bad for a 16-year-old girl.
Even though I'm a Vietnamese American, i.e. definitely not of Chinese descent, I grew up to not be picky about that when it came to movies and TV shows. Instead, I was just grateful whenever an Asian person actually made it on screen, even if they were the butt of the joke and/or were cast in a stereotypical role.
In an industry where people who look like you are still severely underrepresented, you learn to take what you can get, which is downright depressing.
Is it getting better? Yes, slowly but surely, times are a-changing thanks to many Asian American actors such as Constance Wu, Daniel Dae Kim and Aziz Ansari openly fighting for more visibility and taking a stand against Hollywood's excessive tendency towards whitewashing.
However, it's still an uphill battle with a very long way to go, and honestly, I'm pretty fed up with it. I'm only 20 years old and I'm already so tired because it should not be this difficult to see more people that look like me, that accurately and diversely represent who we are as Asian Americans.
This is why it's imperative that Disney and Sony actually listen to what their American audience wants instead of trying to cater to a Chinese audience in the hopes of raking in more money.
Is it really too much to ask for a faithful, live-action adaptation that does justice to one of my childhood heroes?
We're the ones who fell in love with "Mulan." We're the ones who sincerely and prayerfully hope for the best from Disney and Sony.
And if they're really that keen on going big, here's a thought: a realistic, CGI Mushu. Because there's no way you can go wrong with dragons. Minority representation, yes. Dragons, no.
