Diversity and Representation in Media

I think supernatural threat means they can handwave plotholes

"The witch did it!" plus,you know,fantasy appeals to people

Jesus Christ I don’t want this movie. No one seems to understand or care why people loved Mulan.

Either make a historically accurate/authentic Chinese interpretation, or remake the animated Disney version with a cautious eye to removing disrespectful stuff, but don’t try to do both while also completely failing to be authentic or true to the 90s movie people loved.

Edited by wisewillow on May 20th 2019 at 8:13:33 AM

What's the appeal of Live Action Disney movies again?

Besides banking on the nostalgia of people that saw the animated ones?

Prevent rights from lapsing, ignoring the Animation Age Ghetto, and avoiding having to write original scripts.

Plus it means their competitors can't make similar live action films based off the original source material as people will immediately flock to the Disney verison over their own

Edited by Ultimatum on May 20th 2019 at 3:40:12 PM

Using Bai Jing Gu feels hilariously wrong. I get why they might be wary of reusing the Huns because it's not historically accurate (since the movie is set during the Han Dynasty it makes more sense for them to be the Xiongnu, which the Chinese dub uses) and because the depiction definitely leans on xenophobic tropes. Mongols wouldn't make sense either unless you change the time period to something much later like the Tang. But the best solution in this case is to portray the Xiongnu with more nuance and remove those more unfortunate tropes, not to replace them with a completely nonsensical choice.

Edited by AlleyOop on May 20th 2019 at 3:02:32 PM

If Mushu the dragon is in the live-action remake, they probably figured, "Why stop at a dragon? Throw in a witch too."

I also get why they're reluctant to use the Huns from the original movie. Depicting the villains of the film as a faceless horde of Big Scary Foreigners with yellow eyes, sharp bestial claws, and Bad Guy Darkened Skin is pretty much a guaranteed controversy no matter what ethnicity they're supposed to be. And it would be pretty much impossible to notice in live-action.

I'd predict literally every race getting offended, save for about half the white people who are like, "Chill out, guys, it's just a movie. At least wait until it comes out to see if the mindless ravenous black-asian vampire-monsters are portrayed respectfully. Geez."

So I can understand not wanting to walk blindly into that blatant representational minefield.

This. However. Does not sound like the right way to go about avoiding that problem. As is so wearily often the case, Disney's heart is in a good place, but their brain is tone-deaf as f*ck.

Disney is like a crotchety old grandpa who knows that racism/sexism/etc. is a thing, but doesn't really get it, and is now trying to explain it to his grandkids who've actually experienced it. They try, but their attempts keep sounding an awful lot like, "Don't be mean to the blacks; it's not their fault that they're violent, it's just how God made 'em."

Edited by TobiasDrake on May 20th 2019 at 1:18:47 PM

It's Asians fighting against other Asians. Just portray him like a war lord. God knows that there are enough Chinse movies with a set up like this. As long as they don't make the mistake to throw in a heroic white character, it would most likely be fine.

Like the love interest Italian merchant who totally isn't a Marco Polo expy?

Probably, yes. But again, this is Disney. Their reaction to having a potentially offensive Asian character has always been to chuck the baby out with the bathwater and just replace the character wholesale.

Even when actual Asian people are all but begging them not to.

This is consistent with their established pattern of behavior.

Oh, for f*ck's sake, are they seriously planning on adding a Canon Foreigner white dude just so he can stick his dick in Fa Mulan instead of a Chinese military office?

Like, I'm not against erasing the Mulan/Shang romance 'cause authority-figure romances are creepy as f*ck. But I am against throwing in a white dude to fill the role instead. It feels....

I don't know, it's hard to explain. Like sexual imperialism or something. "You know what would make Mulan better? If she were banging white bros. BOOM, BEDPOST NOTCH!"

It makes me think about the cultural fetishization of Asian women in white cultures when I should be thinking about how badass and awesome Fa Mulan is.

Edited by TobiasDrake on May 20th 2019 at 1:52:39 PM

Yeah, there was talk about that but I seriously, SERIOUSLY hope that they have gotten away from that. Frankly, if they feel too, well, icky about the notion of a romance between Mulan and Shang, just leave the romance be. It was barely a thing in the animated movie either, and mostly about making perfectly clear in the end that Mulan still has the option to marry if she wants to, no matter if she behaves female enough.

Edited by Swanpride on May 20th 2019 at 12:53:57 PM

That was a script that Disney allegedly bought just to keep it from being made. Which...good, but how many great Chinese epics are about warring armies. Hell, Lu Bu would fit better than this fantasy warrior. (Yes I know he’s from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, that’s my point.)

Edited by Beatman1 on May 20th 2019 at 3:54:56 PM

Oh thank god!!! I was really worried about that. I mean, who the hell is even stupid enough to write a story like this nowadays, never mind actually filming it?

According to wikipedia, Mulan's love interest is Cheng Honghui "a confident and ambitious recruit who joins Commander Tung's unit. Initially a rival of Mulan, he eventually becomes her ally and love interest."

And in defense of the Shang/Mulan relationship, she gets kicked out of the army so she isn't his subordinate towards the end of the film.

Edited by windleopard on May 20th 2019 at 1:39:52 AM

Technically he is her subordinate towards the end of the movie.

She's a civilian by then... she has no rank whatsoever

I like Shang and Mulan dammit; I’m mad they’re creating some other character.

Also: Does that mean we won't get a shirtless scene? Scandal!!! I want my eye candy!

Just like the live action Dumbo movie their live action Mulan will not have a trace of the cartoon adaption its based off,except maybe one scene

If I recall correctly, the new military love interest dude is described as being a jerk to Mulan until he learns she’s a woman, then starts getting all crushy on her.

Because Disney saw Shang become a bi icon just for being nice to “Ping” and were like “nope, we can’t have dudes being chummy to other (presumed) dudes! Too much gay!”

Edited by Tuckerscreator on May 20th 2019 at 2:22:26 AM

...

Lovely.

Well there’s the problem right there. I bet people going “bi icon!” gave them cold feet when it was supposed to be about trust and stuff like that.

So the message they want to send is, it's ok to treat someone like crap, until you find out that person's actually a woman?

Being kindness apparently = gayness I suppose. That makes sense.