The Hunt for a Chinese Princess
Once again, the topic of Mulan. However fast-forward from 1998 to 2018 — a new time for a new version of the story of Fa Mulan, the warrior princess, twenty-years after its first debut. Disney is recreating the original animation film into a live-action, much to the joy and disdain of fans. Though little information has been released about this highly-speculated and anticipated project, the few bits of information we do know is this: 1) there were rumors that the male lead is white, and 2) the writers of the screenplay are white.
To address the first rumor, Disney claims that this is false. And I believe it. Once the public caught wind of this potential casting choice by the studio, the Internet went nuts. Petitions appeared to “Make Mulan right” and people were already prepared to boycott the film, before it is even made. No studio would be stupid enough to proceed with a casting choice that goes against the very nature of the film. Yet…it’s been done before. Example a) The Great Wall of China, b) Ghost in the Shell, c) The Last Airbender, ecetera ecetera. Even if Disney may have been considering a white male lead, I do not think they’ll continue to consider it. At least I hope not.
With that being said, the story itself has (been confirmed!!) to be written by white writers. Though on-screen representation is important, especially because the actors are the visual representations of their characters, behind-the-scenes representation is equally important. I understand it’s hard to recruit diverse writers considering there are so few in the industry (another problem for another time), but it’s a problem when white writers are writing the history, the fate, and the representation of another race. It’s not their story to tell, especially if it’s one that has existed in oral tradition through generations of Chinese culture. Fears of “whitewashing” this Mulan remake are plaguing the public and Mulan fans, so in order to serve them justice, please preserve it in its wholly traditional glory.
To continue, Disney is said to be in the search for an Asian director to helm the picture and an Asian actress to star in it. With first-choice Ang Lee, Academy Award winning director of The Life of Pi and Brokeback Mountain,passing on this opportunity — Disney does not have many options of famed Asian directors left. I can maybe name two more (Justin Lin and Wong Kar-Wai) off the top of my head, but other than that, it seems like we’re all out of options. All I can hope is that Disney takes the chance to invest in up-and-coming directors, like its off-shoot Marvel so brilliantly does. When it comes to the search for a star, there are so many options, and I’m curious to see how the billing list will end up.
This is an opportunity for Disney to lead the path for progressive diversity, if they do Mulan right. And please, I hope they do.
