It wouldn’t be a Disney remake it weren’t embroiled in some controversy.
From the manufactured outrage over the Little Mermaid reboot to the devastated disappointment with the new photorealistic Lion King, Disney has generated a lot of press, not all of it good, from its new films.
But now Disney isn’t just destroying your childhood by turning your beloved cartoon lions into unsentimental CGI. It might also be getting a little too cozy with Communist China. The Walt Disney Company is under fire for its new Mulan film, but not because of the movie itself. Instead, Mulan actress Liu Yifei drew ire for speaking out in support of Hong Kong police in recent protests, and some fans are calling for a boycott of the film.
“I support Hong Kong’s police, you can beat me up now. What a shame for Hong Kong. #Ialsosupporthongkongpolice#,” Yifei wrote last week, according to Deadline.
Millions of protesters in Hong Kong have been staging mass demonstrations for almost a dozen weeks now to protest mainland China, originally for its (since forgotten) plan to extradite accused criminals from Hong Kong to China, and now as a call for more democracy. Yifei, unlike American politicians from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, appears to support the authorities against the people of Hong Kong and their aspirations for freedom.
Who would the real Mulan have supported? According to Chinese legend, Mulan joined the army to save her elderly father from battle. Her success makes hers a classic underdog story, and many see the protesters in Hong Kong as comparable to the scrappy young warrior.
Disney has a decision to make. Before the film comes out March 27, 2020, will it side with Yifei, will it stay silent, or will it speak out against human rights abuses in China? At least Disney itself has not yet expressed support for China, which is more than can be said for other pockets of corporate America.
Tencent Pictures, a Chinese production company co-producing the Top Gun sequel, evidently chose to remove patches representing Japan and Taiwan from Maverick’s vest in Top Gun: Maverick.
While the U.S. grew outraged at Nike succumbing to the woke wishes of Colin Kaepernick, the company had quietly pulled products partnering with a designer that expressed support for the Hong Kong protests. Similarly, Versace issued an apology for selling shirts listing Hong Kong as a nation independent from China.
Disney may try to run from the controversy created by its new star, but it’s worth noting that, even before the blow-up, China’s state-run Global Times had praised the film as patriotic, perhaps more so than the original.
Reporter Li Qingqing wrote that “in Disney’s 1998 animated Mulan, Americans intentionally weakened the patriotic spirit and intensified gender equality and female independence. Isn’t this ‘bowing to’ Western ideology? If Disney wants to appropriately tell the story, patriotism should and must be included.”
It may be no coincidence that Mulan’s lead has been outspoken against protesters in Hong Kong, as Disney appears eager to appease Chinese audiences this time around. It’s not just changing its market, though. If Disney is going to praise the today’s China rather than honor the nation’s history, then audiences should avoid the theaters. They’re better off watching the original instead.
