The Mary Sue: Yesterday, The Hollywood Reporter announced that the live-action adaptation of Disney’s Mulan finally found its lead in Chinese actress Liu Yifei, also known as Crystal Liu. Even more impressive, the people in charge of casting went out of their way to ensure that they got an ethnically Chinese actress.
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Creative teams and casting directors that don’t go through the trouble to find the right actor of color, specifically Asian American or Asian actors, to fill a movie role has always frustrated me beyond belief. Movies like the Lone Ranger, with Johnny Depp (who says he’s “Cherokee”) playing the lead Native American, or like Ghost in the Shell, with Scarlet Johansson playing Motoko, a Japanese character, are simply lazy and whitewash an entire culture. Like the article says, the excuses for casting decisions like this don’t cut it, such as saying no “big” actors of the character’s ethnicity were available. There are so many actors of color in the industry that can fill all of these roles. I’m so happy that Disney went through the process to actually find a Chinese actress to play Mulan; the character will be so much more powerful and I’m excited to see casting directors in Hollywood follow suit.
It is aggravating that when this story made headlines for actually having an Asian actor, as if it were some type of miracle that a film that has a huge budget about a Chinese protagonist and society actually has a Chinese actors. When I first heard rumors of Jennifer Lawrence playing Mulan my eyes rolled to the back of my head and nodded my head in yet another example of Hollywoods screw-ups, so this is a step up I guess. In society, and particular in the entertainment industry Asian actors tend to experience the largest amount of both backhanded and blatant racism. Films like Doctor Strange, which messed up big time, continues to deny the amount of disrespect that was mused in every aspect of planning, writing, casting, filming, and advertising the film. Another thing this article brings up is how Hollywood tends to sum up any Asian character by choosing actors from an entire continent of vastly different people rather than the country that the character is actually from. I hope Mulan, contains more than just one actually Chinese actor in a film that takes place in entirely China. It's an awkwardly sad day when Disney has to somehow set the bar for how Asian actors and characters should be treated on film, in 2017.
I hate the fact that this is news. It is ridiculous that we are celebrating Mulan being played by a Chinese woman. The story of Mulan is based on a Chinese legend. The whole point of the story is a Chinese woman saving China. I’m not saying it isn’t exciting that they’re not only not white washing Mulan but also casting someone with Chinese heritage specifically, but I honestly can’t get myself to feel excited about something that should be a given.
Though Weekes mentions hoping the movie is less of a westernized take on a Chinese story than the original animated film, I doubt that will happen. Disney is probably going to be more or less just making a live version of the original Mulan, with all of the culturally inaccuracies that entails. That being said, it would be great if they had some Chinese writers on the team and they actually tried to find a balance between the animated version and being culturally accurate.
Correct Asian representation is hard to come by in Hollywood, and yes, it is easy to say that this is ridiculous, that we should be at a place where casting a Chinese actress for a Chinese role is normal. But it's not normal. And most of it is due to willfull racism in Hollywood. Ava Duvernay outlined this pretty well in her statement in an earlier article on the PTM blog, so I won't get too deep into it. But this willful racism means that I will celebrate correct Asian representation every chance I get. Asians make up most of the world's population, and are a growing minority in the United States. Most of the American representation of Asian culture just doesn't cut it for many Asians and Asian-Americans. Often that means looking to Asian entertainment instead of American entertainment, and I really wish that weren't the case.
I really hope (though I doubt) the new interpretation will stick more to the Ballad of Hua Mulan. I did grow up with the Disney version, but was soon after educated in the original story by both my parents. The differences in the stories are staggering, and it really angers me the distance Disney went to make the story more marketable to American audiences. It is not even the whole trope about bringing honor to one's family (it's not that inaccurate, it's just poorly worded in English. That's really a conversation about what it means to "save face," which could be and is a whole book), but Mulan's comrades' outrage at her being a girl. In the original story, when her fellow soldiers find out she is a woman, they are only surprised, not angry. They immediately accept her as a woman, and celebrate her victories the same way as if she had been a man. What does that say about the message Disney is sending to young girls? That they can be strong in spite of their femaleness? That femaleness is inherently bad, but that can be overcome by presenting masculine? I much prefer the original story, wherein gender plays little to no role.
Stories like this are so uplifting to hear about in a time where there is so much negative news coming out in the entertainment industry. Stories about people making intentional choices about inclusion and diversity and even going out of their way to do so is just great. I think conscious casting like this is so important in this day and age. As opposed to color blind casting (which I think is only appropriate when written in to a show), color conscious casting is extremely important. You can not just ignore someone’s ethnicity when that is so integral to a character’s identity. White washing has been an issue in entertainment for far to long and the only way it will get fixed is serious dedication like this. I have always really liked Mulan as a show and I am really excited to see it being done in a culturally sensitive and appropriate way at a time where things like this are so relevant and necessary to our work as a whole.
As Sydney has brought up, it is very easy to say that it is ridiculous that this is movie casting an Asian woman in the role of an Asian woman and move on. But the fact of the matter is that people of color, especially Asian people, barely ever get proper representation. Think about the amount of times that Scarlett Johansson has played a character that is supposed to be Asian.
The story of Mulan is one that I love because it was some of the formative foundations to me exploring my gender identity along with other stories of cross dressing in Shakespeare's canon. I am excited for this representation of a Chinese woman as fierce and strong rather than docile and submissive. The culture that surrounds Asian women in the eyes of white America is truly disgusting and carnivorous.
The narrative of true Mulan is a narrative little Chinese girls need to see.
Horaay! And also, booo... Horaay because I'm glad that the casting director for Mulan finally grew a spine and cast a Chinese woman as the titular character. Booo because why is this news? Why is this a breaking story? Why is this headline news as opposed to something so commonplace that we barely blink at racially correct casting? The idea that a character as written is then correctly cast seems like such a natural thing that it almost appears that extra effort is used to incorrectly cast characters. This quote from the article from a director: “I work with a lot of different people, and Asians are a challenge to cast because most casting directors feel as though they’re not very expressive,” the casting director allegedly said. “They’re very shut down in their emotions … If it’s a look thing for business where they come in they’re at a computer or if they’re like a scientist or something like that, they’ll do that; but if it’s something were they really have to act and get some kind of performance out of, it’s a challenge.” is actually sickening.
I am very excited about this adaptation. I love the story of Mulan and I think it is important to teach its lessons. not only to asian young girls but all young girls. She is a character that is strong regardless of her sex and does not rely on a man to validate her. I think that yes, it is ridiculous that this has to be news but I think that, because inclusion and diversity is a process, this story should not be dismissed because it should've already been the norm. Having an Asian character correctly cast in a big movie like this is a big step for Asians in the entertainment industry and it is important to draw attention to how important that is. I am not blind enough to think that the industry is completely unbiased in regards to race so I will not blindly ignore such a huge event in the Asian American community. Instead, as Sydney said above, I will take every chance I get to celebrate correct Asian representation. I will not stop celebrating events like these until Asians stop being discriminated against in the media.
I think that, because Asians have the stereotype of being "shy" and "quiet," we are often overlooked in the discussion about race. Hollywood thinks that they can gloss over yellow facing characters because the Asian American community is too "weak" to fight against it. I think this is blatant racism and must be stopped. There are hundreds and thousands of talented Asian writers, actors/actresses, designers, and directors in America. The only reason that they are not given roles written for them is because the Hollywood machine refuses to acknowledge them as part of a synthetic mainstream.
Side note: I love the actress they casted for Mulan. She starred in one of my favorite Chinese dramas.
I’m not a casting director, nor do I pretend to be one. I appreciate Disney looking for a Chinese actress to play Mulan. The most important part of which, I think, is that the actress has the skills to do so. The article also poses questions not just finding actors from specific cultures, but writers and directors as well. I’m not sure where I stand on this. There are nuances of certain cultures that one has to be a part of to understand, but I’m not sure that makes it necessary to have writers or directors from that culture. I can also understand where the search for an actor might include the ability to speak English. However, I don’t think that should be the focus – especially if you’re talking Disney money. If English dialog is critical, then the producers could hire voice and dialect coaches. Or they could subtitle the dialog if it isn’t “perfect English”.
Well I am hopeful too, that Disney will finally get it right and cast appropriately. It is hard for me to believe that in 2017, we can not find any Asian Americans who can also sing and act. If its true and we can find not one person to fill rolls appropriately then its a bigger problem than who is getting casted. With all these reputable school producing Tony, Emmy, and Grammy awards we can train enough Asians to play the parts of the stories we want to tell. I also that it was a good point to bring up the fact we need to be higher racial appropriately directors and design teams for more films. We need to stop “Americanizing” our films and show the actual stories in the actual contexts of said story. This would be a really amazing feat if Disney could make this happen.
I am very glad to hear that Disney “managed” to find a Chinese actress to play Mulan in their live action remake. I say “managed” because it really should not be that hard or uncommon a thing to do. However we all know that Hollywood loves to whitewash ethnic roles, always claiming that they could not find anyone or that the people they did find were not good enough or “bankable”. Because what screams ancient China like Matt Damon with a bow and arrow. But now Disney is on a step down the right path. This is a good thing, and hopefully they do not go back to their former ways. But we will see. I really hope that Hollywood can stop whitewashing and move on with the times. I hope that at least by the time I am retiring this issue will have been resolved, but even that could be too long. Or maybe we will still be having this issue. Only time will tell.
I breathed a sigh of relief as soon as I read this headline. Yet at the same time, it was incredibly disheartening to be reminded that whitewashing in American film and television is still so prevalent today that this story would make headlines. While I am happy that the casting directors went out of their way to ensure they were accurately casting a Chinese actress, I don't necessarily think they should be applauded and praised for this act. Culturally and ethnically accurate casting should be the norm for film and television studios across the world. While not only blatant racism and whitewashing is apparent in films such as Aloha and Ghost In the Shell, colorism is extremely present in cinema today as well such as some telenovelas. It was time long ago to cast movies and TV correctly, and we need to push this effort even more as representation for minorities is so critical. That being said, reading this article also made me even more excited to see the movie.
Although I am very happy that Disney has decided to cast a Chinese actress for the live-action remake of Mulan, it is a little sad that this is somehow groundbreaking news. We all know that Hollywood has consistently white-washed many major roles that should have gone to Asian performers, but the most shocking part to me was how blatantly racist what some of them said were. In the article it said the one casting director said of Asian actors that, "If it’s a look thing for business where they come in they’re at a computer or if they’re like a scientist or something like that, they’ll do that; but if it’s something were they really have to act and get some kind of performance out of, it’s a challenge.” It is honestly baffling to me that this is still a real view that people hold in 2017, as it is just so ignorant and completely devalues their talent. Perhaps as time goes on an representation gets better these people will become less obtuse, but the reality is that it is going to take awhile if people are refusing to cast Asian actors in the first place.
I love that Disney is really trying to get it right with this new live action movie of Mulan. Not only have they found a Chinese actress of the right ethnicity but they are hoping to follow the eastern ideals that are portrayed in the story instead of following more western ideas that were pushed in the animated princess version. In the animated movie, Mulan takes her father’s place, and is shown dealing with a lot of internal conflict while an eastern idea would be focusing on the love between daughter and father as she takes his place. I am curious to see how they will pull off this movie in battle as well. I really hope they are able to keep it from being incredibly brutal and bloody like what most movies are like today because I think Mulan is focused on a lot more than just the battles.
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