15 Ways Mulan 2020 is offensive to the Chinese

BabybetterDisney

DIS Veteran
Joined
Apr 14, 2018
1. Ancient Chinese women do not wear their hair loose on the head like modern women.
2. Red clothing is reserved for festive and important occasions, as the red dye is expensive. And nobody would wear red in a war and make themselves a conspicuous target.
3. Mulan’s house is too fancy and her family too rich. If her dad had that much money, he could have paid some guy to go instead of having to send a daughter.
4. The chi does not make anybody a better fighter. It’s the control of chi, achieved through training and discipline, that helps a person maximize his physical potential.
5. An ancient Chinese would never say “I am blessed with daughters/sons” because that’s bragging and against the Confucius principle of humility.
6. Chinese dads don’t hug their grown daughters.
7. Ancient Chinese girls are not supposed to bring honor to the family by fighting in wars. They bring honor by being submissive and weak with their feet bound such that they can barely walk.

8. Mulan went to war to sacrifice her own life to save her dad because the Chinese filial duty principle means one must die to save one’s parents. That‘s honor for the Chinese. (When I explained this to DS14 he said, “You mean like ‘I brought you into this world, and I can take you out’?” I said no, the parents are not supposed to do the work of taking anybody out, the child is supposed to kill himself if the parent desires it. DS14 said, “Can we talk about this?”)
9. Ancient Chinese women do not wear such thick makeup that is practically a mask. That’s a Japanese thing.
10. There have already been several Mulan live action movies made in China. The fact that the American Disney company is also making one is a direct statement that they are better than China at making Chinese movies because they have more money. It’s a cultural invasion and infestation of the West.
11. There are nearly no witches in the Chinese culture, it‘s not a thing.
12. Only the most powerful Chinese gods can change form and turn into animals or objects. The Monkey King can do it, but no human can.
13. The movie is partly made in New Zealand, as if China doesn’t have enough scenic spots to make a Chinese movie.
14. The movie is written by 4 white writers even though Disney could have easily used say, 2 Chinese writers, 2 white writers, to write a culturally sensitive Chinese movie in English. (Or they could have just stuck with the cartoon version. The cartoon version is also inaccurate but not as offensive because it is obviously American, with all the songs and jokes and comical Americanized characters, and without pretending to represent the Chinese culture.)
15. The Chinese are taught from childhood to be extremely proud of their history, tradition, and culture. Any slight deviation from being accurate in depicting ancient Chinese will be taken as an affront.
 
I haven't seen the movie, but wanted to comment on a couple of your points that stood out to me.

(1) I seriously doubt law enforcement agents wear their hair loose, either, but flowing hair on female FBI agents, for example, is often done on TV and movies. Here, let me get my hair out of my eyes so I can aim my gun. Not!

(2) You'd think no one would wear red into battle, but the British did for a long time. Hence being called the Redcoats.

(13) Since I didn't work on the movie, I can't give an accurate answer, but often productions are forced to film in other locations due to time/money/legal restrictions. It's pretty common to see Toronto used as New York City, for example.

(14) I totally agree. This was a huge oversight. Do you know if they had Chinese consultants, at least?

And, finally, this is a fictional movie, not a historical documentary. Am I wrong about that? Is this movie being presented as being a historically accurate representation of an actual event? If not, you know, it's fiction. Fiction is famous for being historically and culturally inaccurate. The real question is: Is it entertaining? I won't find out because I wasn't even interested in the trailers, so spending $30 on it is out of the question for me.
 


And the whole girls don't fight in wars thing is the whole point of the movie. It's not allowed, but she does it anyway to save her father.

I had some other issues with the post, but the footbinding comment was factually incorrect.
 
11. There are nearly no witches in the Chinese culture, it‘s not a thing.

Obviously not familiar with Wuism (Chinese Shamanism dating back to the Shang Dynasty. Possibly earlier, that is just the first written records. Wu can be translated as shaman or sorcerer and the glyph, ancestral to modern is first recorded in bronze script, where it could refer to shamans or sorcerers of either sex.

Your complaints aren't even accurate.
 


Imagine worrying about offending the Chinese when they don't even care about their own people.
 
Obviously not familiar with Wuism (Chinese Shamanism dating back to the Shang Dynasty. Possibly earlier, that is just the first written records. Wu can be translated as shaman or sorcerer and the glyph, ancestral to modern is first recorded in bronze script, where it could refer to shamans or sorcerers of either sex.

Your complaints aren't even accurate.
I agree with the Shang Dynasty bit, Chinese countrysides were also largely shamanistic (nature-based) before converting to Buddhism. Given that Mulan probably grew up in the country (inference based on scene shots from the movie, it's way too isolated for a city), I'd say it's possible for a witch to make an appearance. I'd also argue that there's a good chance that Bori Khan is actually a Mongol. Khan can translate to ruler and it makes sense that they'd be invading as they did invade and overthrow the Song Dynasty of China. Mongols were predominantly shamanistic so it also makes sense if the witch is a Mongol. I don't wanna throw anyone under the bus with this given that this is not something that is widely known, but I wanted to throw it out there.
 
It seems finding things to be offended by has becomes America's favorite pastime. I'm sure if one nitpicks enough they can find something offensive in any movie ever made. Just enjoy letting a movie be what it is without the need to deeply examine its flaws.
 

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