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From Vox: The international controversy over Disney's Mulan, explained
Also, from Disney’s ‘Mulan’ Dishonors a Beloved Folktale ...
From Vox: The international controversy over Disney's Mulan, explained
Some viewers who paid to stream the movie on Disney+ last weekend found something troubling in the credits: Disney thanked eight government bodies in Xinjiang, a western province in China where around 2 million Uighur Muslims have been forced into concentration camps by the Chinese government. It turns out parts of Mulan were filmed in Xinjiang two years ago, well after the world knew about Beijing’s plan to “reeducate” Uighurs with Communist Party doctrine.
That’s simply shocking, as there’s no excuse for Disney executives to have been unaware of the human rights abuses taking place just miles from the filming sites. Plus, the film had courted controversy for some time, as its lead actress last year supported Hong Kong’s law enforcement over pro-democracy protesters, which led to the #BoycottMulan social media movement.
For several years now, China has been systematically repressing its Uighur Muslim minority in that region — subjecting men, women, and children to torture, sexual abuse, forced sterilization, family separation, and brainwashing, among other horrors. They add to the Chinese government’s other abuses, such as banning expressions of Islamic faith.
Even worse, the film credits specifically praise the police security bureau in Turpan, a city in eastern Xinjiang with a large Uighur population. That bureau is tasked with running some of the internment camps, experts say, and was blacklisted last year along with other Chinese law enforcement agencies by the US Commerce Department, prohibiting US companies from selling or supplying products to them.
That’s simply shocking, as there’s no excuse for Disney executives to have been unaware of the human rights abuses taking place just miles from the filming sites. Plus, the film had courted controversy for some time, as its lead actress last year supported Hong Kong’s law enforcement over pro-democracy protesters, which led to the #BoycottMulan social media movement.
For several years now, China has been systematically repressing its Uighur Muslim minority in that region — subjecting men, women, and children to torture, sexual abuse, forced sterilization, family separation, and brainwashing, among other horrors. They add to the Chinese government’s other abuses, such as banning expressions of Islamic faith.
Even worse, the film credits specifically praise the police security bureau in Turpan, a city in eastern Xinjiang with a large Uighur population. That bureau is tasked with running some of the internment camps, experts say, and was blacklisted last year along with other Chinese law enforcement agencies by the US Commerce Department, prohibiting US companies from selling or supplying products to them.
Also, from Disney’s ‘Mulan’ Dishonors a Beloved Folktale ...
To make sense of this, it is helpful to remember that in order to film in China, productions must share their scripts with the Chinese government for approval. Over the last century, the story of Mulan has been a favorite tool for bolstering patriotism and nationalism. The film’s main point, “Do not challenge existing systems of inequality but continue to serve the empire faithfully without question” is one variation on this theme. Is this the message the Chinese government wants to send to young women?
... it is as if a group of white first-year Asian Studies majors got a US$200 million budget to produce a film on Mulan for their semester final project — knowing just enough to get themselves in trouble, but not enough to realize the gravity of their errors.
... it is as if a group of white first-year Asian Studies majors got a US$200 million budget to produce a film on Mulan for their semester final project — knowing just enough to get themselves in trouble, but not enough to realize the gravity of their errors.
