It’s a live action remake of a superior animated movie with better acting, better music, better plot, better characters and better colors.
Also it’s 30 dollars.
The one where the entire thing was filmed on someone's basement green screen?
i will never willingly hand over currency to the disney corporation
except to play lego star wars
The only purpose of these shitty live action remakes is to extend Disney's literal century-long IP copyright on certain folk tales
I'm boycotting it as an ironic statement on how boycotting doesn't work.
im not paying $20 for a movie I wont even supposedly own (at least on itunes or amazon you have the illusion of owning it and you don't have to keep paying a subscription just to watch it), it's just early access and it's insane, especially in these times. Also they took out mushu, I can't believe they did my boy like that...
It's the cinematic equivalent of yellowface.
While watching it, I was aware I was looking at an entirely Chinese cast, but for some reason, it felt like they were speaking the words of a mid-40s Los Angelino working on a tight turnaround deadline. So I googled who was behind the camera, turns out it's these people.
Now I understand why they think Qi is pronounced like "Chi", and why they think it's actually Star Wars Force Magic and not a real Chinese cultural concept that might be interesting to really explore. No, in Mulan, Chi can make you fly and shape-shift into anything you want, even thousands of tiny scary bats!
Also, Mulan starts out as the most powerful person in China, but everyone is sexist. The world must learn to actually respect Mulan and stop being sexist. To do this, Mulan uses her force powers to cause avalanches and then ride down them on a horse. Also she can fly and is 10 times better with a bow and arrow than Legolas. This proves to China that women are equals and Mulan is declared the Emperor's top badass. So it's China that has the character arch, not Mulan. I'm sure that's not condescending to Chinese culture at all.
I had no idea that they made mulan a marvel superhero this time, fantastic
They also use Chi to remove agency from anyone. Only special people who are born with high Chi matter. They get that from their ancestry. Therefore hereditary power is good and just.
I read a review that said this is basically Rise of Skywalker and does the same "devotion to the source in a way that shits all over the source's themes."
^^^ so far the only good critique of the new Mulan movie in this thread.
At least in the animated Mulan movies there was no Chi, she just made that avalanche with a rocket. (using 'Chi' not 'Qi' to specify the movie version)I've not yet watched this new Mulan movie, but...
This also reminds me of the odd politics around LGBT and 'born this way'.
Another example is from the fun and creepy series Sabrina, where Dorothea Putnam is a transmasculine ancestor of Theo Putnam who is also transmasculine.
Since the new Mulan movie is apparently also more transmasculine, rather than femme woman just doing whatever it takes, I wonder if that is some of the underlying ideology.And obviously, genetic or familial components of queer identity are quite well documented, as shown by twins and siblings separated at birth.
I think what is also curious about this idea of inherited Force/Chi is in comparison to this quote "Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires."
Much of super hero culture is the complete opposite, not about worshiping some special other, but that everyone can become a super hero; this is most explicitly stated in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which also a totally queer coded movie.
In some sense, one could think of 'born this way' as an intermediate stage in the process of LGBT acceptance and propaganda. First we argue inevitability, only then is there eventually enough representation to argue for acceptance and pride.
I'm not saying this step-wise process is the best way to go about attaining queer liberation, but this is what has been often applied in practice.Also the way ideas like Force/Chi and ancestry operate in different cultures; India vs China vs USA, it totally different.
And in a more communal or egalitarian contexts, it can be read almost as "construction of a cathedral", which is a multi-generational process.
Force/Chi then can be a representation not only of genetic, caste, or financial inheritance, but also as the inheritance of effective ideology and shared struggle.Anyway, I should probably just watch the fucking movie before trying to defend it any further.
There is a huge world of difference between Born this Way and Inherited Power.
Like the good X-men comics are about how anyone in the world can be mutants, and also later generation mutants are mutants but don't inherit their parents powers (I really hate those for some reason). The Last Jedi tried to make being strong in the force NOT about the Skywalker bloodline, like it tried to push that this family being important and powerful was more due to each individual's actions, not a bloodline, and Rey being powerful was well, and random other people. Rise of Skywalker undid all of that and made it so only the SPECIAL people can be special.
I think it's a narrative that tries to instill helplessness in people. Don't rise up, don't fight because only the people who "Matter" matter.
This is reflected in our politics of dynasty politics in America.I also enjoy Legacy-heroes to a certain extent, as they can be interesting takes on ideas, but I like the idea of "in the right circumstances, anyone can become a hero." in All-Star Superman, there is a bit where Lex gets the power and is evil.. but after a bit, he suddenly stops as he is able to suddenly see the beauty in the world the way Superman does. Something about the idea that if most people are given power, they would try to do good for others if it's within their power, and that the world is structured to help us care, it was uplifting as fuck.
Original Mulan had nothing special about her, aside from an attitude of a different perspective and a comedy relief dragon. Any of the other soldiers could have done what she did, but what matters is that she DID. Making her the hero because of what she is versus what she does is shitty. It's pretty weird that the new Mulan seems more like a Super-hero movie than a fairy-tale.
Yeah, I don't want to defend anything about Rise of Skywalker at all.
You're certainly right about how that functions in 'democracy with dynasties' and American politics.'Original Mulan' was a legend not a movie, but I'm just being pedantic.
Making her the hero because of what she is versus what she does is shitty.
This is curious though, because if not for being a woman, Mulan would not be widely known at all.
Many hero stories are about something like that, how 'unlikely' people did amazing things.
That whole 'the chosen one' thing is almost by definition about 'unlikely' people; so once again The Phantom Menace really is the best Star Wars movie.I should go to bed.
I would say go see for yourself, but to be honest it's not worth it. I'm not joking, the movie is absolute trash, even without the "controversies". It's embarrassing that Disney made this.
From trusted sources, I've heard that it's not even at the level of B-movie Chinese dramas.
And they really fuck up the cultural context of Mulan and its feminism - the point of Mulan was that she liked sewing and all that "femme" stuff, and also decided to fight in the war. When she came back from it, she happily wore flowy dresses and things like that again. The live action movie tried to make it seem like all of Mulan's problems would be solved if she were only a boy. Like, the fuck. That's not the point???
Also, fuck disney.
I really loved the animated Mulan movie, especially as a transwoman and having to do 'boyface' for so many years.
I have not seen the new Mulan movie yet, so I have no idea if it is really any good.
But that doesn't matter, they are totally allowed to just tell another story, and as I see Chinese culture today (admittedly from an outsider perspective), a transmasculine type of narrative is much more radical and necessary.
There are quite rigid gender roles in Confucianism, such that in China being binary transgender is socially more accepted, but being anything non-binary can be more difficult.There does not have to be one true Mulan story or interpretation. These stories have meaning to many different people for many different reasons.
And I'm pretty sure I've watched a video arguing basically this, possibly Lindsey Ellis, but I'm not sure.I was going to reply with a long comment, but it got deleted near the end, so here's the short version: Disclaimer, I am not trying to argue with you or tear you down etc.
Ofc they can tell another story, but I can definitely make the argument that this is a deviation, and not a good one either. I mention culture, because they clearly don't get what "Chi" is, nor the concept of honor in chinese society. Yet they bring it up, incessantly.
I would also say that as a chinese person, it is rather insensitive to say that Chinese culture needs Disney to provide some transmasculine or non-binary narrative, and that non-binary-ness is somehow radical to China. It ignores the very rich and old history of non-binary identities in Chinese mythology. For instance, the most well known Buddhist figures in China is 观音菩萨, or the "Goddess" of mercy in english. They are not explicitly labelled as male or female in chinese, and gender neutral terms are used for them. Their statues, temples, figures, pendants, drawings etc. are everywhere in China. I have several pendants of them myself.
One of the eight immortals in Daoism is 藍采和, who is also very well known for being not explicitly male or female. They were known for touring china, singing philosophical songs, and carrying a basket of flowers. The scene of the eight immortals are also very well known, and a common literary and artistic motif.
Beijing Opera has a whole lot of trans-masculine and trans-feminine roles. For instance, young female roles (但) are often played by men, and male roles (生 and 净) can definitely be played by women. I am not making the argument that these actors ARE trans, but they are definitely queer coded/fluid. A C-drama called winter begonia is about the romance (?) between a guy who plays said feminine roles in Peking opera, and another dude. Apparently, it's pretty good!
So ehhh, I wouldn't say Chinese culture needs non-binary/trans-masculine/trans-feminine narratives. It would certainly be nice to see more, but it is not somehow necessary, nor is it "radical"??
I hope that was informative for you, and again, I'm not trying to attack you.
If you ever log in to this account again, I watched that Mulan movie and have some odd theories about it.
Would like to get input from someone more familiar with Chinese language and culture.
I'm "boycotting" Mulan in the same sense and for the same reason that I'm "boycotting" Lamborghini.
Disney produces trash now, every movie has to make $1 billion or more, so they all become this assembly line manufactured garbage. The real life remakes are the worst in this regard, they are pointless products and exist only to be a "safe" cash cow, building on nostalgia.
Not only that, but a lot of movies are made explicitly to be "international". Wonder why so much of a Marvel movie's screen time is frankly boring action scenes? Because that works better for an international audience, the less dialogue the better.
Not seeing a movie doesn't count as political activism. One of the few half-decent comments I saw on one of the mess of posts about this dumb idea.
Yes it does. Boycotting a movie reduces their profits, reduces its cultural reach, and reduces producers incentives to make more of the same.
Edit: even if you commented ironically, many people don't read it that way, and actually believe that crap. Why do you think JK Rowling actively sues people about it if a boycott were not effective?!
And just think how few people are actually boycotting JK Rowling. Simply the fact of doing it, as visible protest, even if it does make a difference, is still activism.
It is just like how Marx/Lenin wrote about electoralism: the point is not to win, but to vote for the socialist candidate so they get more media exposure, so other people know they have political allies.In addition, boycotting is a type of activism for which you have to do effectively nothing, so in terms of cost-benefit that is damn efficient.
Also I am totally going to watch the Mulan movie, probably pirated, but definitely seeing it.
She sued them because she's petty and didn't like being called a transphobe. You think that kids news website was hurting her bottom line?
Not getting into whether boycotts work or not, they obviously do sometimes and don't sometimes but that Rowling example isn't good.
When she sues other publications that are also calling her transphobic, but do not also call for a boycott (and are within UK jurisdiction), then maybe I would consider taking your worthless critique here seriously.
And the BBC for example specifically does not call her or her tweets transphobic, instead only quoting other people think that.
You think that kids news website was hurting her bottom line?
It obviously was, perhaps marginally, but that is not the point. In so far as you personally do not support that boycott, her proactive suppression of that sentiment is now protecting her bottom line.
And for fucks sake, how do you not understand that chlidren's news websites are exactly what affect her bottom line the most. It is precisely children that beg parents to spend money so they can watch movies or read books.
That is why most toy advertising targets children, not the parents who actually buy those toys.Yea I'm really going to take issue that children's news sites are going to hurt her bottom line the most. I get that kids are her audience but they're not all exactly waiting in line to read children's news sites. This billionaire or almost billionaire or whatever she is will not lose a penny from that site, it's almost comical to think otherwise. The lawsuit she was threatening would cost more.
Here's an article where she threatened to sue a trans person who wasn't organizing a boycott. We can do this all day. Just be critical for a second and take a deep breath no one's attacking you. https://604now.com/jk-rowling-lawsuit-coquitlam-transgender-activist/
9 times out of 10, when I see people saying boycotting isn't activism, or no ethical consumption under capitalism so why bother being vegan, it is just because they do not want to do it.
