Episode 96: Geek Girl Reviews Mulan: The Good, The Bad, The Controversy
Disney’s live action Mulan is out! And oh wow has it caused a controversy. We took one for the team, gave it a complete watch, and come armed and ready to discuss it all: the good, the bad, and the terrible.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock (or off Twitter, kind of the same thing), you’ll know that when Mulan was first announced – just about this time last year – there was a lot of controversy! It was announced just about the same time as the Hong Kong protests we covered in episode 53: Geek Discussion: Hong Kong Protests, Blizzard Entertainment, & Cancel Culture.
Lead actress, American-raised Yifei Liu, shared a post on Weibo (a Chinese social media site) that she supports the Hong Kong police. To sum up, what she shared said, “I also support Hong Kong police. You can beat me up now. What a shame for Hong Kong.”
Okay, we have two ways of looking at this statement. Either she’s pro-China and doesn’t support Hong Kong’s protests for independence or as a fairly prominent Chinese actress, she’s being very careful about what she’s saying so as not to incite hatred against herself and her career.
In more recent controversy, because YES, there’s more! Disney filmed many parts of Mulan in Xinjiang, currently making history for the horrible human rights atrocities against over 200 million Uyghur Muslims. Concentration camps, forced sterilisation, and murder topping the charts, here.
Should Disney have chosen these locations to film in? What solutions are out there when it comes to Disney as a company, our consumer dollah dollahs, supporting or boycotting China, and enjoying the damn things that we love.
Speaking of – did we love Mulan or nah?
We both think there was a lot of good in the film… but a lot of MEH, too. Visually breathtaking, a serious lack of sing-a-long, but definitely something here.
What did you think about Mulan? Or maybe you decided to boycott it? Whatever you’ve done is the right choice FOR YOU and we support you!
Let us know all of your Mulan thoughts. We want the good, the bad, and the very, very bad. Let us know in the comments on the episode page!
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If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please check out some of our others!
- Geek Discussion: Hong Kong Protests, Blizzard Entertainment, & Cancel Culture
- Geeking Out About Diversity & Representation in Pop Culture: Aladdin, MIB, Shazam!, & More!
- Geek Interview: Literally Surrounded by Dudes with ZiggySera
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Geekily yours,
Amanda & Monika