seriesofnonsequiturs:

lightspeedsound:

himapapaftw:

lightspeedsound:

himapapaftw:

lightspeedsound:

PLEASE stop yelling about how I can’t “apply western feminism to a Chinese movie.”

THAT IS SUCH BULLSHIT.

DISNEY PRETTY MUCH LEFT CHINESE CULTURE IN THE DUST ON THIS ONE.

About the ONLY SIMILARITY this bitch has to the Chinese myth is the name fucking Mulan.

That movie is a PIECE OF CRAP in terms of sensitivity towards Chinese culture. Or accuracy. I MEAN HELLO JAPANESE FLAG AND A WEIRD TRIVIALIZATION OF ANCESTOR VENERATION AND WHY THE FUCK IS MUSHU NECESSARY? SHE DON’T NEED HIS FUCKING HELP OH MY GOD I’M SO ANNOYED RIGHT NOW. 

a;sdlkfas;dlkfjas;dfkja;sdlfjkasldfj.

omg seriously

dude mulan was never meant to be accurate

haven’t you noticed that NONE OF DISNEY’S ADAPTATIONS ARE ACCURATE

inaccurate adaptations include:

• mulan
• sleeping beauty
• the little mermaid
• pocahontas 
• snow white
• the princess and the frog
• and many more!

if disney made accurate adaptations then half of the movies would have to be rated pg-13 or higher because the original stories are usually REALLY FUCKING GRAPHIC

and disney took liberties with mulan because the target audience wasn’t eastern people, it was western people, so naturally they’d include more western ideals and things

and if they screwed up here or there then that’s called a fuck-up and every movie has them

so pls calm down mulan’s a great movie and so are the rest of disney’s movies

oh look guys

“Disney really changed things because they wanted to make it for white people even if it’s really Chinese and they screwed up and it’s racist but it’s soooo still good so you need to stfu”?

WHERE IS THE LOGIC WHITE PEOPLE.

first i’m not white genius get it straight

secondly this movie is targeted at five year old american children who would’ve been too confused had they made it ~*EASTERN IDEAS ONLY*~ so they compromised and did a mix of both eastern and western culture (how is that racist fandom secret it’s not)

my stepdad loves mulan and he’s chinese so i’m p sure it’s not that big a deal

Ok, this is the last time I’m going to address these same dumbass arguments again, so here we go:

1. I’m sorry that you are not white and I called you white. But you’ve still internalized racism and you’re defending a racist movie just because it’s for kids.

2. And also I’m going to point out that there are CHINESE AMERICAN CHILDREN. And you’re equating “American” with “White”

3. I’m not saying “Eastern ideals only.” Quite frankly, I think that’s also a really sort of racist thing to say. I’m saying, “they could have at least made an effort to be historically and culturally accurate.” I fail to see how MAKING SURE THEY DIDN’T EQUATE JAPANESE AND CHINESE CULTURE is somehow an exclusively “Eastern” ideal.

3. Good for your stepdad.  There’s also a lot of Chinese people out there who fucking hated the movie. Are you seriously pulling the, “this one POC I know says it’s ok, so it’s ok?”

Fuck that. Guess what? There were Black people who fought on the side of the Confederacy.  There were also Chinese people.  I’m sure that these POCs who did so actually had very specific circumstances, but there is no way that you can tell me, “this one Black guy fought for the Confederacy, so I’m sure their ideology was OK.”

4. Also, what the fuck, “it’s made for kids so anything more accurate would be confusing.” You know what’s confusing? Melding all these different Asian cultures and stereotypes together to form something that is not even REMOTELY close to reality. Personally, I don’t know how many times as a kid I had to answer questions from my friends that were based on stereotypes. Especially after Mulan.  Not only was there the stereotypical, “Do you guys really eat dogs?” question…there was also, “so like Chinese people hated women right?” question. So don’t tell me it’s less confusing. It’s more confusing, because it’s a bunch of racist bullshit. 

One of the best papers I ever read about the Disney movie Mulan is: 

Mulan Disney, It’s Like, Re-Orients: Consuming China and Animating Teen Dreams by Sheng-Mei Ma

In any case, yes, Mulan is definitely not a Chinese movie. It was made in the USA by a USA company about Chinese people, not made by Chinese people. 

Yeah, it’s a kid’s movie. Kids watch it. Why isn’t it important to decode the message that kids learn? That’s why I hate the “chill out, dude” comments

I love Mulan (I know, I know…it’s just got such catchy music!) - I also know that it’s racist and transphobic. Mulan draws on so many Westernized markers of Orientalism: the Ancestors, Mushu the dragon (even the name Mushu which Americans will instantly associate with butchered Chinese i.e. mooshoo pork), honor (Asian portrayals wouldn’t be complete without the word “honor”!), extended martial training scenes, ect. 

(Note the moment when Mulan sticks her chopsticks, an Orientalized marker of “Asianness” straight up into her bowl of rice, another marker of Orientalism, resulting in a very rude display. If Disney had taken 5 seconds to do a cultural consult, they would have nixed that in the bud. But Disney doesn’t really care.)

There’s no mix of “Eastern” and “Western” ideals - the entire movie is a Western ideal. Disney Mulan is a Westernized idea of what “Eastern” ideals would be like. 

For example, what is the movie about? The movie is about a teenager (or young adult) finding her path. That’s a Western ideal. Coming-of-age films are a Disney specialty. 

However, in most Chinese versions of Mulan, the emphasis on the story is often about her loyalty to her family, or about her patriotism to China as an adult - not as a kid trying to prove herself.

Also the transphobia in the American version: that the three comic relief characters cross-dress for laughs to sneak into the Emperor’s palace - but of course the main love interest wouldn’t suffer the “indignity” of dressing in women’s clothes! 

Additionally, the American version of Mulan makes a bigger deal of Mulan’s “cross-dressing” including several comments of the Ancestors showing their displeasure (at the beginning when one of the Ancestors says something about how her granddaughter has become a “crossdresser”) and also to where Mulan almost gets her head cut off when she is revealed. Whereas, if you watch the 2009 Chinese version of Mulan, it is still a big deal that she’s in hiding, but when she’s finally revealed, there’s a fairly smooth transition - it’s like whatevs. And nobody in the movie makes a comment of disapproving of her plan because it’s crossdressing, as in crossdressing itself is something to be ashamed of - rather, it’s only a plot point that heightens her danger.

And don’t get me started on the portrayals of the “Huns”

Anyway, I love talking about and analyzing Mulan (any Mulan).