Disney’s Live – Action “Mulan” film is official and the staged petition against whitewashing is flooded with 90,000 signatures and counting.
When the remake of the famous animated classic was announced last year, it stirred controversies causing fans to express their concerns about casting preferences.
According to Variety, Former Sony Pictures executive Doug Belgrad will co-finance 6 Sony movies that include the reboot of “Mulan” as a live – action movie. The project intends to shoot in China with a Chinese associate and a mostly Chinese cast members.
The live-action "Mulan" movie is based on an aged Chinese legend about a historical figure Hua Mulan who presumed her father’s role in the army. She is titled as one of the highly skilled warriors China has produced.
Metro noted that petition organizer Natalie Molnar highlighted that “casting white Caucasian actors and actresses in roles originally meant to be characters of colour” exhibited a “direct and harmful impact” on both the film and its viewers.
“Whitewashing implies that people of colour cannot be heroes (although they may at times be villains or supporting characters), leaving it far more difficult for countless children around the world to see themselves in the stories they love and think that they too can make a difference.”
“It perpetuates a standard of beauty and goodness wherein whites are considered the ideal and norm despite that not only are Americans diverse, but the entire world is,” Molnar elaborated.
It is just right to uphold multi -cultural sensitivity when applying the live version of the film. The cast and crew have to be highly considerate of the diversity that we have on a global scale.
Matt Damon’s new film “The Great Wall” was also blamed of whitewashing the history of Chinese.
Film makers indeed should draw the lines in choosing the actors that will play pivotal roles as they may affect the standards of the movie industry especially the legacy and customs of various nations.
