China’s gag on media coverage and global calls for boycott have made Disney’s Mulan the most politically consequential movie of 2020.
The Chinese government has reportedly banned major media outlets in China from publicizing the release of the latest Disney live-action movie, “Mulan.” The ban follows outrage over the film’s links with China’s Xinjiang region, where China is accused of massive human rights abuses against the Uighur Muslims.
The ban on coverage could prove to be a big setback for Disney, which had set its eyes on the China release. The movie, based on a Chinese folk take and starring big-name Chinese-born stars — Jet Li, Gong Li, Donnie Yen, and Liu Yifei — had tested well with Chinese audiences. Disney had worked hard to ensure that the blockbuster had was tailored to appeal to the native Chinese viewer in the world’s second-largest movie market.
The live-action reboot, which has already been viewed by millions online has received a below average score of 4.8 score out of 10 on popular social media reviewing site Douban. The poor or mixed reviews online coupled with limited capacity in theatres due to coronavirus precautions were already being considered likely to weigh on Mulan’s box office performance even before China’s coverage gag order on media outlets.
Overseas boycott calls for the lavish $200 million production came when viewers spotted that Disney had included a ‘special thanks’ to the Xinjiang government in the credits. Parts of the film have been shot in this remote region of China, where ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims minorities face tremendous persecution. China’s suppression of Muslim minorities has been severely criticized by global human rights groups and some governments, including the United States.
According to an exclusive report by Reuters, four people familiar with the matter informed the news agency about China’s Mulan media coverage gag order. Here is an excerpt from the story:
“Three sources told Reuters, media outlets had received the notice, two of whom said it was sent by the Cyberspace Administration of China. A fourth source at a major Chinese newspaper said he received a text message with a similar order from a senior colleague. No reason was given in the notice, but the sources said they believed it was because of the overseas backlash over the film’s links to Xinjiang.”
The authorities mentioned in the film’s credits included eight government entities in Xinjiang – including the public security bureau in Turpan, a city in eastern Xinjiang where multiple incarceration camps have been reported. The credits also included thanks to the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda department in Xinjiang.
#BoycottMulan Calls Over Hong Kong Protest Backlash
Mulan has been mired in international controversy for some time now. In 2019, Chinese-born American actress, Liu Yifei, also the live-action film’s star, first angered fans with comments supporting Hong Kong’s police who cracked down on pro-democracy protesters. During a period of unrest, Ms Liu shared a picture from the government-run Beijing newspaper People’s Daily on Weibo that read ‘I support Hong Kong’s police, you can beat me up now’.
Immediate backlash followed her comments. #BoycottMulan” started trending on Twitter, a site banned in China. In a series of tweets, prominent human rights activist, Joshua Wong claimed that Disney “kowtows to Beijing” and called for “everyone who believes in human rights to #BoycottMulan”.
Trump Administration Accuses Disney, Tech Firms of “Bowing To Beijing”
The US attorney general William Barr made similar comments in July 2020. Barr accused Disney and many US tech firms of “collaborating” with the Chinese government to do business there. Blaming Hollywood studios for routinely agreed to censor films by tweaking scripts and character nationalities to ensure distribution in China, Barr cited the example of Disney. He said the studio agreed to give Chinese government officials a role in managing the theme park it built in Shanghai, only to see a Chinese-owned park open in another city featuring characters that look very much like trademarked Disney characters.
He went on to say that tech giants like Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Apple were “all too willing” to work with Beijing. Accusing them of being “pawns” he warned US business leaders that they’re prime targets for Chinese influence operations. He further warned that with such actions the companies “risk undermining both their own future competitiveness and prosperity, as well as the classical liberal order that has allowed them to thrive.”
Attorney General Barr’s comments are the latest in a series of criticisms of China by the Trump administration, upset with China for the spread of the pandemic.
Tensions between the US and China have been rising over a host of issues. Recently, the US also removed Hong Kong’s preferential trade status, in response to China’s controversial new security law for the territory.
Geo-spatial Controversies Over Films In China
Barr’s comments are not entirely untrue. Disney’s and indeed Hollywood’s disagreements over the content of their films with China is not new. However, the size of the Chinese market is too big a bet for Hollywood studios to ignore. Hence, they have agreed to tweak their content or face a blanket ban.
In 1997, Chinese officials shunned Disney for backing Martin Scorsese’s Kundun. The movie focused on the life of exiled Tibetan monk Dalai Lama, and the Chinese occupation of Tibet. China even banned Scorsese and screenwriter Melissa Mathison from entering the country.
In the same year, China also singled out two other films, banning cooperation with Hollywood studios that produced them. The first, Seven Years in Tibet (Columbia TriStar), also depicted Dalai Lama’s story and China’s military takeover of Tibet. MGMs Red Corner, starring Richard Gere as a businessman falsely accused of murder in Beijing, was also red-flagged. China said the films “viciously attack China {and} hurt Chinese people’s feelings.”
In 2016, Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange came under fire for casting Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One, a Celtic mystic. Director Scott Derrickson explained this as a move to avoid Asian stereotypes. Marvel later issued a statement saying, it “has a very strong record of diversity in its casting of films and regularly departs from stereotypes and source material to bring its MCU [Marvel Cinematic Universe] to life.”
According to the film’s co-writer C Robert Cargill, the casting decision was prompted partly by the racist nature of the original character and partly by the problem of having a character based in Tibet, over which China claims sovereignty.
Watch: Doctor Stranger co-writer C Robert Cargill explains the decision to cast Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One | Double Toasted
Global Calls Against Human Rights Abuses Against Chinese Muslim Minorities
While Trump administration’s criticisms may be politically motivated, human rights groups, academics and journalists worldwide have been exposing a harsh crackdown against Uighur and Kazakh Muslims in Xinjiang. Reports coming out of the area reveal draconian crackdowns, mass internment in camps, enforced sterilizations, forced labor as well as intense religious and movement restrictions.
After initially denying that the camps existed, China later started describing them as “voluntary re-education centres”. Amidst the protests, Chinese state-run tabloid Global Times, criticized the backlash against Mulan describing it as ‘another manifestation of the extreme ideologies regarding China among US public opinion.’
Mulan will likely release on more than 40 per cent of China’s screens on Friday, according to data from Maoyan, a Tencent-backed ticketing platform. Chinese theatres are currently limiting capacity, typically at 50 per cent.
