[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/review\/to-watch-or-not-to-watch-the-mulan-boycott-explained\/#NewsArticle","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/review\/to-watch-or-not-to-watch-the-mulan-boycott-explained\/","headline":"To Watch or Not to Watch? The \u2018Mulan\u2019 Boycott: Explained","name":"To Watch or Not to Watch? The \u2018Mulan\u2019 Boycott: Explained","description":"Renewed furore arose after Mulan’s release on Disney Plus, on 4 September. A week later, the hashtag #boycottmulan is still trending on Twitter, and the phrase is the first thing that pops up when #boycott is googled. Here\u2019s all you need to know about the controversy. The story It centres around two politically sensitive Chinese […]","datePublished":"2020-09-15","dateModified":"2022-06-28","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/author\/jinghui-lean\/#Person","name":"Jinghui Lean","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/author\/jinghui-lean\/","identifier":80,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/36e39702c73c3c857df80f84338b03ff5cd11dc3013d188ed184667222c42c3d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/36e39702c73c3c857df80f84338b03ff5cd11dc3013d188ed184667222c42c3d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"TheHomeGround Asia","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/photo_2021-07-22-222533.jpeg","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/photo_2021-07-22-222533.jpeg","width":640,"height":640}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/1599971327391_118838679_236934314310169_1961821998463910739_n_Moment_28129-min.jpg","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/1599971327391_118838679_236934314310169_1961821998463910739_n_Moment_28129-min.jpg","height":900,"width":1600},"url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/review\/to-watch-or-not-to-watch-the-mulan-boycott-explained\/","about":["Review"],"wordCount":885,"articleBody":"Renewed furore arose after Mulan’s release on Disney Plus, on 4 September. A week later, the hashtag #boycottmulan is still trending on Twitter, and the phrase is the first thing that pops up when #boycott is googled.Here\u2019s all you need to know about the controversy.The storyIt centres around two politically sensitive Chinese issues \u2014 the clash between pro-democracy protesters and police forces during the Hong Kong riots, and the treatment of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, China.The former came into the spotlight when the movie\u2019s lead actress, Liu Yifei, re-tweeted a post on Weibo, a popular Chinese social media platform last year. It read: \u201cI support Hong Kong\u2019s police, you can beat me up now\u201d. \u00a0She then added the hashtag, #\u6211\u4e5f\u652f\u6301\u9999\u6e2f\u8b66\u5bdf, which roughly translates to \u201cI also support the Hong Kong police\u201d.MediumBack in summer 2019, it coincided with the eruption of protests over a bill that would have allowed for Hong Kong citizens to be extradited to Mainland China, according to The BBC. Amid an already combustible situation that had divided the world into police versus protesters, the action drew ire and swift condemnation by online dissidents, as it was seen as support for police brutality.Fast-forward a year later, past the virus that decimated the movie industry and delayed the release of the live-adaptation movie, to the second issue of contention. As Hong Kong activist, Joshua Wong, continued to lead the charge to boycott the movie, tweeting, \u201cThis film is released today. But because Disney kowtows to Beijing, and because Liu Yifei openly and proudly endorses police brutality in Hong Kong, I urge everyone who believes in human rights to #BoycottMulan.\u201d, viewers noticed something else that put the film under international fire.In the ending credits of the movie, special thanks to the \u2018Publicity Department of CPC Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Committee\u2019 and the \u2018Bureau of Public Security in Turpan\u2019 was given, which spurred criticism that the filmmakers had chosen to shoot in an area identified with human rights abuses. In Xinjiang, more than a million Uyghurs \u2014 a predominantly Muslim, Turkic ethnic group \u2014 have been reported to be detained in \u201cre-education camps\u201d, with leaked documents alleging enforced sterilisations, mass labour, and indoctrination.As a result, the movie has again come under public scrutiny, and calls to boycott the movie have intensified. According to CNET, some have tweeted that support for Mulan is tantamount to being complicit in human rights violations, and individuals with influence, like novelist Jeannette Ng, have joined the call for boycott and censure.The larger storyNot all are jumping on the \u2018cancel Mulan\u2019 bandwagon, and some publications have provided additional context on the background political climate to consider.Pieces by Time and Medium suggested the incident with Liu Yifei is part of a larger trend where support among Chinese entertainers for the government is the norm. As Medium argues, \u201che can cancel her life way faster than you can cancel her movie\u201d. Time further corroborates this, reporting that \u201cmost Chinese entertainers have either voiced support for the government or refused to comment either way on the protests\u201d. Lay Zhang Yi Xing, a member of K-pop group Exo, and Jackie Chan were cited as two of such other celebrities, but they\u2019d been subjected to much less fanfare.The New York Times also explains the diplomatic game Disney is forced to play in the name of business, regarding the ongoing saga once the credits rolled. It was a major oversight for a minute of background footage in the 1-hour-55-minute film, but apologising for the Xinjiang credits now could anger China and get them shut down for future releases (remember China’s feud with NBA?). As politics continue to taint almost all aspects of life, it seems Disney is but another in a line of companies ensnared in the political quagmire between America and China.The effect on the box officeWhile the boycott trended on social media, according to Deadline, its initial debut in a handful of countries still went strong. Mulan brought in $5.9 million in revenue over the past weekend alone, after opening in Croatia, Czech Republic, the Middle East, Slovakia, Turkey, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. In Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, the movie trended at number one, and The Straits Times reported that Mulan received the \u201chighest opening weekend take of any film so far this year\u201d.In China, the main market the film has been targeted at, Mulan leads this opening weekend, albeit to smaller numbers than expected ($8.26 million on day one). An exclusive report by Reuters suggests why \u2014 it could have been a ripple effect from China\u2019s decision to ban media coverage of the movie, right before its release. It seems the #boycottmulan movement might have contributed to this, as sources speculate the order was due to the negative publicity from the film\u2019s links with the Xinjiang region.The conclusionIn China, the political fallout does not seem to have put people off, more than the movie\u2019s lacklustre reviews (4.9 on China\u2019s Douban; 75% on Rotten Tomatoes) and widespread piracy issues. According to Al Jazeera\u2019s feature, Shanghai cinema-goer Gao Wen Xing summarises, \u201cWe should not make art political\u201d.It begs the question: Would the controversy have caught on as much if the movie had been lauded in reviews?"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Review","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/review\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"To Watch or Not to Watch? 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