deerstalker

Originally published on Just Add Color

Disney is continuing its live-action bent by making the rumor of a live-action version of Mulan movie true. The studio officially announced that the film, based on the studio’s animated 1998 hit, is in the works. Cue the anxiety, and rightfully so; Asian characters are the least showcased group in movies and in television. The penchant for Hollywood to not only showcase Asian characters, combined with their penchant to whitewash and cast white actors as leads in movies with mostly Asian casts, such as Matt Damon’s The Great Wall, has many people already upset at the prospect of Disney ruining a live-action Mulan film.

To that end, nearly 90,000 people have already signed a petition asking for proper casting when making this film. Social media reacted to the news of the film and the petition like this:

Mulan petition gets nearly 90,000 signatures over casting fears

The petition and the sheer amount of signers will hopefully get Disney’s attention. To go along with that, here’s some free advice to Disney when creating this film.

1. Actually cast Chinese and Chinese-American actors. Specifically Chinese and Chinese-American actors.

This seems like it would be common knowledge, seeing how the film’s story is one from Chinese legend. But you never know about Hollywood; they cast Scarlett Johannsson as The Major in Ghost in the Shell after all.

It’s also heavily important that Disney specifically hire Chinese and/or Chinese-American actors. Hiring Asian actors who aren’t Chinese reinforces the idea that the pan-Asian experience is an interchangeable one, when it’s not. Korean culture isn’t the same as Japanese culture, which isn’t the same as Chinese culture. Also, interchanging one Asian actor with another is quite offensive: many Japanese were offended when 2005’s Memoirs of a Geisha cast its main leads with Chinese actresses—Ziyi Zhang, Michelle Yeoh, Li Gong, Tsai Chin. There’s also quite a number of other non-Japanese Asian actors in a film depicting a Japanese story.

Folks on Twitter have given tons of free casting advice to Disney:

Teresa Ting and Wu Yifan as Fa Mulan and Li Shang RT if you agree pic.twitter.com/XAlpdeRt5v

— rina (@chateaupcy) September 13, 2016

since yall seem to think that korean or white ppl are the only ones for mulan, here are some CHINESE actresses pic.twitter.com/6qm8DFyfPD

— im tired (@kcyface) September 12, 2016

Why in the world would u cast jennifer lawrence as mulan when China has the stunning Fan Bingbing???? pic.twitter.com/nKVEtT71x6

— vera. {AgustD} (@shinsengummy) September 12, 2016

It would behoove Disney to actually look at the suggestions and cast accordingly.

2. Hire Chinese consultants (and actually listen to them)

From my cursory research, it is unclear if Disney actually used consultants adept in ancient China, particularly the Tang Dynasty (one of the dynasties it’s believed the Legend of Hua Mulan comes from, as it’s not exactly clear which dynasty the story originated). But if going by this portion of the film’s Wikipedia page says anything:

In its earliest stages, the story was originally conceived as a Tootsie-like romantic comedy film where Mulan, who was a misfit tomboy that loves her father, is betrothed to Shang whom she has not met. On her betrothal day, her father Fa Zhou carves her destiny on a stone tablet in the family temple, which she shatters in anger, and runs away to forge her own destiny…In November 1993, Chris Sanders, who had just finished storyboard work on The Lion King, was hopeful to work on The Hunchback of Notre Dame until Schumacher appointed him to work on Mulan instead…Acting as Head of Story, Sanders grew frustrated with the romantic comedy aspect of the story, and urged producer Pam Coats to be more faithful to the original legend by having Mulan leave home because of the love for her father…This convinced the filmmakers to decide to change Mulan’s character in order to make her more appealing and selfless.

It’s that they either didn’t have consultants or decided against learning from their counsel.

Also showing Disney’s lack of trusting consultants is how dangerously close the “matchmaker” makeup looks to Japanese geisha makeup, as well as the fact that Disney had also hired consultants for their 1995 hit, Pocahontas. However, they didn’t actively use the consultants to make a more historically-accurate film. To quote The Los Angeles Times back in 1995:

“This is a nice film–if it didn’t carry the name ‘Pocahontas,'” says Shirely Little Dove Custalow McGowan, a key consultant on the movie who teaches Native American education at schools, including the University of Virginia. “Disney promised me historical accuracy, but there will be a lot to correct when I go into the classrooms.”

Sonny Skyhawk, founder of the Pasadena-based Ameriacn Indians in Film, is peeved that the film’s producer ignored his offer of help. “With few exceptions, the movie industry hasn’t got it right,” he explains. “And Hollywood has a long track record of not letting us see the product until it’s too late to make a difference.”

If Disney wants a live-action Mulan film to become a success, they should heed the word of Chinese consultants who will be able to steer them in the right direction. Just because Disney is the most powerful studio in the country, if not the world, doesn’t mean it knows everything.

Related: Recapping #WhitewashedOUT and the excitement for “Crazy, Rich Asians”

3. Take the Disney-isms out of this film

This sounds pretty pointed, but all of the quirks that Disney puts in its films need to be gone from Mulan. Disney consistently works from the viewpoint of middle-aged, straight white men “old boys club.” This point of view is something that ailed Pocahontas, The Princess and the Frog, and in some ways, Mulan itself, even though they thankfully had the ability to see that Tootsie was not the right way to go with Mulan. To combat this, Disney needs to wake up and see the world outside of its mouse-eared tower. Disney needs to get in the trenches with this film, and make not a Disneyfied version of China, but a family-friendly tale that still adheres to its traditional Chinese roots. Basically, Disney just needs to do its best to make a faithful representation of a centuries-old story that also highlights a well-rounded representation of an often-stereotyped and underrepresented group. It isn’t a lot to ask, in all honesty. The commitment to do this, though, is what’s often the toughest thing for studios to adhere to.

BONUS: Address Shang’s sexuality

We gotta talk about this. When did Shang fall in love with Mulan? She wasn’t ever out of drag for long in the movie, so by just timing alone, it would seem that Shang fell in love with Mulan as Ping. Am I right or am I wrong? Can we ask B.D. Wong, Shang’s voice actor, this question? In my headcanon, Shang is either gay or bisexual. That’s the only way the love story can make sense to me.

Related: Queer Coding: Shang (Disney’s Mulan)

What do you think about the live-action Mulan film? Give your opinions in the comments section below! Also, if you like what I’ve had to say about the importance of consulting, sign up for notification of my upcoming character consulting service, Monique Jones Consulting!

The post Disney Should Hire Chinese Consultants for Mulan (and actually listen to them) appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.

Young girls are being body shamed and sent home it sends the wrong message saying there is something WRONG with the way Riri was dressed

The post Calm The F%!@ Down: Marvel’s New Iron Man Riri Williams Is NOT Oversexualized appeared first on The Black Geeks.

I’ve really been enjoying Supergirl so far this season–probably even moreso than the previous one on CBS–but one thing that’s been bugging me since the season 2 premiere is how little we’ve seen Mehcad Brooks as James Olsen. His main purpose in the first episode seemed to be to hang around just long enough to get dumped by Kara and promoted to an interim position as Cat Grant’s replacement, but since then he’s been frustratingly scarce. He wasn’t even in last week’s episode at all!

Thankfully, it looks like tomorrow’s episode entitled “Crossfire” will be a lot more James-heavy–which, frankly, is what he deserves after some pretty unfortunate shuttling off to one side for the first four episodes of the season. If you’re someone who reads show spoilers (like me) or co-hosts a Supergirl-related podcast (also like me), then you know James has been given a role which may or may not be good for his character depending on how it pans out. At the very least, it’s going to seriously increase the number of action scenes he gets to do–but I won’t say any more than that if you’re still trying to stay mostly oblivious to spoilery bits.

Based on the sneak peek above, James is going to be able to start holding his own–even though I’m not sure trying to punch out a bank robber holding a gun is the best way to jump into the fray. To add insult to injury: his camera also gets completely smashed! Supergirl, on the other hand, isn’t having a great time against the souped-up weapon that their leader is wielding–which leads me to believe that the sinister group Project Cadmus might have had a hand in giving them an upgrade.

Other than James refusing to sit on the sidelines, it looks like Mon-El is going to be getting a job at Catco. The jury’s still out for me on this guy–mostly because I don’t want him to be Kara’s new love interest after the show did such an atrocious job of handling her romance with James, but also because I don’t buy it. Besides, based on the promo he’ll probably be too busy hooking up with Miss Tessmacher? (I think that was her.)

What are your feelings on season 2 of Supergirl so far? Are you shipping Alex and Maggie as much as I am?

—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—

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A great way to discover the heart of a city—the cool cafes, eclectic boutiques, authentic restaurants, art districts, etc. is to go to the places the locals go. Forget about carrying outdated guide books around town or trying to figure out if a website travel review is from a tour operator or legitimate traveler, several start-ups have created apps to link tourist with local people who can provide first hand experiences about what to eat, see and do.

[Related: 5 Reasons Why Millennials are Traveling to Trinidad and Tobago]

1. Localeur –  Features a community of recommendations from locals on the best places to eat, drink and play. Simply download the app and gain access to a community of recommendations on everything from where to find the best dim sum in New York to the best boozy bars in New Orleans. Recognized as one of the top apps for travel by the Today Show and Forbes, the app is in 14 major U.S. cities with plans to expand to as many as 25 cities by the end of this year.
2. EatWith – Encourages people to have dinner with strangers in foreign countries. With locations around the world including the United States, Russia, Turkey, Japan, Budapest, and Hong Kong to name a few, the eat with app is a perfect digital companion, especially if you’re traveling solo. Here’s how it works: First, the EatWith team interviews each host (currently only 4% of chefs are accepted). Chefs range from professionally trained, Michelin-starred chefs to home cooks. Then guest browse unique experiences and book their seat for brunch, lunch or dinner.
3. HeyLets – A social city and travel guide with recommendations in over 90 countries. Unlike most review apps and sites, the app is filled with positive reviews only. In less than 200 characters users can review beautiful photos and videos that provide insight into what’s happening around town. And, you can follow people whose experiences inspire you, create a wish list experiences that you want to try and earn status points when people wish list your posts.
4. Feastly – Whether you’re looking to explore the Hawker Food Stalls in Singapore or taste Filipino-inspired tapas and cocktails in San Francisco, Feastly offers shared dining experience in unique locations around the world.
5. Grouper –Matches you and your friends with other people who have similar interest. Here’s how it works: Based on your preferences, Grouper uses a scheduling tool to find a time and location. Take note, this is not a dating site. It simply takes the headache out of coordinating groups of like-minded people by setting up drinks between 2 groups of friends.

Do you have any favorite apps to help you avoid touristy hot spots and experience city culture from a local point of view? Leave me a comment below.