Mulan Has White Lead Actor According to Leaked Script

Hey guys, welcome back. Okay, so you guys know that previously we did a video on Mulan. There's been a petition on a website called Care2 and it's basically saying, please don't whitewash Mulan Disney. It's got a hundred thousand signatures. And I guess it worked. It worked because Disney has started its casting process and they were like, yep, we're on the process of casting a Chinese for the role. Don't worry, we're not gonna screw this up. Yes. But the big news today, or the reason why we're making this video is because we've had news, a little birdie. Right. From the Angry Asian Man blog. Right. Well, actually, this is the only source right now. Yes. So as far as credibility, we'll discuss that later on in the video. But here's what they're saying. Basically, an anonymous source claiming to be an Asian American person in the industry has seen the script. Inside the script, the main love interest will be a European trader. Yeah, in his 30s. In his 30s. So they're pretty much adding this white male role into the story of Mulan. Okay. Well, that's not surprising because a lot of our viewers, reading the comments, they kind of predicted this, right? Really? They did predict this. But here's the thing. Here's the thing that kind of bothers me. And it's not only is he in the film as a love interest. He actually, well, he starts out caring only about wining and dining the ladies and, you know, making some money. He's a trader. Yeah. But then he falls in love. And he sets his eye on Mulan. So it ultimately changes the entire storyline of the building up to Mulan. I mean, the main story was that she was trying to be filial. She, you know, is like a female being brought up in this time, needing to like stay at home, but she defies all that to go to war. Does that mean it would just erase all of that in order to tell this white male story? Well, according to the source, the script heavily features this European trader. They're saying he's in over like half of the script. Yeah. And he actually gets to defeat the main bad guy at the end, which is, you know, your classic white savior story. So once again, it has the same kind of theme as what I think the Great Wall is doing, this white savior complex. The story of the European merchant is kind of, it does remind me of the Great Wall a lot. Although I think that's a, it's a little bit, it's a little bit different because again, Mulan, and this is something we talked about in the comments, Mulan is of Chinese folklore story, and it's kind of been, as far as like Chinese, and I guess a lot of Asian Americans, are only story through Disney that's been told. So it's quite important, I think, for the Asian American community. One of the main arguments about why a lot of movies are whitewashed is that there just aren't enough Asian American actors out there to fulfill those roles, right? Like we're talking about merit versus race. What is more important when you, when you decide to cast an actor, right? I mean, there is definitely a smaller pool of well-known Asian American actors, but that's not saying that there aren't any skilled enough Asian American actors to play the role. Whether there's enough talented Asian actors and actresses or not, you're not going to create more by, you know, getting rid of these important roles. You know, like when you have an Asian woman in a role, what is she going to be? They always play the submissive, the very highly sexualized. There's a few stories out there that actually portray an Asian woman basically taking a male role and leading her country to victory. What this story says is that, hey, I'm a woman, I'm an Asian woman, and I can do this. I'm not going to be some sexual object, because once you put a love interest, which is an older white male, It takes the attention away from what's actually happening. Exactly. She becomes a damn soul in distress. So in terms of popular Asian women leads that are known in Hollywood, some include Gong Li, you know, in Raise the Red Lantern, as well as Memoirs of a Geisha, which Zhang Ziyi's in, and of course, Lucy Liu. I think she's the most prominent Asian female Hollywood. As far as Americans go. And like, she also played this kind of kick-ass role, right? But again, it was all very highly sexualized. So I think Mulan would be a perfect opportunity to scout maybe up-and-coming female Asian actors. Well, according to this, this part I find actually pretty creepy. They're saying that Mulan will be in her late teens, 16 or 17 years old, and they're gonna cast someone who's 16 or 17 years old. Yeah, while this male lead is 30. That's like pedophilia. When I read that, actually, that made me think, Whether this article is real or not, I mean, the reality is the essence of Mulan's story needs to be preserved, you know, for it to be a meaningful movie and one to have a good impact. And still, yeah, withhold, you know, the history and all the themes of it. The writers of the original screenplay, Elizabeth Martin and Lauren Hynek, and they're relatively unknown writers. They wrote a few plays in a theater in Cincinnati. One of them is We Will Rise, selections from the Afghans Women's Writing Project. So, I mean, there's a very heavy feminist tinge to this. So you would think that they would keep to the character of Mulan as this powerful individual. I mean, I think that's what drew them to writing a screenplay adaption. But what we've also found out recently is that the script is being rewritten by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silva, and they're a husband-wife duo that's rewritten a few films, including Jurassic World and, I think, the upcoming Avatar 2. So, I mean, that's setting the stage. You're bringing in Hollywood rewriters to make the film profitable. To be honest, I'm completely cool with them adding a white love interest. Are you serious? Here's why. Hear me out. Hear me out. Mulan was one of the worst-grossing Disney films. If what this blog claims and they introduce this male... Okay, I think what they're doing is wrong. What I'm saying is I'm okay with a white male sidekick. But what purpose would he serve as sidekick in The Dragon? My thing is this. We want to watch ourselves. And that's true. There's a reason why certain films don't do well. It's because they're not relating to their audience. Even for a Westerner watching Mulan, they know the story of Mulan. So, I mean, they're not going to go in thinking and expecting a bunch of Western people in a Chinese story. But if you want a film to truly succeed, and Disney is all about profit, profit, profit... Now, I'm not defending them on this, but in their mindset, they're going to want to get as many demographics as possible. And we're talking about the people who don't necessarily like Asian history. They haven't seen Mulan, but they do like their favorite white actor, Liam Hemsworth or Zac Efron, like I was saying. You know, very unpopular. I'm not buying it. If that happens, I will be mad. I'm already mad thinking about it. Just to reiterate, this is, you know, our conversation was based off this one blog. There haven't been any other sources yet or any other, you know, revelation or news. We're just kind of opening the discussion. What if... So let's talk about this. Let's talk about why if this version of the plot actually happens, we will be pissed off and not go see the movie. Yeah, pretty much. Anyway, so the movie is projected to come out US and UK on like the 2nd of November 2018. Oh wow, that's a long time. So we have a good year, two years. Yeah, two years to talk about this. I'm sure we're going to revisit this. Let us know your thoughts and your comments in the description box. And as always, thank you guys so much for watching. Follow us on all our social media. 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