Valkerionseven
Member
I just watched Ghostbusters last night so I'm voting Hemmsworth.... mmm hemmsworth...
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
White male lead in the spec script Disney bought for the live action remake of Mulan
- Thread starter lightskintwin
- Start date
- Status
WrenchNinja
Member
If something hasn't happened yet it doesn't make it not an issue, especially given past history. If you want to wait and see, that's your prerogative, but others seemingly arent interested giving hollywood the benefit of the doubt.
Even if that was the goal, so what? They went with an Indian American kid for The Jungle Book, why not cast from the U.S.? How is this a bigger deal to you in the blogpost instead of the shitty spec script that you hope won't have any of its shitty parts added to the final script.
I wasn't trying to imply you were racist. You were posting a lot of "But Disney did this, but marvel did that" shit that made you sound like a fanboy.
I guess I am definitely a wait and see person, especially considering the entire hoopla around Moana, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage that ended up being completely unfounded (and the interview where the asian actor who is playing the villain in Iron Fist also was auditioned for the lead part, meaning that Marvel did consider making Danny Rand asian).
http://screenrant.com/iron-fist-lewis-tan-ethnic-actors-heroes/
When you have a movie that was an amazing example of representation in its past but didn't make a ton of money get prioritized by Disney (who could make other movies that would guarantee it more money and have far less controversy), who announces that it is being rewritten in the press release announcing the movie itself, and is willing to go after finding a Chinese actress to play the main hero in a movie based on Chinese legend...get criticized for what it might do? Even though..basically every step along the process indicates that they're not.
The part that bugs me is this:
He equates the potential white washing of Mulan to be as bad as casting a Chinese woman, to play the main character in a millenia old Chinese legend. He believes that Asian-Americans, and only Asian-Americans, are the ones who are affected by Mulan. Not the culture that actually has the legend. Asian representation matters...only if it's Asian-Americans. Who cares about the people who we're taking the story from after all? Because, you know, they didn't like the animated movie enough. They don't matter when it comes to asian representation in hollywood. It's the unholy union between Tru-Fandom and Xenophobia, with a healthy dose of entitled appropriation.
Yet, all these people crying outrage over how badly Asians are treated in Hollywood..so few of them seemed to care that he was advocating dicking over chinese actors and actresses...because apparently they're too Asian or something. That's why it bugs me so much - the sheer hypocrisy in arguing for better representation, and then turn around and basically cut the people whose culture you are using out of the equation and claim you are doing so for the moral good.
Fanboy wise, I mean...I like the Marvel movies? Haven't seen 'em all. But I think Agents of SHIELD did a really good job with diversity from the outset (including taking some risks), Agent Carter was a risk, Moana is definitely a risk, Star Wars they took risks...Disney has been taking risks and hasn't really been screwing them up in recent memory, and I don't think it's particularly fair to hold a movie that isn't even written yet to task for something it might theoretically do. They've done a pretty good job with respect to their competition when it comes to this issue, and it seems to make them a bigger target? Something about the enemy of good being perfect.
What that tells me is that you're incentivizing studios (whether intending to or not) to not make movies that could even possibly do something bad. (Because shareholders are dumb and risk-averse, and executives like keeping their jobs). They're liable to make Snow White 4: The Whitening instead.
That's basically my two cents on it; happy to take it to PMs if you want to discuss further.
Fixed2BeBroken
Member
Btw, watched fresh off the boat and it made me think of this thread because....
Randall Park who is Korean plays a Taiwanese dad, Charlie Lee who is Korean plays his Taiwanese brother in law, and Ken Jeong who is Korean plays his Taiwanese brother.
Randall Park who is Korean plays a Taiwanese dad, Charlie Lee who is Korean plays his Taiwanese brother in law, and Ken Jeong who is Korean plays his Taiwanese brother.
Ken Watanabe, the preeminent go-to Japanese actor for Hollywood, lol.
I imagine Hollywood still remembers the controversy of casting mostly Chinese actors to play Japanese roles in Memoirs of a Geisha.
Anyway, considering this movie probably only exists due to China's current box office status, I figure we won't have to worry about seeing Ken Watanabe lurking around.
CadetMahoney
Member
lightskintwin
Banned
I pretty certain it's going to happen more often in America.
The transitions themselves are still quite clever.
Fixed2BeBroken
Member
And Mulan is an American production just like Fresh off the Boat.
aint nobody mad at FotB and that's technically based on a real person/story
MWS Natural
Member
Fixed.
lightskintwin
Banned
Agreed, but I think Disney is going to play it safe and only use Chinese actors.
Does a spec script get a pass for writing in a white savior male to an asian legend just for being a spec script? This has been glossed over ad nauseum with 'it's being changed, stop bitching' and not actually addressing the point.
The answer is no, it doesn't get a pass just because it's a spec script. It's shit tier writing and a horrible starting point. It raises questions about what this adaptation will be like. Aside from Vulture trying to reassure people that Mulan is still the star, do we have any way to know she is? The spec script says otherwise from the get go. Disney could have any number of reasons for having bought this so I'm not going to question their purchasing motive, however I will scrutinize their decision to use this of all possible scripts as the base for their live action movie, as it now brings the possibility their changes won't entirely erase the problematic premise.
EDIT: no, saying 'just have faith in Disney' does not do anything to alleviate that, and you are an idiot for suggesting so if you do.
The answer is no, it doesn't get a pass just because it's a spec script. It's shit tier writing and a horrible starting point. It raises questions about what this adaptation will be like. Aside from Vulture trying to reassure people that Mulan is still the star, do we have any way to know she is? The spec script says otherwise from the get go. Disney could have any number of reasons for having bought this so I'm not going to question their purchasing motive, however I will scrutinize their decision to use this of all possible scripts as the base for their live action movie, as it now brings the possibility their changes won't entirely erase the problematic premise.
EDIT: no, saying 'just have faith in Disney' does not do anything to alleviate that, and you are an idiot for suggesting so if you do.
Spring-Loaded
Member
Thank you. It seemed like so many people were ignoring/accepting the issue with the script existing at all.
I think a large chunk of the cast will be Chinese actors, but the leads will be Asian Americans. They aren't going to want the leads with broken accents and such.
hydragonwarrior
Member
To avoid this issue, they could just cast Mulan as Scarjo. The rest of the cast ought to be fine even with broken accents.
lightskintwin
Banned
I hope you're right, but i'm very doubtful; plus it's going to look and sound off having two leads speaking American accented English and everybody else speaking Chinese accented English.
I mean, I love Matt Damon in pretty much everything and he's attractive too but of course I'd rather see someone that looks the part (and of course also has the required talent to give you your money's worth). Don't know if there's that many Chinese actors in Hollywood that want to play the male lead though.
FlowersisBritish
fleurs n'est pas britannique
That's be a very real dread in the back of my mind for awhile now.
By leads I mean both Mulan, Shang, Mushu, the three stooges, etc. If they get Chinese actors for them, it will be very minimal. It's still an American production foremost.
I do believe Mulan is going to be a Chinese American though. No Chinese accent on her at all, but will be Chinese descent to remove potential criticism. They'll be more open to other Asians outside of her. But like I'm totally expecting the Emperor to be some great Chinese actor. Hell, they could just make him Chan or someone.
PdotMichael
Banned
It would make more sense if the lead characters are all Chinese, just the additional marketing potential for the Chinese market should be reason enough.
Whenever Chinese-produced Wuxia films cast a non-Chinese person, especially Japanese, as a Chinese person, my feed usually fills up with ridicule from those in mainland China. Just wondering if that's a widespread view that does dent the box office receipts or just an unusually xenophobic view.
Principate
Saint Titanfall
I know what a spec script is. Doesn't make it any less insulting. Imagine if you pitched in idea for a project that was later accepted and bought and have someone compare's contribution to something on a level a teenager would do. I wonder what your profession even is that you can callously refer to another's successful work as such.
Why can't they just look for a good asian actor? Why does it need to be a white person specificly. i'm one myself but i'm getting sick of forcing specific races in movies games etc just to cater to something.
Do they think the movie wil fail if there is no white actor or something?
Edit: the part that he becomes Mulans saviour is completly ridiculous. It was a asian from the empire troops in the older animated movies. Why don't stick to that?
Do they think the movie wil fail if there is no white actor or something?
Edit: the part that he becomes Mulans saviour is completly ridiculous. It was a asian from the empire troops in the older animated movies. Why don't stick to that?
They've already confirmed they're looking for an Asian love interest so the title of this topic is no longer relevant. It was a part of the spec script that Disney apparently are not going to keep for the final product.
Ah my bad then glad it's sorted out. Thanks
CyclopsRock
Member
I don't think anyone's saying the spec script deserves a pass, but a) what two people who don't work for Disney wrote shouldn't reflect badly on Disney and b) you're describing something you haven't read as "shit tier writing". That's a remarkable degree of confidence.
The premise is shit tier, so from the get go it's screwed. I see it being glossed over, as I said in the first line of my post, so I put it out there. No one is addressing that this POS not only exists but is being used as the starting point for the script rewrite, so I decided to. The authors don't represent Disney, but Disney using this as a base point does reflect on Disney, and I will say it.
C
Contica
Unconfirmed Member
The premise for Jurassic Park 4 was for a very long time pretty shit tier as well. It had dino-human hybrids in it. Guess what, Jurassic World had no humanoid dinosaurs.
Disney already said the cast will be asian, an earlier poster already said a script can be bought for just a few lines of dialogue.
You're going on about nothing at all. Buy be my guest, hate this movie all you want until the day finally comes some years from now when you'll know for sure whether or not that was a waste of time.
CyclopsRock
Member
You don't actually know that though, do you? Unless I've missed something, which is possible.
The common theme among comments like yours is using 'nothing', despite there clearly being something to scrutinize, the spec script itself and its use by Disney. There's no wrong in stating that it, as it exists, is a piece of shit and that its premise is terrible.
You make a convenient strawman argument by presuming I automatically hate the movie from this thread, which I have never made mention of. This info has become public, I can say what I think regarding it as the base for this movie. I've said what questions it brings up. Your post strikes me as a glorified example of 'they're changing it, stop bitching'.
That it is being used as the base for the movie? Has it not been confirmed in this thread? EDIT:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disneys-live-action-mulan-gets-934976
BronsonLee
Member
At this point I just want them to make everybody white
Zoe
Member
People are upset that yet another mighty whitey script was written. People are upset that a script replaced a heroine with a hero. If those grievances are never aired, then the script writers will never know that they wrote something that people would question.
Is that really a waste of time?
hodayathink
Member
The legendary Chinese tale doesn't feature a white dude. The 1998 movie doesn't feature a white dude. So if they say they're going for a mix of those two things, I think it's a fairly reasonable assumption to make that they're not planning on featuring a white dude, even if there was one in the original spec script. And shit premises can still lead to good, or even great, writing.
If they were never planning on using that aspect of the script, then yes it was. Disney can't stop people from writing spec scripts. And Disney can't control whether or not said spec scripts are any good.
Zoe
Member
Two ladies still thought this script was okay to write--they should know that people think otherwise.
You have no reason to think it's being used as "the base for the movie." In fact, it's certainly not, as the base for the movie is the actual tale of Mulan, and the animated film.
C
Contica
Unconfirmed Member
Tell me how you feel about it then. You keep calling it a piece of shit without even having read it or knowing why it was bought, so call it a strawman if you will, but assuming you hate it isn't really that much of a leap.
And by the sounds of it, they were changing it before anyone even heard about it, so your point, whatever it is, is rather hollow.
For all we know, Disney loved how Mulan herself was written, and bought it cause of that. They could have dismissed the white lead idea immediately, for all we know.
Honestly, there are so many "for all we know" in this, that I don't even have anything to add. I'll judge it when I see it.
Subpar Spatula
Banned
Hopefully Disney calls this movie Marin, and white merchant is Link. It'd be great to have a Link's Awakening movie.
Chaos2Frozen
Member
One day I wish Japan made a live action movie about the American revolution with the cast played entirely by Japanese actors and actresses.
There's no harm in voicing dissent upon a shit premise regardless of your faith in a company's writers. Especially as a declaration that this kind of writing shouldn't be considered at all.
Base as in the starting point for which the script proper will be written and re-written.
Disregarding the numerous other posts saying why it's problematic, I can spell out for you the particular problems with this spec script if you think it will help you understand anything.
1) white savior male
2) man replacing heroine in what is supposed to be her legend
Telling me essentially 'they're changing it, stop bitching' is a deflection of what the point being made is.
Once again, you don't really know that.
BronsonLee
Member
When they announced the new scriptwriters, they did say they were rewriting the base of it from the original script, but that's likely for crediting purposes more than anything
Like notice Gary Whitta isn't officially the writer of Rogue One, but he is credited with story
Like notice Gary Whitta isn't officially the writer of Rogue One, but he is credited with story
hodayathink
Member
Considered for what, though? I don't know how many times this has to be said, but we have no idea of how much of that script is actually going to be in the movie (or is in the working draft of the movie that exists right now). And they've already said their primary sources are the original legend and their animated version, and that they've already hired someone else to rewrite whatever was in that spec script.
The 90's version didn't do very well in China (possibly for being too Americanized), so I'd imagine they want to change that.
- Status
Similar threads
- Poll