A petition titled “Tell Disney You Don’t Want A Whitewashed Mulan!” has passed its goal of 90,000 signatures.
The petition was sparked by Hollywood’s controversial casting choices in the past years. Some of the films mentioned in the petition were “The Last Airbender” and “Pan,” in which white actors were cast in the roles of characters who were originally people of color.
“Casting a Caucasian actor as a character of color, regardless of reason has a direct, harmful impact on not only the movie itself, but the audience, as well as POC members of the acting community,” the petition, started by Natalie Molnar, reads.
Disney announced its live-action “Mulan” earlier in the year. The film tells the story of a girl who poses as a man to take the place of her father in the army to help defend her native China from invading Huns.
It’s hard to believe that the tale of the beloved female warrior could get “whitewashed,” as it takes place in China and its characters are Chinese. Social media users, however, already seem wary:
I heard there will be a live action Mulan movie, they better not mess up the casting
— Sarah (@ssarahnade) September 13, 2016
Mulan needs to be a 99% Chinese cast. The 1% is Eddie Murphy as the voice of Mushu. Anything else is unacceptable.
— Nikki ♪ (@Kinesnikki) September 12, 2016
“This disturbing trend of whitewashing in big-budget movies can’t get a chance to take root in Mulan as well, and if any company can afford to ‘risk’ adapting a beloved story with a cast of POCs, it’s Disney,” the petition said.
As of press time, the petition is at about 90,000 signatures.
