Page 29 - bon-dia-aruba-20200918

A29
world news Diabierna 18 September 2020

Chinese viewers pan Disney's new 'Mulan' as inauthentic

(AP) — The remake of “Mu- play with imagination and it’s
lan” struck all the right chords a good thing.”
to be a hit in the key Chinese IT engineer Zhang Fan
market. Disney cast beloved also had positive things to
actor Liu Yifei as Mulan and say about the film. “What
removed a dragon sidekick touched me is the humanity,”
popular in the animated orig- he said.
inal to cater to Chinese tastes.
The remake of Disney’s pop-
Still, the movie drew decid- ular 1998 animation is based
edly mixed reviews after its on the ancient tale of Hua
coronavirus-delayed release Mulan, a young woman who
in China last week, with takes her father’s place in the
thousands panning it online. army by dressing as a man.
The movie was rated 4.9 out The animated version was
of 10 by more than 165,000 a global hit but earned just
people on Douban, a leading $30 million in China, where
website for film, book and viewers found the movie too
music ratings. Negative com- Americanized, according to
ments and jokes about the reports at the time.
film outnumbered positive The original tale, “The Ballad
reactions on social media. of Mulan,” has gone through
multiple renditions. Themes
“Mulan” has earned an es- such as filial piety and being
timated 198 million yuan loyal to the central govern-
($28.8 million) since its open- ment have remained as core
ing last week, and was the tenets, which some find out-
second most watched movie dated and problematic.
in China as of Thursday, ac-
cording to ticketing platform “It’s a very touchy subject in
Maoyan. It scored a higher modern China because a lot
7.5 out of 10 on Maoyan, but of people find (filial piety)
also with mixed reviews. very constraining, including noted that the film's crew was Her comments mirror the pro-democracy protesters
“Poor artistic level, misun- me," said Xiran Jay Zhao, the mostly white, including the latest in a series of contro- last year.
derstanding of Chinese cul- Chinese Canadian author of director, four screenwriters versies that have hit the film
ture lead to the film’s fail- an upcoming book about the and costume designer. outside mainland China. Hong Kong resident Sarah
ure in China,” the state-run only female emperor in Chi- "They didn’t really get any Chan said she does not plan
Global Times newspaper na. "It’s like a moral shackle Chinese people on the The movie's final credits to see the film, which opened
tweeted. for people.” writing staff, and it really thank propaganda depart- in her city on Thursday.
Critics also pointed out in- showed,” she said. ments and a public security “The main actress ... sup-
Chinese critics, both at home accurate details such as the Jeannette Ng, a Chinese bureau in Xinjiang, where ports Hong Kong police, so I
and abroad, said they were use of a southern-style house fantasy writer based in the part of it was filmed. China don’t want to watch it,” Chan
disappointed with the film’s when Mulan is likely from United Kingdom, said the has come under widespread said. “Furthermore, I think
inaccurate and stereotypical the north and a depiction of film perpetuates a narrative criticism for detaining Ui- they changed the historical
portrayals of Chinese his- “qi” as a power that only boys of China's majority Han peo- ghurs and other predomi- background of the story. It’s
tory and the main charac- should wield — when in ple that assimilates and ex- nantly Muslim minorities in not the same story anymore.”
ter, infused with nationalist fact there is no such gender cludes minorities including Xinjiang as part of a campaign Chinese foreign ministry
tropes. Others were not as restriction. Some called the ethnic Mongolians, Tibetans to snuff out sometimes-vio- spokesperson Zhao Lijian de-
bothered. “It’s fine that dif- makeup and costumes ugly and Uighurs. “The mainland lent struggle against Chinese fended Liu last week, calling
ferent screenwriters make and inauthentic. Chinese people aren’t the rule. Earlier, a boycott move- her a “Mulan of the modern
up different stories," Zhang mainland Chinese viewers ment was sparked after Liu, times.”
Qin, a military veteran, said Zhao said the film comes from 20 years ago,” she said the actor who portrays Mu-
after watching the film in off more like European fan- of the lukewarm response. lan, publicly supported Hong Disney did not reply to a re-
Beijing last week. “They can tasy than a Chinese story, and “The culture has moved on.” Kong police as they battled quest for comment.

Primate monkeys around with student's phone, takes selfies

(AP) — A Malaysian student whose cell- “My uncle was joking that maybe the monkey
phone was stolen while he was sleeping took some selfies with the phone. ... So when
has tracked down the culprit: a monkey I checked my phone picture gallery, I was
who took photo and video selfies with shocked. The suspect's face was plastered on
the device before abandoning it. the screen. It was hilarious," Zackrydz said.

Zackrydz Rodzi, 20, said Wednesday that his He said he was curious why the monkey took
phone was missing from his bedroom when the phone and not the camera or other things
he woke up Saturday. He found the phone's in his room. He said the primate must have
casing under his bed but there was no sign of thought it was food as it has a colorful casing.
robbery in his house in southern Johor state. Most of the images were blurry, but some
showed the monkey's face. One of the videos
When his father saw a monkey the next day, taken from atop a tree showed glimpses of the
he searched in the jungle behind his house. monkey opening his mouth and appearing to
Using his brother's phone to call his own try to eat the phone.
device, he found it covered in mud under a
palm tree. But a bigger surprise came when “My house is now in a total lockdown," Zack-
he found a series of monkey selfies and vid- rydz said, laughing, adding that he didn't want
eos recorded in the phone. a repeat of the incident.