Tweeters weigh in on casting of Mulan and Aladdin movies

THE SO-CALLED problems in casting the upcoming live-action movies of Mulan and Aladdin woke the Twitterverse and bloggers.

It is hard to believe that the directors of the movies couldn't find ethnically appropriate casts for the Aladdin and Mulan, which take place somewhere in the Middle-east or south Asia and China respectively.

Actor Kumail Nanjiani, still basking in the critical and box office success of The Big Sick weighed in:

Many expressed disbelief at the alleged casting difficulties inferring there is something else at work in the decision-making process:

Suggestions galore came in for Aladdin's two main characters of Aladdin and Jasmine:

 Former First Edition singer Zayn Malik as Aladdin seems like a natural choice.

Mulan will most definitely have a Chinese cast and it will definitely be a musical. There was no shortage of casting ideas:

Harry Shum Jr  received a lot of support for the male lead.

There was no shortage of actresses who could play the woman warrior Mulan:

Constance Wu is on a hot streak these days having nabbed the lead role in 'Crazy Rich Asians' and her ongoing series 'Fresh Off the Boat' is renewed for another season.

Jamie Chung played Mulan on the TV series 'Once Upon A Time.'

Fan Bing Bing got a lot of votes with her run in Hollywood action movies including 'The Great Wall.' and Marvel's X-Men and Iron Man.

What I hope won't happen is that Disney will say, "Well, tried and we did an extensive search," then resort to whitewashing. Can you imagine the uproar if that happened?

Sony's version of Mulan is also underway. While the production is committed to a Chinese cast, there is a whole wide world of actresses in Asia that we in the U.S. are not familiar with.

In the three movies in production, the two Mulans and Aladdin, there are no excuses for not casting Asians in those roles.

###

Vice President nominee Mike Pence goes after Mulan

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence vs. Mulan, one is real, the other is a cartoon

REPUBLICAN Vice President nominee Mike Pence, the governor of Indiana, is scheduled to speak today (July 20), at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Let's listen carefully and see if he attacks Mulan.

Prior to becoming Indiana's governor, Pence was a talk-show host. BuzzFeed News uncovered an op-ed talking about the 1999 animated feature film based on the Chinese poem "Ballad of Mulan," dating back to the 6th century C.E. He called the Disney film a "mischievous liberal" attempt to influence the debate on women serving in the military.

RELATED: GOP wants to highlight diversity, but ...

Buzzfeed unearthed a post by Pence during his radio days, apparently composed just after he'd taken his family to a screening of the film. Pence theorized that Mulan taught youngsters exactly the wrong idea about women and their combat capabilities:

For those who have not yet been victimized by the McDonald's-induced hysteria over this film, Mulan is a fictional account of a delicate girl of the same name who surreptitiously takes her father's place in the Chinese army in one of their ancient wars against the Huns. 

Despite her delicate features and voice, Disney expects us to believe that Mulan's ingenuity and courage were enough to carry her to military success on an equal basis with her cloddish cohorts. Obviously, this is Walt Disney's attempt to add childhood expectation to the cultural debate over the role of women in the military."

Disney’s 1998 release of Mulan retells the legend that takes place during the Han Dynasty when Fa Mulan, daughter of aged warrior Fa Zhou, pretends to be a man in order to take her father’s place in general conscription during the Hun invasion when women were strictly forbidden from fighting in conflicts. It is not certain if Mulan is based on a real historical figure.

RELATED: First Asian/American speaker at the GOP convention.

Mulan, he writes, gives us proof that women should not serve in the military. Fraternizing between the sexes, he says, is inevitable. Pence seems to have forgotten that Mulan disguised herself as a man to get into the military. When the feature was released, it was hailed as a breakthrough by Asian/American parents because up until then, all the Disney princesses had been white.

I can't believe I'm writing about a cartoon figure when the man who would be a "heartbeat" away from the presidency has other - more serious - issues to address. On the other hand, I also find it even harder to believe that Pence would consider a cartoon to be a threat to American society.

When not attacking cartoon figures, Pence also has strong views on the role of women in our society. 

He also spoke against Donald Trump's proposal to ban Muslim immigration to the U.S. but has since stepped back and now supports the proposed ban.

Pence also boosted the law that allowed businesses to refuse service to individuals if it went against their religious beliefs.

The debate over Mulan may not hold a candle to the host of issues facing our country, but it does say a lot about the man who would be vice president.

###

For more news about Asian/Americans & Pacific Islanders, read AsAm News.

TGIF FEATURE- The Tale of Mulan (interpreted)

WHEN YOU sit by your child's bedside to tell her a bedtime story tonight, here's a version of the famous Chinese legend you can use (or not) from the incubator of funny creativity of My Damn Channel. I chose it in honor of Women's History Month.

I intend for the TGIF FEATURE to become a weekly thing. It's the weekend and you need a break from the grind of the work week.

There's a lot of talent out there that will make you laugh, sing along or tap your feet haven't been able to squeeze in during the week when I usually feature my rants. Last week we featured Uptown Funk as performed by Bruno Mars. Now there will be a platform for the lighter fare created by Asian/Pacific artists.

Balance, man, balance. Yin and Yang. Anger and joy.

According to  legend, Mulan cut her hair and posed as a man in the Chinese emperor's  army.

###