Director Alex Graves has been named to direct the Sony's upcoming "Mulan" adaptation, putting an end to the rumors that the filmmaker was looking for an Asian director. However, some fans believed that it would be best that an Asian director would take the role in directing an Asian character's story.
The debate over the utilization of white actors in the new live-action film "Mulan" has intensified in recent months. The debate increased when a white character was introduced into the role of Bruce Lee and the casting of Scarlett Johansson in the Hollywood adaptation of the Japanese anime "Ghost in the Shell" as Major Kusanagi.
The choice of Alex Graves, best known for his work on "Game of Thrones" and "The West Wing," has enraged some fans who believed Sony should choose an Asian director for the new "Mulan" movie. Other fans wonder why some supporters would ask for an Asian director. The good reason for some fans is that Asian directors know the culture and tradition of their own race better than foreign directors.
According the to a report from Guardian, there has been a growing resentment about the under representation of Asians and other ethnic minorities. Also, according to a recent research conducted by the University of California, only 25 out of 800 top performing films between 2007 and 2015 had an Asian director. Moreover, only 3.9 percent of the characters were Asian. This debate have been ignited by the use of a Western director for the "Mulan" live action film.
Fans are asking to give a fair opportunity to all ethnic groups in the filming industry, also, they want to represent their own traditions that have been shown in several movies. They believed that a story with an Asian origin like in "Mulan" must be portrayed by the people from the same origin.
The story of "Mulan," is about a female warrior in ancient China who joined the army in place of her sick father. Her story has been adapted many times in many movies in China and most famously in a Disney animation. Now the new movie adaptation of the story is on the way to the production process.
Disney Studio is also adapting a version of the Mulan story based on their 1998 animation. No director has been announced yet, but Director Ang Lee has been reported to have turned down the offer.
100,000 people signed a pre-emptive petition against the 'whitewashing' of the upcoming live action film of "Mulan." The Disney remake is reportedly set to be released on November 2017.