Disney’s $200M live-action ‘Mulan’ is facing global backlash. Its star publicly supported Hong Kong police during pro-democracy protests, and its producer thanked the Public Security Bureau of Xinjiang region, where millions of Uyghurs are being held in camps.

OPINION: After embracing the nuanced storytelling of Crazy Rich Asians and The Farewell, Asian Americans have celebrated Hollywood's increasing representation of their historically overlooked community.

But the newly released, live-action Mulan felt to me like a massive step backward.

I'm always hungry for content that reflects my experience as a bicultural Asian American - a child of proud Chinese immigrants, born and raised in the Midwest.

The 1998 animated Mulan was a bridge that connected these two parts of my identity: A Chinese girl follows her convictions, a very American ideal, to protect her family and country in the face of destruction threatened by a cruel and selfish force.

The original Mulan character was spunky, a little rough around the edges as she fought to create a place in the world for women, even if it meant going against the wishes of her family.

My hope was that the remake would also honour cultural elements while remaining whimsical and fun. With such an astronomically high budget (US$200 million!), the expectation is that it would be just as good, if not better than, the original in capturing this story.

Yet I found my stomach in knots as Disney released the trailer shortly after controversy arose around the Chinese lead actors' emphatic support in 2019 for the Chinese government and police during the Hong Kong protests.

After the Hong Kong extradition bill was proposed in March 2019, graphic videos and photos documenting police brutality against the pro-democracy protesters surfaced online.

The United Nations and Amnesty International denounced the Hong Kong police action.

But Liu Yifei, who plays Mulan in the 2020 film and is a naturalized US citizen, voiced support for Hong Kong police and shamed protesters.

As a result, the hashtag #BoycottMulan appeared on Twitter, as Hong Kong sympathisers hoped to educate those looking to watch the remake about Liu's anti-democracy stance.

It was my hope that the actual film could exist outside of the controversy. My personal compromise was to avoid seeing it in theatres or paying for it, and instead wait until it was eventually released as part of my Disney+ subscription, instead of paying the additional $29.99.

But having watched the press screener, it's clear that what was left of the animated Mulan has been replaced by thinly veiled support of ideals upheld by the Chinese Communist Party, its extolled virtues of "knowing your place" and what it means to be "loyal, brave and true," even if that means violating civil liberties and injuring its own people.

Where the 1998 film presented a bold, strong-willed young woman fighting against the tides of conformity, the contemporary tale shows her fighting to maintain existing oppressive conditions.

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

Instead of bridging the gap, the live-action Mulan widens the chasm between my Chinese and American identities.

It felt less like a Disney movie and more like a Chinese fantasy soap opera, with cheesy sound effects and discussions of phoenixes - clear attempts of capturing the whimsy of the original that fell short.

The stunning, sweeping landscape camera angles and beautiful set and costume design did not make up for the at-times reductive presentation of Chinese culture, which felt akin to walking through a Chinatown novelty store.

It reeked of Western pandering to a Chinese audience, attempting to prove its knowledge of Chinese cultural elements without any real substance, while simultaneously managing to alienate its American audience.

I wondered if this was a result of the sheer size of the Chinese market and Disney's attempt at a money grab.

As cringeworthy as some moments were, there were a handful of scenes that evoked the same emotions of the animated version.

The montage of Mulan preparing to leave her home; her father praying to the ancestors; her first experiences training with the rest of the regiment; and even the brief dialogue pulled from the original's song A Girl Worth Fighting Forwere all excellent adaptations from the original.

However, regressive views of femininity and what it meant to "know your place" poisoned the product.

I found myself cheering for the witch who wanted to be known as a warrior, Xian Lang - this film's new antagonist - because she was loyal to fellow marginalised and powerless people, had the bravery to stand up for what she believed in and was true to her own moral code until the very end.

Even as she feared discovery, Mulan still fought to maintain the patriarchal status quo while Xian Lang fought to break it and was proud of her quest to create new spaces for people who were considered nothing.

It took Xian Lang to convince Mulan that women were worthy of honour regardless of marital commitments, and to disregard the opinions of men in favour of her own desires and convictions.

"I was a girl like you when people turned on me," she says to Mulan.

"You don't think I longed for a noble path? ... The more power I showed, the more I was crushed, just like you. You saved them today and still they turned on you. ... We will be stronger together."

But even after this rousing speech, the movie clearly communicates that the righteous path is ultimately the one that supports the status quo. This new perspective muddies the original's message of bravery and sacrifice when met with a cruel and power-hungry villain.

Like the actress who plays her, the 2020 version of Mulan is on the wrong side of history.

She may have paved a way for other women to be warriors, but had she not been guided by the warrior witch, she would have upheld systems of oppression as a perceived male foot soldier.

The sentiment she conveys is that a progressive movement will be the death of people who participate, and protecting the government is the just and right cause. It comes off as a justification of the actions of the Chinese Communist Party.

I was excited to watch a remake of a movie that served as one of the only mainstream Asian stories available to a young, Midwestern, Asian American girl.

I was also sad and disappointed by the pro-Hong Kong police stance of the lead actress, whose face now represents an iconic heroine who stood up against injustice.

The animated Mulan meant so much to me, and the character I grew up loving taught me that being loyal, brave and true means standing up for what you believe in, no matter the cost.

Today, I believe Mulan would be on the side of the Hong Kong protesters, who also fight to have independence, their voices heard and their lives valued. I hoped to see these threads in the new iteration.

Instead we got an almost unrecognisable, twisted reflection of the original.

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