Hollywood can be arrogant
We can also not pay for
Source: The Bund TheBund
invested 200 million US dollars " Mulan" in the domestic word-of-mouth and rave reviews.
has been publicized since the casting, and the materials have been put out for three years, which has stoked the appetite of the global audience, especially the Chinese audience. We were full of expectations for it.
But if you really walk into the cinema, you will find that everything you saw in the past is all. The two hundred million dollars were all spent in the advertisements with flowers and flowers, and the inside was like a dry sponge, and it couldn't be full with too much water.
is not difficult to imagine why it has only 4.7 points on Douban.
Gong Li stills
Let me tell you, although I watched the early stage "Mulan" on September 11, the attendance rate was not low, but the frequency of laughter in the audience was comparable to a comedy.
In contrast, its evaluation in North America is not bad. Rotten Tomatoes scored 80%, even if it fell by more than 70%, the results can be said to be good. On social media, foreign netizens COS Mulan also sparked a makeup and costume contest.
Is it really that we are too harsh on "Mulan"?
01
Mulan shouldn't be a superpowered Aisha
Chinese and foreign audiences must have different feelings when watching "Mulan", but there is no doubt: everyone likes Mulan, and he likes the warrior who serves his father and fights for himself. . As the times change, we will also appreciate her female consciousness of "who says women are inferior to men".
In the animated version of Disney, Mulan is an ordinary girl who is somewhat weaker than the male soldiers in the barracks, but with her hard work and agility, she has gained recognition and respect. Even if it is a song and dance cartoon in the final analysis, it will not detract from Mulan's bravery and strength.
But this time, Disney unwillingly add to her superhero-gas. Mulan's father told her that "qi" is a trait of a soldier and should not appear on women, but should be hidden. The
movie does not directly explain what "qi" is, but from the perspective of the plot, it is an innate superpower that is related to strength and light work. As long as Mulan used the "qi", she could punch her master and beat three tigers in Jingyanggang in one breath.
emphasizes "qi" in many places in the film.
Originally couldn't beat the actor's Mulan, but after using "qi", the audience was stunned by a mess; Mulan, who was unable to lift two buckets of water up the mountain, used "qi" and steadily climbed to the top of the mountain without changing her expression; Mulan, who had missed the target with an arrow, had no pressure to kill one person thousands of miles after using "qi". The "qi" of
is still very arrogant. If Mulan doesn't admit that she is a woman, she can't really be released. So Hua Mulan took off her armor and strayed her hair on the battlefield, wondering if she still yelled "I am a woman" three times in her heart.
In the past, when Disney classified Hua Mulan as a princess for creation, there were voices questioning that Mulan was not a princess, but a civilian.
’s explanation for Disney is that the Disney princess is not a princess in pedigree, but the beautiful qualities she possesses that make her a princess. The princess can wear a crown to marry the prince, or go to the battlefield to defend her family.
However, if all of these beautiful qualities and the power to defend the home and the country are supported by the super power of meeting the gods and killing the gods and the Buddhas, then Mulan's own meaning will be utterly diminished.
Since she is a genius, is there any reason not to take 100 points?
Westerners are really obsessed with Eastern "qi". For example, Marvel has a comic called "Shangqi". I don't mind if they create a story to show the great power in the Chinese people, but Hua Mulan is not suitable.
02
Except for Mulan, they are all tool people
. Actually, the live-action version of "Mulan" has a good model. Not only the characters, but also the story and logic can use the Northern Dynasties folk song "Mulan Ci" and past Disney animations as the background.
Disney has invited many stars, and the global casting is huge. In the end, Hua Mulan decided on Liu Yifei. The supporting roles are Gong Li, Jet Li, Donnie Yen and Zheng Peipei. This luxurious lineup reminds me of "The Great Wall" and "Full of Gold in the City" A", "The King of Kung Fu"...not very good memories.
Many people complained about Liu Yifei's acting skills. To be honest, some places did not perform well. Although foreign audiences praised Mulan for being beautiful and able to play, it is a fact that she is not full of emotions and her eyes are a little dull.
, but most of them are not bad, at least they did not hold back the outrageous plot. Where is
outrageous? For example, except for Hua Mulan, all the characters are as thin as a toolman, with only one rib in their head.
Gong Li, the number one tool.
Now "Mulan" has become Gong Li's lowest-rated work, which is much lower than "Journey to the West: Monkey King Three Beats the Bones" which was frantically complained a few years ago.
Gong Li played a role similar to a black witch. She wore a crown that didn’t know the meaning and half of her face was brushed with a white mud mask. It can become a group of black crows or an eagle, which is very lethal. Big.
The reason why the witch turns into a villain is very feminist, but completely rigid.
, like Hua Mulan, she also has super powers, but because she is a female, she is not recognized by the world. She defected to a foreigner, wanted to show her true self, wanted to be a female warrior.
For the time being, if she wants to be a female warrior, there is no logic to help her abuse, but after seeing Hua Mulan being recognized by the army as a woman, she was moved to a mess, full of the pride of "I have a queen", which really makes people feel This witch is so innocent.
So when the leader of the foreign race shot an arrow at Mulan, the witch desperately turned into a carved body to block the arrow and died in Mulan's arms.
A super mage has to fight hand-to-hand, or for a person who has only met three times, you can't do anything with her. This movie has the potential of "The Legend of Condor Heroes".
Gong Li, this witch has at least some mental activities, is a tool of female consciousness. Others like the general played by Donnie Yen , the emperor played by Jet Li, and the matchmaker played by Zheng Peipei are not worth complaining about. In them, you can only see four words, stereotypes.
is very stereotyped, lines are very stereotyped, there is no need to spend a lot of money to invite Donnie Yen, Jet Li to perform, just drag two middle-aged men in their 40s on the street.
, let alone these two "Kung Fu emperors" almost did not do anything, except for the scenes on the battlefieldWith Mulan alone, it's like playing with other people. The fighting between the two armies is like a rookie pecking at each other.
A massive foreign enemy invasion only brought a dozen people
can’t blame the audience for making complaints: “Obviously, the two countries are fighting, but it looks like two villages fighting.” Although
can't ask too much for Disney's princess movies, it has spent more than a billion yuan. Apart from hiring actors, I really can't see where the money is spent.
03
piled up quite a lot of Chinese elements
but the essence is still the western superhero movie
as early as last July when the "Mulan" global trailer was released, we found something was wrong.
Hua Mulan said goodbye to his parents by the Yellow River. How did he live in a tulou in southern Fujian? The costumes of the characters are varied, from all dynasties, and the makeup is not in line with history.
These errors are now shown in the feature film. It turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg, and there are more "Chinese elements" that are not right.
is unlikely to be comprehensive and considerate. But it's ridiculous to be completely nonsense. If there is a person in the crew who spends 2,000 yuan in the Confucius Institute to ask someone to take a look, it will not be like this.
You can think of the "Chinese elements" in the eyes of foreigners, and "Mulan" has not left you a single one.
was ridiculed the most. The matchmaker posted an incomprehensible couplet at the door of the matchmaker's house. The upper and lower couplets were "May all lovers in the world become family members" and "Hope all family members in the world are lovers".
Let’s not say that the original sentence comes from "The Story of the West Chamber" by Wang Shifu of the Yuan Dynasty, and the dynasty is a thousand miles away. Looking at the permutation and combination of the words, isn't there a Chinese in the entire crew who has received elementary school Chinese education?
mentions Chinese Kung Fu, Tai Chi will never be missed.
If you retired like Jack Ma, there is no harm in practicing Tai Chi. Everyone is about to go to the battlefield for foreign enemies, and it is really unrealistic to learn Tai Chi in the martial arts field.
If this general was played by Jet Li, he recalled the scene when he filmed "Tai Chi Zhang Sanfeng" I can understand a little bit, but it was Yen Zidan who taught Tai Chi.
Master Ye doesn’t think Wing Chun can be taught more easily?
Jet Li "Tai Chi Zhang Sanfeng" stills
Phoenix, the Chinese beast. Since Hua Mulan has "qi" and is surreal, there is no pressure to add a Phoenix to the sky.
Phoenix is the patron saint of the Hua family, so every time Mulan encounters a bit of danger, there will be a phoenix that looks like a paper and wanders around.
There is also a phoenix. You can do a little better special effects. This looks even more vulnerable than Gong Huang’s sculpture.
Finally, when Mulan and the boss duel, phoenix wings appeared behind them, which looked like a Victoria's Secret advertisement.
runs through the film, as well as the Chinese spirit that could have been designed to be very burning, the "loyalty and trueness" carved on the Mulan sword. But the performance of these three characters is very pale, but the characters keep repeating the slogan of "being loyal, brave, and seeking truth", as if they were reading the two-character classic.
The script writer did not really understand the meaning of these words in ancient China. When
came to an end, when the emperor rewarded Hua Mulan, he engraved another "filial piety" on the sword. The consciousness of the leading heroine was awakened, and she was waiting for sublimation, and suddenly she fell on filial piety again...
When filming cartoons in the 1990s, we all knew that filial piety and self can coexist. By 2020 Years, it regressed into the greatest filial piety
You Hua Mulan has been away from home for so long, so you only missed your parents once, and you have been practicing qigong other times.
I understand that the movie wanted to show the spirit of filial piety in ancient China, but also wanted to play the female consciousness card, but I didn't bother to blend the two at all. It seemed very awkward and didn't please.
Other scattered Chinese elements are also very rich, including but not limited to cockfighting, stick playing, tea art, cylinder jacking, acrobatics, door gods, four or two shifts, hanging red lanterns in ancestral halls (this is wrong), large land and resources (horse running) I ran from the Fujian Tulou to the foot of the snow-capped mountain in two days)... The director team of
put in all the things that can be thought of related to China, which is a lively picture. As for the suitability, she didn't know and didn't care.
If they care, they won’t let the emperor dress up like Fu Manchu, or let the maid walk in the hall with her head upright, let alone take a picture of two rabbits running to prove that "two rabbits walk next to each other," An Neng distinguishes me as a male and female".
"Mulan" has become like a collage with a Chinese style. The background color is Westernism. It is transformed with witches, knights and black magic. In the final analysis, it is the East in the eyes of Westerners.
04
wishful thinking "cultural output"
and the inevitable cultural appropriation
We thought that "Mulan" would become the cultural output of China, after all, it was the first time that a major Hollywood film produced a mainstream Chinese film. Of actors make movies.
On the surface, it is indeed output. Overseas audiences are very popular, and Disney+'s downloads and revenue have skyrocketed. Everyone says that Mulan is beautiful and powerful, and many people imitate the horrible fake and yellow makeup in our eyes.
But if you look closely at what it outputs, it is no different from the short-lived East in Western movies in the past.
2020 is coming, and foreigners are still shooting imaginary China.
on: "Pirates of the Caribbean" next: "Mulan"
Adele was scolded not long ago, saying that the hairstyle she combed for the Notting Hill Carnival was "cultural misappropriation", which is a disrespect for Jamaican culture.
The Mayor of Kyoto wrote a sincere letter to Kardashian last year, hoping that she would not use "Kimono" or "kimono" as the name of the underwear brand.
In Europe and America, cultural appropriation has become a serious matter. It used to be cool for Beckham to get dirty braids, but nowadays white stars may be scolded for a year if they get dirty braids casually.
At the seminar held by the University of Southern California, the professors at the meeting commented on cultural appropriation as "racial capitalism."
"Those dominant marginal encounters and removals, thefts or extractions happen because these things are marketed or commoditized in our culture. It brings economic benefits. This is what we call it Racial capitalism.”
and an ordinary American girl wear cheongsams just because they like different things. The production of "Mulan" is a profitable act in order to gain economic benefits and social influence. At the same time, the film crew has spared no effort in China Promoted.
It breaks some things. For example, Liu Yifei, who is in line with Chinese aesthetics, is selected as the protagonist, but no matter how beautiful Liu Yifei is, one person cannot make the whole movie beautiful.
In the final analysis, it is the West’s consistent arrogance to the East that makes it too lazy to take care of more. Anyway, except for the Chinese audience and a small number of Japanese and Korean audiences, no one else knows that these things are wrong.
This is a movie that has been prepared for nearly 10 years, not 10 months.
Hollywood can be arrogant, and Chinese audiences can also not pay. We have the right to criticize cultural appropriation that does not conform to our own history and ideas, and we have the right to give it a low score. What's more, as a super British movie itself, it is also unqualified.
Today is the second day of the release of "Mulan", and the box office has almost been overtaken by "Yubai" which has been in theaters for 20 days.
Forget the three words Hua Mulan, maybe the movie experience will be better.
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