" DISNEY'S MULAN AND THE BACKDROP OF GENOCIDE - WHY I WON'T BE WATCHING THE LATEST LIVE-ACTION REMAKE" - John Stonestreet and David Carlson, Breakpoint.org, 09/9/20;https://breakpoint.org/disneys-mulan-and-the-backdrop-of-genocide/ [AS I SEE IT; For MANY years now, Disney has been putting out films that speak to the worst elements of our culture and been exporting it to the world. Now, they demonstrate a desire for profit that overlooks the genocide of a people group. It truly is time for more people to stop supporting their wrong actions by withdrawing our money to support them. Enough! - Stan]
Disney’s newest live-action movie, “Mulan,” was released [last] Friday. So far, reviews have ranged from mostly positive to absolutely glowing: “an exciting, well-crafted action movie,” a “robust” and “family-friendly, live-action Disney fantasy,” and an “epic-scale tribute to female empowerment.”
However, the feedback on Mulan has chilled considerably after reports that Disney filmed substantial portions of the movie in China’s Xinjiang province, with the blessing and cooperation of the Chinese Communist government.
Xinjiang is the home province of some 12 million Muslim Uighurs. According to the U. S. State Department, over one million of them have been moved to concentration camps where “they are starved, abused, tortured, electrocuted, raped and even killed.” Uighur women have been “forcibly sterilized . . . [and] made to use intrusive birth control methods.” There have even been reports of forced abortions and even infanticide.
Yet, not only did Disney choose Xinjiang province, “ground zero” for China’s savage persecution of the Muslim Uighur population to film “Mulan,” in the closing credits, they thanked four Communist Party propaganda departments and a public security bureau in Xinjiang—the very organizations, as the Washington Post reports, “that are facilitating [these] crimes against humanity.”
Calling the treatment of the Uighur population in China “crimes against humanity” may sound harsh, but it is fitting. In fact, what’s been happening in Xinjiang fits the United Nations’ official definition of genocide: the “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.” This can include “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction,” and “imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.”
To be clear, Disney has chosen to cozy up to the Chinese government for years. In 1997, a Disney film that cast the Dalai Lama in a positive light so upset the totalitarians in Beijing, they “restricted the studio’s ability to work in China.” Disney’s then-CEO Michael Eisner quickly issued an apology and promised not to insult Disney’s “friends” in the future. Appeased, Beijing opened the doors for Shanghai Disneyland, which opened in 2016. “Mulan” has handed Beijing a propaganda victory.
Given their strong stands on behalf of progressive causes such as LGBT issues and abortion, Disney seems more guilty of a bad worldview than spinelessness. In 2016, for example, Disney threatened to stop filming in the state of Georgia after the legislature passed a bill protecting religious liberty in the wake of same-sex marriage. Disney’s current CEO said he would find it “very difficult” to continue filming in Georgia after the state passed a fetal heartbeat bill to protect the lives of the unborn. Many don’t realize just how lucrative film and television is in Georgia, much less the tax and other financial incentives Georgia now has in place for studios, directors, and others in the industry. In 2018 alone, the state reported about $9.5 billion in revenue from the film and television industries.
Why then, would Disney be willing to put the economic screws to a U.S. state over abortion and LGBT rights, but not to a Communist dictatorship over human-rights violations and even genocide?
While Beijing clearly doesn’t care about world opinion, too much world opinion cares about China… especially China’s money. Having propped up its authority for so long on economic promises, the only pressure China is likely to take seriously is financial. Nations like Japan and India, and even some corporations like Apple, have taken a stand and moved business out of China. Disney, on the other hand, gave China a great big PR win instead.
I’m usually not much for boycotting as a strategy, but my family will not be watching “Mulan.” In fact, the boycott of “Mulan” seems to be spreading, especially in Asia. I hope it spreads in our country too, as a way of putting action to all of our words about human dignity, human value, and human rights. No amount of money will ever make acceptable the treatment that Muslim Uighurs face at the hands of the Chinese government.
[italics and colored emphasis mine]
RESOURCES:
"Genocide in China" - John Stonestreet | Breakpoint | August 4, 2020; https://www.breakpoint.org/genocide-in-china/
"Why Disney’s new ‘Mulan’ is a scandal" - Isaac Stone Fish | Washington Post | September 7, 2020; https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/09/07/why-disneys-new-mulan-is-scandal/
"Hospital worker: China forces abortion, infanticide on Uyghurs" - Catholic News Agency | August 18, 2020; https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/hospital-worker-china-forces-abortion-infanticide-on-uyghurs-81510
"Disney Threatens To Boycott Georgia Over Anti-Gay Marriage Bill" - Anna Fields | Forbes | March 23, 2016; https://www.forbes.com/sites/annafields/2016/03/23/disney-is-boycotting-homophobes-and-so-should-you/#35d0e6686d19
"Disney C.E.O. Warns Georgia Abortion Law Would Make it ‘Very Difficult’ to Film in the State" - Daniel Victor | The New York Times | May 30, 2019; https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/30/business/media/disney-georgia-boycott-abortion.html
"Georgia’s Film Industry" - Georgia.org | 2020; https://www.georgia.org/video/georgias-film-industry#:~:text=The%2520film%2520and%2520television%2520industries,are%2520created%2520in%2520the%2520process.
PRAYER MATTERS:
"To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against
the disorder of the world. - Karl Barth"Prayer is inviting God into a seemingly impossible situation and trusting/resting in His love and grace to accomplish His perfect will in His perfect time and for His greatest glory. Intercession is one of the great privileges AND responsibilities for EVERY believer."- Stan----------------------------------------------------------------------World-Wide Prayer Requests:
PRAISE GOD for the continuing successes against ISIS !
------------------------------------------------------------
followed by economic collapse, had crippled the city. People were left unable to secure even their basic needs. So far, 125 incomegenerating projects have started through small business loans that your support has provided to believers. While the businesses may vary, each one provides dignity. Each one is helping Christians rebuild their communities—Christians like Shadia, a 24-year-old pharmaceutical graduate, who was able to open a pharmacy and now supports her parents and her siblings’ education. Dr. Berj Haddidan opened a much-needed dental clinic. Elias Arkilo started his own tailor shop and can now provide for his family.
September 13 - Praise God for the opportunities for hope and dignity that these businesses are providing. *Representative name or photo used to protect identity.
the disorder of the world. - Karl Barth
PRAISE GOD for the continuing successes against
followed by economic collapse, had crippled the city. People were left unable to secure even their basic needs. So far, 125 incomegenerating projects have started through small business loans that your support has provided to believers. While the businesses may vary, each one provides dignity. Each one is helping Christians rebuild their communities—Christians like Shadia, a 24-year-old pharmaceutical graduate, who was able to open a pharmacy and now supports her parents and her siblings’ education. Dr. Berj Haddidan opened a much-needed dental clinic. Elias Arkilo started his own tailor shop and can now provide for his family.
September 13 - Praise God for the opportunities for hope and dignity that these businesses are providing.
No comments:
Post a Comment