What do Mulan and Biden have in common?
Hint… they are both not Disney princesses.
Like most little girls, my daughter adores all things related to Disney princesses. Generally, I would not have a qualm in letting her enjoy a Disney princess movie whether live action or a classic cartoon version. However, I will draw the line in the sand and not have her watch the most recent live action Mulan movie. Why? I am less concerned about the content of the film, but more that I cannot support (even if it is a free viewing) this film. The average American family has no clue on the location of filming this latest Disney princess film nor the background of the lead actress. As we freely go on with our lives in the US, a genocide against the Uyghur people continues to take place in China. As we proudly discuss the merits of free speech, China aggressively cracks down on protests in Hong Kong. The list goes on and on, on China’s grave record on human rights.
Film producers selected Xinjiang as the location to film. What is significant about this spot? According to Taiwan news, “Evidence has surfaced showing that scenes from the controversial Disney film "Mulan" were shot near at least 10 internment camps and five prisons in China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region.” These are concentration camps where individuals are deprived of rights, dignity and conditions are beyond the pale. These specific concentration camps house many Uyghurs who are direct victims of the Chinese government’s policy of sinicization (even through drastic means of ethnic cleansing through ‘re-education’ and even forced sterilization and murder). Starting in the 1950s and 1970s, the Chinese government encouraged a mass migration to the Uyghur region to suppress everything from the religion (Islam) and culture of the Uyghur people. That was bad enough, but what is taking place today is unconscionable.
If the location of this film was not enough, the lead actress, Chinese American, Liu Yifei, openly supported the Hong Kong police force in social media posts. The Hong Kong police force directly cracked down on pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. Wait a minute… aren’t we to be standing with our ally, Hong Kong, and supporting the right to free speech? For most young girls watching a film like Mulan, the actress can quickly become a role model or someone little girls look up to. I for one, would never want my daughter to see someone condoning the crack down on free speech as a role model. To wrap up the film, Disney thanked specific Chinese government entities in the film credits. Those entities have directly been involved in human rights abuses.
To add insult to injury, Disney took the step in May 2019 to claim that they would halt filming in Georgia if the state did in fact pass a Fetal Heartbeat Bill. The aim for the bill is to prohibit abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected. Shouldn’t such a bill be celebrated in that it directly works to protect the most innocent and vulnerable - the voiceless? The hypocrisy is rich. From being so quick to threaten the governor and legislators in Georgia who aimed to promote and protect the most innocent lives by claiming they would pull out of filming in the state but not batting an eye at filming in Xinjiang just minutes from Uyghur concentration camps and selecting a female lead with a past of throwing support behind the Hong Kong police force - Disney has shown it’s true colors.
Disney can do what Disney wants to do, but what concerns me the most is the reality that many Americans are blindly supporting Former Vice President, Joe Biden, who has shown the same colors as Disney. Biden has been an open supporter of a “woman’s right to choose” and we all know that that directly means ‘a woman’s right to choose to murder an innocent baby she is carrying’. Perhaps bluntly stated there, but we need to say it how it is- Abortion is murder. Enter the hypocrisy - Biden calls the rise of China a “positive development for America”. This is the same China that is carrying out a genocide against the Uyghurs and is an expert in censoring free speech from protests to written content. To take it a step further, bombshell evidence has most recently come out about the pay to play set up Biden’s son Hunter had in China and other countries. How can we even trust that Joe Biden will stand for the best interests in America when he now appears to not only be compromised but again has praised China’s continual consolidation of power?
One of the most popular songs from the Mulan movie is, “Reflection”. Well, the background on the film and cast of Disney’s recent Mulan film is quite a reflection of the hypocrisy of Disney as well as what we very well could see in a Biden/Harris administration. Wake up, America! We cannot claim to be a beacon of hope for freedom and justice if we turn a blind eye to and not call out the true evil that is taking place in China. Do we want a leader who is proactive in calling out China or a leader who is compromised and whose family has profited tremendously from backroom deals with China? The choice should be very clear.