How #Boycott Mulan is Related to Defunding the Police
Growing up, I saw very few people who looked like me on the big screen. So when Disney came out with the animated version of Mulan in 1998, I was excited. I identified with the lead character - a feisty and head strong young woman who challenged existing norms and traditions. And when Disney announced that they were going to bring this film to life in 2020, I couldn’t wait. That was, until Liu Yifei (the lead actress playing Mulan) came out and publicly stated her support for police brutality.
In the 1980s, my family immigrated to the U.S. from Hong Kong. They had waited for years to be approved for family reunification with my grandparents who were living in New York City’s Chinatown. While we were excited at the opportunity for reunification, my parents have always said that we left Hong Kong because of the anticipated 1997 handover of Hong Kong back to China.
We weren’t the only family to leave. Between the 1980s and late 1990s, over half a million Hong Kongers immigrated overseas. This was further exacerbated during the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing. Many were afraid of losing their rights and liberties. When you’ve grown up in a society and culture where you have access to freedom of speech, information, and assembly, it’s hard to fathom all of those rights being suddenly taken away from you.
My parents sacrificed our middle class lifestyle in Hong Kong to become the working poor in the U.S. We went from not worrying about putting food on the table to being on food stamps. Freedom was so important to my parents that they scarified everything to make sure that their children didn’t have to grow up in a society that oppresses fundamental human rights.
The handover of Hong Kong was about the transfer of power from one oppressor (the British) to another (China). And although ethnically, a lot of Hong Kongers are Han Chinese, our culture is very different. Hong Kong has had over 150 years of evolution under British rule. And so when China comes in and passes strict laws that specifically strips away freedoms and liberties, the people (especially young people) will protest and revolt. That is what the Umbrella Movement was about. And that is why so many young people today identify as being Hong Kongers and not Chinese.
In the U.S., we’ve witnessed acts of police brutality: George Floyd, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Breonna Taylor, Erik Salgado, Tommy Le, etc. The list goes on and on. In Hong Kong, there have been acts of police brutality against protestors. Tear gas has been used. Military has been called in from the Mainland to help control the protestors. Videos have emerged of HK police sexually assaulting protestors after they’ve beeb arrested. As Asian Americans, we can’t say that we’re in support of Black Lives Matter or defunding the police but then turn around and validate these actions.
The #BoycottMulan movement began in Hong Kong after Liu Yifei (a Chinese American actress) publicly stated that she supported the police and their violent tactics on peaceful protestors, journalists, and bystanders. Ultimately, boycotting Mulan is about boycotting police brutality. It’s about sending the message that we are NOT okay with attacks on protestors and innocent bystanders. It’s about calling out Disney for hiring actors and actresses that promote acts of violence. It’s about condemning police brutality within our own APA communities.
Some people will say, “It’s just a movie”. Is it, really? At a time when our nation is protesting police brutality and talking about defunding the police, what messages are we sending as Asian Americans by supporting a film where the lead actress call for police brutality? And if we’re okay with police brutality overseas, then how will we respond when we start seeing it more often in our own communities here in the U.S.?