Talk:Mulan (2020 film)/@comment-27373870-20180728212006/@comment-4889892-20180809213249

That would depend on how true you want to stay to the story. I wouldn't take that approach to the Butterfly Lovers, but if someone else wants to that's on them. It'll be criticized. No idea if I'd like it or not. Back in 1998, I don't know how concerned Disney was with Chinese criticism and that was their mistake. Disney made mistakes with Mulan, Western fans loved it and expect the same thing. If there was no clue to the change of story, Chinese fans who were concerned with authenticity would expect the same too. So they can either make it the same and get the same kind of reviews as before, change it without explanation and get the opposite results, or just make it publically known its a retelling and force everyone to watch it with no preconceptions. I have no objection to a retelling but don't market it as the same movie because it's not. This isn't our "Yang Mulan" as I've heard she's called in China.

Open-mindedness means you consider different views. You don't have to agree with all of them. If someone has a stupid idea, I want to know why they think that. Maybe it isn't as stupid as it seems. Maybe it is. You can't just bash an idea until you've looked into it. I'd like to know why someone would want to cast Jennifer Lawrence, but I'm almost certain there would be no justifiable reason to do that. For Disney, it is justifiable to stick to the relative same story as the original because it is what people expect. They are also justified to change it (as they have) if they change their market strategy. What they have done has no justification (part of the reason I have my conspiracy theories about it), so it's hard to be open to it. A lot of our debate has technically been speculation.

Casting Jennifer Lawrence as Mulan would be changing the actual character. You can elaborate on the plot, but what you can't change is Mulan and how she went to war for her father, disguised as a man, and won great honors from China's leader (I've seen him described as a Khan in some versions). If you change any part of that it cannot be claimed to be based on the legend of Mulan. That would be like saying Parvana from the Breadwinner is Mulan because she dresses up as a boy.