The Internet *Really* Doesn't Want Disney to Whitewash Mulan in the Live-Action Film

Both Disney and Sony have live-action versions of Mulan in the works, and people are worried they’re going to cast white actors to play the Asian characters in the story.

They are so worried, in fact, that a Care2 petition has been created to beg the filmmakers not to whitewash this story like they have in other recent films. According to the petition, which already has over 90,000 signatures, “Mulan was based on a Chinese legend, the story of Fa/Hua Mu Lan, in which a young girl disguises herself as a man to serve as a soldier in the battle against an invasion launched by the Huns. The character, story, and fans deserve the best retelling of the story Disney can produce.”

You may recall that after the release of last summer’s Aloha, many moviegoers were upset that Emma Stone—who, as she herself told Refinery29, is “so white”—was cast as a character who is supposed to be a quarter Chinese, quarter Hawaiian and half Swedish. This isn’t the first time Hollywood has whitewashed a cast, but people are so over it.

Besides creating and signing the petition, many have taken to social media to express their outrage and concern.

But they’re also using social media to give their own suggestions as to who should star in the film.

Whitewashing is not only detrimental to actors of racial minorities but also to the audiences attending these movies. It is important for people of every race, gender and background to feel properly represented in the media, but it’s especially important that we give young people proper role models to whom they can relate. All they want is to see themselves in these stories, and they deserve that.