feministdisney:When people pull out the “but she wore white makeup in her movie” or &ldq
feministdisney:When people pull out the “but she wore white makeup in her movie” or “many women lightened their skin” argument for the official re-design, it’s like… you’re not being a good Disney fan if you’re completely ignoring the context of the movie. Reasons the white-wash re-design right now doesn’t work:A) the established appearance of the character they created. And they had already decided not to incorporate that page of history into her appearancewhen they first made this movie. She has an established skin tone. Not to mention, kids don’t really know much about history. All they’ll notice is that Mulan is a “Disney princess,” yet even she wasn’t considered perfect enough without her skin being lightened from how it appeared in the movie.B) their treatment of other historical characters and settings- they ignore accuracy even when there were complaints- like w/Jasmine and Pocahontas- and no one complained about Mulan’s skin tone not being light enough, previously. Why exactly would Disney, without even an explanation, suddenly use historical accuracy as a reason for changing Mulan’s appearance? AndC) the preferences and personality of the character they created- one who defies social expectations (it’s hard to envision Mulan sitting indoors, trying to cultivate a lighter skin tone). Mulan is not a generic individual, she has a very defined and strong personality. Ignoring this when it was a main aspect of her movie- when she even sang a song about how uncomfortable she felt in the makeup and matchmaker dress- it’s like pairing Belle with Gaston in merchandise, “just because it happened in the movie once.” In spite of Belle hating that, in spite of how uncomfortable she felt with him. Why is it okay to do that sort of thing to Mulan, to give those sort of excuses on behalf of Disney for Mulan’s change, when it would never fly with fans if they did that to Belle?additional posts on this issueIn the Ballad of Mulan (which admittedly focused far more on Mulan’s triumphs in battle and homesickness than trying to fit in with the boys or falling in love, but whatevs) described her as an average class citizen, and that’s what she is in the movie as well.There is no way in HELL she’d be light-skinned. You have to work, weave clothing, farm crops, tend livestock, to live in the fifth-century.And only women of very high status routinely wore make up or owned such lavish clothing, soooooooo…Historically accurate? -- source link