LGBTQ themes in Western animation: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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=== Mulan ===

In June 1998, ''[[Mulan (1998 film)|Mulan]]'', an [[animated cartoon|animated]] [[musical film|musical]] [[adventure film]] would begin showing in theaters. The film would include a bisexual captain [[List of Disney's Mulan characters#Li Shang|Li Shang]] (voiced by [[BD Wong]]). Shang, in the film, loved Mulan when she was disguised as a male [[alter ego]] named Ping, and in her true form as a woman.<ref>{{cite web|last=Hough|first=Soren|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/features/how-disneys-mulan-brazenly-challenges-gender-and-sexuality|title=How Disney’s “Mulan” Brazenly Challenges Gender and Sexuality|website=[[Rogerebert.com]]|date=December 28, 2016|access-date=September 19, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200625032958/https://www.rogerebert.com/features/how-disneys-mulan-brazenly-challenges-gender-and-sexuality|archive-date=June 25, 2020|url-status=live|quote=Successful training is indeed how she captures Shang’s attention...As Ping continues to try and blend in with her peers and prove herself to the captain, Shang becomes increasingly affectionate...his affection is also likely the deeper reason for him sparing her life...Shang appears to be attracted to the person regardless of gender...There is some level of ambiguity about Shang’s sexuality}}</ref> However, Shang was not included in the 2020 [[Mulan (2020 film)|live-action remake]]. One of the film's producers, Jason Reed, said that Shang was dropped in response to the [[Me Too movement]], arguing that "having a commanding officer that is also the sexual love interest was very uncomfortable and we didn't think it was appropriate".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Szany |first=Wendy Lee |date=February 27, 2020 |title='Mulan': Why Captain Li Shang Isn't in the Live-Action Remake |work=[[Collider (website)|Collider]] |url=https://collider.com/mulan-li-shang-not-in-live-action-remake-reason-why/ |url-status=live |access-date=March 2, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200229041523/https://collider.com/mulan-li-shang-not-in-live-action-remake-reason-why/ |archive-date=February 29, 2020}}</ref> This was met with social media backlash from fans of the original film and members of the [[LGBTQ]] community, with Reed initially surprised by criticism of Shang's removal, but acknowledged that the character had become an "LGBTQ icon."<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 2, 2020 |title=Mulan: Disney drop character following #MeToo movement |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-51707188 |url-status=live |access-date=March 2, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200302225205/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-51707188 |archive-date=March 2, 2020}}</ref><ref name="Vogue">{{Cite news |last=Rearick |first=Lauren |date=February 28, 2020 |title=Mulan" Love Interest Li Shang Was Reportedly Split Into Two Characters Because of MeToo |work=[[Teen Vogue]] |url=https://www.teenvogue.com/story/mulan-love-interest-li-shang-reportedly-split-two-characters-metoo |url-status=live |access-date=March 2, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200303032415/https://www.teenvogue.com/story/mulan-love-interest-li-shang-reportedly-split-two-characters-metoo |archive-date=March 3, 2020}}</ref> He added that Shang's role would be served by two new characters, Commander Tung and Chen Honghui.<ref name="Forbes" /><ref name="Vogue" />

Even so, some reviewers, like Cynthia Vinney of [[Comic Book Resources|CBR]], called the interactions between Honghui and Mulan "more homoerotic" than Li Shang's in the animated version and "can be read as bisexual" while Lauren Puckett of [[Harper's Bazaar]] criticized Reed's reasoning as incorrect.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vinney |first=Cynthia |date=September 5, 2020 |title=Disney's Mulan Is Even MORE Homoerotic in Live-Action, if That's Possible |url=https://www.cbr.com/disney-mulan-more-homoerotic-in-live-action/ |access-date=September 19, 2020 |website=[[Comic Book Resources|CBR]] |archive-date=November 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116202428/https://www.cbr.com/disney-mulan-more-homoerotic-in-live-action/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="harperbazaar">{{Cite web |last=Puckett |first=Lauren |date=September 4, 2020 |title=Why Is Li Shang Not in Disney's Live-Action 'Mulan?' |url=https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/film-tv/a33928432/why-li-shang-is-not-in-mulan-live-action/ |access-date=September 19, 2020 |website=[[Harper's Bazaar]]|archive-date=November 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116202429/https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/film-tv/a33928432/why-li-shang-is-not-in-mulan-live-action/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Scholar Jo Johnson described ''Mulan'' as having a character, Mulan herself, who could "successfully 'pass' as the opposite sex" and as subverting her traditionally assigned gender signifiers, while having an "unusually masculine body." It was further stated that as a result, Mulan was the "perfect embodiment of a [[drag king]]" even though she maintains her [[heterosexuality]] as she is attracted to Li Sheng, comparing Mulan's interpretation of her sexuality to that of [[Bugs Bunny]].{{Sfn |Johnson | 2010 | p = 247, 255, 259-261}} Furthermore, gay playwright [[Harvey Fierstein]] voiced a character in Mulan, and only accepted the part after confirming that the rest of the cast was Asian so he would not take work away from an Asian actor.<ref>{{cite book|last=Rapp |first=Linda |editor-last=Summers |editor-first=Claude |date=2012 |title=The Queer Encyclopedia of Film and Television |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nwFuDwAAQBAJ |location=San Francisco, California |chapter=Fierstein, Harvey (b. 1954) |publisher=Cleis Press Start |isbn=9781573448826 |page=140}}</ref>