Disney has finally responded to the controversy over Mulan filming near internment camps in China. The live-action adaptation of the beloved 1998 animated classic tells the story of Mulan, a brave young woman who goes to war disguised as a man in place of her ailing father. Although Mulan finally premiered last month on Disney Plus after months of coronavirus-related delays, the film was accompanied by several controversies. One of the major issues was the fact that Mulan filmed scenes in the Xinjiang province, where Uighur Muslims and other Muslim minorities have been and continue to be forcibly detained in internment camps by the Chinese government.

Disney's president of film production, Sean Bailey, defended the decision to film in that area, saying that those scenes "comprised 78 seconds" of the final film. Bailey's statement came as a response to a letter of critique from Iain Duncan Smith, a member of the UK Parliament. Check out Bailey's letter in its entirety below, and Smith's response.

 Related: Why Disney's Mulan Remake Is Facing Calls For A Boycott

Although the effort to make Mulan more authentic sounds well-intentioned in practice, the backlash from Disney's filming decision was definitely deserved. Authenticity should never be prioritized over human rights. Rather than defend the choice to film a segment of the movie in the Xinjiang province and thank Xinjiang government officials in the movie's credits, Disney could've hired more Chinese staff members for the writing and production team in addition to their all-Asian cast in order to actually lend more credence to the authenticity they claimed to embrace. It's unfortunate that the highly-anticipated live-action Mulan adaptation was marred by delays and countless controversies. While the film didn't have to be a re-creation of the animated film, it could've been more authentic to the original Chinese ballad in a far more respectful way overall that didn't hinge on ignoring human rights violations. Hopefully, Disney will learn from the backlash moving forward.

Next: Mulan & Aladdin Remakes Were A Missed Opportunity For Cultural Collaboration

Source: Iain Duncan Smith

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