Due to some controversies, Disney’s live action Mulan is being boycotted around the world using the #BoycottMulan on Twitter.  The boycott started in 2019 and is still currently going on.

One of the main reasons for the boycott stems from what the actress, playing the title character Mulan, Liu Yifei, said on Weibo in regards to the Hong Kong police.

During this time in Hong Kong, there were protests against the establishment of the Hong Kong “Extradition Bill”. What the “Extradition Bill” proposed was to hand over Hong Kong criminals over to China to face their trials.

The police responded to the protesters with, “batons, tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, and water cannons.”

One of the reporters for the state newspaper was attacked by protestors who believed that the reporter was an undercover Hong Kong police.  That reporter then posted on Weibo saying, “I also support the Hong Kong police. You can beat me up now.”

This is where the controversy started. Liu Yi Fei shared this post and responded to it saying, “I also support the Hong Kong police.” Many people were angry about this because they believed that the police used essively brutal methods when dealing with the protestors. Upset with what actress Liu Yi Fei said, boycotts on Disney’s Mulan arised.

According to Samantha Ordaz, a sophomore at Mt. SAC Early College Academy, “I believe that the movie should not be involved because of what the actress did or said. It is a Disney movie, so we should not bring up things like politics or government, which can impact the movie.”

Another student, Trenian Moralde, a junior, believes, “If she (Liu Yi Fei) really said something about supporting the police brutality happening in Hong Kong, then it is understandable why people are saying to boycott the movie. She is playing a character that saves China from invaders but in real life, she supports the corrupt police. I don’t really agree with boycotting the movie, it should be the actress that caused the controversy.” 

Since the movie was filmed in a Chinese region called Xinjiang, this also caused the boycott.

The movie received a lot of backlash because this is the place where Uyghur are reported to be detained. The Uyghur are a minority ethnic group from northwestern China.

It was said that the Uyghurs, along with other ethnic groups, are being detained and put into similar camps like concentration camps.

Junior Maureen Smith thinks that, “I think the boycotts are justified, and it was shady on Disney’s part to film in this location. Testimony has even described them as prison camps. It’s sad that a billion dollar company seems more interested in profit than standing against human rights violations.”

This issue was not yet resolved, but this has caused many people to be angry, which caused them to boycott Disney’s live action Mulan.