Oh, that’s a great point, it’s such a relevant and recent comparison. Such an effective and moving portrayal, as bittersweet as it was, you get that it’s all wrapped up in not just, like…a burden, but an actual sense of wanting to do it. Which, obviously, there are so many nuances and layers to that and I truly do hope that once Lu gets back, she finds a balance that lets her and Mei be together (I’m gonna need all the fic here), but I get her decisions.
Although, isn’t Away also through a certain lens? Where Emma is the good guy through it all (and I mean, like, I loved her as a character, but stepping back a bit at what she represents) and you have the CNSA so hateable. I was literally telling my friend as I was watching, I’m hating this fictional Chinese woman written by Americans, not sure how to feel about that. Especially because then on the other hand, in real life, it probably WOULD be like that so it’d be a disservice to paint it too differently. I guess we landed on the best outcome being that while the homophobia in China shouldn’t be glossed over, the US’s flaws shouldn’t be either.
Full disclosure, I have not watched the new Mulan at all barring the parts with Gong Li, but I assumed she went because her father is sick? But yeah, Disney really went and didn’t hire a single Chinese writer for it. I guess that showed, from the criticism I’ve been reading.
