The Battle for Mulan

What happens when another country makes  a film about one of your country’s legendary characters and that version of the story becomes the only version that everyone else in the world knows about?

Well that’s what has happened to China with its story of Hua Mulan. For those of you that missed the Disney Version of Mulan,  (I unfortunately haven’t seen it yet myself), Mulan is a kind of a Joan of Arc character that disguises herself and joins an all-male Army.  Disney has been very successful with getting its version of the story out there, being that their film became a great success worldwide and later with a musical version that has appeared in several countries.  Not that it was Disney’s attempt to be the only version of the story that people would remember, but it has happened that way by virtue of Disney’s success.

Disney’s success hasn’t sat well with some Chinese.  According to Time magazine, where I found this story, there is an attempt underway to take the story back for the Chinese People (or so they say). Guo Shu, the executive president of  Starlight International Media Group put into production a live action version of ‘Mulan’ and it has now opened in China, Singapore and Malaysia. If this $12 million project will be able to compete with Disney’s, I’m not sure.

By now your probably saying “Why?”.  What’s the big deal?  The truth is I don’t know.  Then again, I would have to think that it probably wouldn’t sit well with us if China had produced a film about George Washington or Terry Fox and that was the only version of the story that people around the world remembered.  If China wants to do a version of their own story it is fair, obviously if its just for the Chinese people that is fair also.  Apparently, Disney’s Mulan didn’t open very well in China, as it was a bit too American for people there. 

Currently, I am uncertain if Mulan will make it over here to the North American market. If Mulan does make it over here, we can judge and see if it was worth all the effort to produce this film or not.  In any case, what are you thoughts on this?  Is this just China not liking Americans telling their stories?

Who is the Most Influential Person in the World?

For many of us the most influential people in our lives are probably President Barak Obama or Oprah Winfrey.  But,for some, these people are even close.  In Time Magazine’s third annual poll for the top 100 Influential people Christopher Poole was crowned the new #1 most influential person in the world with 16,794,368 votes and a influence rating of 90(out of a 100). 

Now I find the choice of Christopher Poole kind of odd since I never heard of the guy till I read this article and I’m kind of thinking I’m not the only one.  Christopher Poole (or Moot as he is called) isn’t a household name, and so, for him to win I kind of think there is something up. Then again, polls are only as good as the pool of people that are involved in them.  Often polls are not a good reflection on reality as they are prone to Mob mentality and manipulation by people trying to make a name for themselves.  Not that Poole would be involved in a concerted effort to become the Most Influential Person in the world, as he denies any involvement in such an effort.  Well in any case, we should all try and congratulate him on being so influential.