Arts & Entertainment
Fans slam Disney for erasing ‘bisexual’ character Shang from ‘Mulan’ remake
the main love interest will be replaced
“Mulan” fans aren’t happy with a notable casting change in Disney’s live-action remake.
Li Shang is Ping’s (Mulan disguised as a male soldier) commander in the army. Shang eventually grows to admire and respect Ping before learning that it is Mulan and falling in love with her.
Many fans have long hailed Shang as a bisexual character for his admiration for Mulan when she is both disguised as a man and later revealed to be a woman. The iconic Disney song “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” also features Shang attempting to train Ping for the army. Disney has stated that the remake will include music but it’s unclear if it will be a musical like the 1998 original.
In a casting call report posted on Twitter, it was revealed that Shang was being replaced by an original character, Chen Honghui. The character is an army recruit described as “Full of himself, with a mean, bullying streak to him.” He views Mulan (as Ping) as his rival and only stops hating her when he discovers she’s a woman. Then, Honghui falls in love with her.
saddened to report it’s basically been confirmed that li shang will not be in the live-action mulan.
the mulan casting call has been confirmed to be accurate. donnie yen was cast as “commander tung,” who is in the description for “chen honghui.”
rest in peace bisexual icon. pic.twitter.com/7El8TDhJg5
— nerdy (@nerdyasians) April 16, 2018
Fans of the film slammed Disney for erasing Shang from the remake and making the new character only warm up to Mulan once its revealed she is a woman.
lrt cannot even begin to describe how uninterested i am in disney turning mulan into a story about a guy who only respects mulan as a soldier and a rival when he thinks she’s a man and suddenly sees her as fuckable when he finds out she’s a woman
— Sas Batcii ? melbnova#42 (@sasbatcii) April 17, 2018
disney when they realized they accidentally made li shang bisexual by having him fall in love with mulan while he thought she was a boy and that there’s nothing they can say now to deny it or change that fact pic.twitter.com/FZWIYqDY8v
— gabi (@harleivy) April 12, 2018
i’m disgusted. disney is obviously still mad they accidentally made li shang bisexual, so they’re REMOVING ANY POSSIBILITY that “chen” is seen as bisexual. they make it clear he HATES mulan the whole time she’s presenting male. he bullies her up until he finds out she’s a woman. https://t.co/vsj5B9uDGp
— princess mizzy ? (@hellomizzyy) April 16, 2018
so the new character relentlessly bullies mulan bc she’s better than him until he find out she’s a girl, hoah fence but i hate him and our bisexual king li shang would never https://t.co/D0d0Z82CRY
— andile (@INDIEWASHERE) April 17, 2018
when u wanna support the upcoming mulan remake bc disney cast a gorgeous, talented actress who’s actually chinese to play mulan but they’re also replacing bisexual icon li shang with a random misogynistic dude who’ll overshadow mulan’s journey & add 0 good elements to the story pic.twitter.com/N88ZKz5am8
— gabi (@harleivy) April 17, 2018
li shang was only harsh on mulan (ping) at the beginning because ping appeared to be trouble and hold the troop back, but as mulan proved herself worthy in wits and combat on the battlefield the Bisexual Legend Li Shang saw ping as his equal (and also fell in love)
— it is i, the binchiest bi, (@ejnoodles) April 17, 2018
wait, so it’s official now that the live action mulan won’t have bisexual icon li shang in it? i’m gonna throw some hands if they even think about switching this shit up to leave out the king. pic.twitter.com/Z9veWbJRH7
— trinnie ???????? (@mixielot) April 14, 2018
Liu Yifei will star as Mulan, Jet Li as emperor of China, Gong Li as a witch and Donnie Yen as Commander Tung.
“Mulan” hits theaters in March 2020.
Team DC, the umbrella organization for LGBTQ-friendly sports teams and leagues in the D.C. area, held its annual Night of Champions Awards Gala on Saturday, April 20 at the Hilton National Mall. The organization gave out scholarships to area LGBTQ student athletes as well as awards to the Different Drummers, Kelly Laczko of Duplex Diner, Stacy Smith of the Edmund Burke School, Bryan Frank of Triout, JC Adams of DCG Basketball and the DC Gay Flag Football League.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
The 2024 National Cannabis Festival was held at the Fields at RFK Stadium on April 19-20.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Covering the @NatlCannaFest at RFK Stadium for @WashBlade . Stop by the LGBTQ+ booth and pick up a paper if you are here. pic.twitter.com/is7hnsaPns
— Michael Patrick Key (@MichaelKeyWB) April 20, 2024
Theater
‘Amm(i)gone’ explores family, queerness, and faith
A ‘fully autobiographical’ work from out artist Adil Mansoor
‘Amm(i)gone’
Thorough May 12
Woolly Mammoth Theatre
641 D St., N.W.
$60-$70
Woollymammoth.net
“Fully and utterly autobiographical.” That’s how Adil Mansoor describes “Amm(i)gone,” his one-man work currently playing at Woolly Mammoth Theatre.
Both created and performed by out artist Mansoor, it’s his story about inviting his Pakistani mother to translate Sophocles’s Greek tragedy “Antigone” into Urdu. Throughout the journey, there’s an exploration of family, queerness, and faith,as well as references to teachings from the Quran, and audio conversations with his Muslim mother.
Mansoor, 38, grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and is now based in Pittsburgh where he’s a busy theater maker. He’s also the founding member of Pittsburgh’s Hatch Arts Collective and the former artistic director of Dreams of Hope, an LGBTQ youth arts organization.
WASHINGTON BLADE: What spurred you to create “Amm(i)gone”?
ADIL MANSOOR: I was reading a translation of “Antigone” a few years back and found myself emotionally overwhelmed. A Theban princess buries her brother knowing it will cost her, her own life. It’s about a person for whom all aspirations are in the afterlife. And what does that do to the living when all of your hopes and dreams have to be reserved for the afterlife?
I found grant funding to pay my mom to do the translation. I wanted to engage in learning. I wanted to share theater but especially this ancient tragedy. My mother appreciated the characters were struggling between loving one another and their beliefs.
BLADE: Are you more director than actor?
MANSOOR: I’m primarily a director with an MFA in directing from Carnegie Mellon. I wrote, directed, and performed in this show, and had been working on it for four years. I’ve done different versions including Zoom. Woolly’s is a new production with the same team who’ve been involved since the beginning.
I love solo performance. I’ve produced and now teach solo performance and believe in its power. And I definitely lean toward “performance” and I haven’t “acted” since I was in college. I feel good on stage. I was a tour guide and do a lot of public speaking. I enjoy the attention.
BLADE: Describe your mom.
MANSOOR: My mom is a wonderfully devout Muslim, single mother, social worker who discovered my queerness on Google. And she prays for me.
She and I are similar, the way we look at things, the way we laugh. But different too. And those are among the questions I ask in this show. Our relationship is both beautiful and complicated.
BLADE: So, you weren’t exactly hiding your sexuality?
MANSOOR: In my mid-20s, I took time to talk with friends about our being queer with relation to our careers. My sexuality is essential to the work. As the artistic director at Dreams of Hope, part of the work was to model what it means to be public. If I’m in a room with queer and trans teenagers, part of what I’m doing is modeling queer adulthood. The way they see me in the world is part of what I’m putting out there. And I want that to be expansive and full.
So much of my work involves fundraising and being a face in schools. Being out is about making safe space for queer young folks.
BLADE: Have you encountered much Islamophobia?
MANSOOR: When 9/11 happened, I was a sophomore in high school, so yes. I faced a lot then and now. I’ve been egged on the street in the last four months. I see it in the classroom. It shows up in all sorts of ways.
BLADE: What prompted you to lead your creative life in Pittsburgh?
MANSOOR: I’ve been here for 14 years. I breathe with ease in Pittsburgh. The hills and the valleys and the rust of the city do something to me. It’s beautiful, it’ affordable, and there is support for local artists. There’s a lot of opportunity.
Still, the plan was to move to New York in September of 2020 but that was cancelled. Then the pandemic showed me that I could live in Pittsburgh and still have a nationally viable career.
BLADE: What are you trying to achieve with “Amm(i)gone”?
MANSOOR: What I’m sharing in the show is so very specific but I hear people from other backgrounds say I totally see my mom in that. My partner is Catholic and we share so much in relation to this.
I hope the work is embracing the fullness of queerness and how means so many things. And I hope the show makes audiences want to call their parents or squeeze their partners.