The “Mulan Makeup Challenge” is Taking China by Storm

Yesterday’s release of a teaser for Disney’s live-action version of Mulan has sparked off all kinds of debates and online reaction — both in China and abroad. It only took a few seconds for geographical and temporal problems to emerge in the first look, and then there are those wondering about the whereabouts of a Mushu:

I’m aware there’s a certain amount of artistic licence, but the location of her hometown is important to the story’s basis. It’s to defend the northern borders against invading tribes that the one-male-per-household conscription rule was decreed in northern regions. #Mulan2020 https://t.co/7f1liHHMWa

— Xueting Christine Ni (@xuetingni) July 8, 2019

Actual Chinese
people explaining
that Disney’s original
Mulan adaption was
extremely offensive
and the new remake
is a great chance to
fix those issues and
put out a respectful
adaption. White People: pic.twitter.com/8lV844glOF

— 🧚🏼‍♀️ Fairy Dog Mother 🧚🏼‍♀️ (@matcha_sriracha) July 7, 2019

Another point of controversy in China, were the clips leading up to Mulan’s arranged marriage, which showed some… striking makeup.

As we noted in our post on the initial teaser:

Although many are critical, one highly-upvoted comment argues, “That’s how the makeup of that era was — this shows that the production team have really paid attention to detail. If they’d used modern makeup, you’d all be complaining about that. ‘Fairy Sister’ [Liu Yifei] looks good in anything.”

Another commenter dryly observes, “I wish I was as ‘ugly’ as Liu Yifei.”

Well now, a whole host of Weibo users are trying to their hand at being that “ugly” — the hashtag #Mulan makeup# has taken off, with people posting pictures of themselves paying cosmetic tribute to Disney’s version of the legendary warrior and makeup artists sharing tutorials of how to get the look.

“Okay, I’ll try it. My whole person and expression is telling you I don’t want to be match-made.”

“After imitating Mulan’s makeup, I finally get why she decided to join the army instead of getting married.”

Related:

Tang Dynasty Fashion Goes Viral