The “Mulan Make-Up 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 make-up.

As we noted in our post on the initial teaser:

Although many are critical, one highly-upvoted comment argues, “That’s how the make-up of that era was — this shows that the production team have really paid attention to detail. If they’d used modern make-up, 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 make-up# has taken off, with people posting pictures of themselves paying cosmetic tribute to Disney’s version of the legendary warrior and make-up 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 make-up, I finally get why she decided to join the army instead of getting married.”

Related:

Tang Dynasty Fashion Goes Viral