Disney has never been known for being particularly culturally sensitive or racially inclusive. It seems that they think that only way children would understand racial differences is if they are bombarded with exaggerated caricatures. The groups of people that have gotten it the worst from Disney are Native Americans, the French, and Asians. There has been a continuing theme about the "Asian" characters in Disney films from as long as I can remember. For example, The Aristocats. The two Siamese cats, in the scene during the song "Everybody Wants to Be a Cat", are depicted wearing drum cymbals as rice hats and holding chopsticks in their paws. Don't even get me started on MuLan.
Read an article here
about the censorship.Disney's character Pirate Lord Sao Feng was played by Hong Kong movie star Chow Yun-Fat. According to the article, several of Chow Yun-Fat's scenes were cut because of the portrayal of "Singaporean" (read: oriental) Pirate. He is bald, with a dragon tattoo behind his ear, he has the kind of Lao-Tsi long beard and moustache-thing (not sure if its really a moustache because they only appear at each side of the upper lip-you know what I'm talking about), and has long, yellow nails. Your typical, old fashioned, oriental portrayal, could we really expect more from Disney?
Now, I'm not in favor of censorship on principle, but I'm glad that the Chinese film bureau did something and said something. Because I was really uncomfortable as I sat through the movie. All the focus of the article is on Chow Yun-Fat's character, but there was so much more that was wrong.
To begin, Singapore Harbor is this dark and sinister island of fog and bamboo. Sao Feng's Singapore pirate lair is a hot, dark, and steamy hallway lined with semi-nude tattooed men/anomalies. The "Singaporeans" at first chance strip Keira Knightley's character nearly naked (nearly, because it is a Disney movie and all). Sao Feng has a pair of identical slanty-eyed concubines are dressed in matching cheung-sam. Their only purpose is to pour more boiling water into a giant steaming tub and, presumably, service him.
The "Singaporeans" don't really have guns, they are too barbaric, when Sao Feng threaten's Orlando Bloom's character it is with a wooden spike through the face.
When asked to comment on the censorship of the film by the Chinese, Disney executive Anthony Marcoly responded "They weren't quite ecstatic with how the Chinese pirate was portrayed." How insensitive...and vague. Is he talking about Chow Yun-Fat's character? Because he is Chinese, but the pirate Sao Feng is supposed to be "Singaporean". Or maybe he was talking about the female Pirate Lord, Mistress Ching.
Mistress Ching is the perpetually scowling, shrill voiced Lord of the Pacific Ocean. She is wearing Chinese opera make up, and has the tiny painted mouth. And they made her blind, how is one supposed to pillage and plunder when they can't see? But the saddest part about the character of Mistress Ching isn't the blatant orientalization of her character, is that that was how Disney chose to portray a great ancient feminist hero.
"Mistress Ching" was based on the real female pirate, Ching Shih (or Zheng Yi Sao, "wife of Zheng Yi" (not blind, by any accounts I read). She started out as a prostitute on a floating brothel in Qing China, then she married the pirate Zheng Yi. Zheng Yi commanded the Red Flag Fleet, a coalition of over 1500 ships. When her husband died 3 years into their marriage, Ching Shih took over. She was ruthless and severe, completely overtaking towns and settlements, even imposing taxes on them (she also beheaded a lot of people). And she carried on an affair with her late husband's right hand man, and married him (remarriage of widows was practically nonexistant at the time). Nobody could take her down, not the Chinese Army, not even the Portugese or the British Navy. She has been called "the greatest pirate who ever lived" (yes, the very title given to Johnny Depp over and over again in Pirates)
Look at the story of Ching Shih, look at what Disney did to her. Why shouldn't we expect more out of Disney?
Ching Shih sources: http://www.beaglebay.com/women_pirates.htm and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheng_I_Sao
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