With apologies to Guo Maoqian, et.al.
Ji ji and Ji ji
The sound of Mulan in the doorway working her loom.
When the loom becomes silent,
We only hear the woman’s sighs.
Woman, what place do you ponder?
Woman, what place do you remember?
“There is only Hollywood I ponder.
There is only Hollywood I remember.
Last night I saw the news on the internet,
Disney+ is releasing my movie. Not in theaters.
So many posts, tweets and shares,
Disney+ members must pay an extra $30.
My film cost $200 million to make,
I, Mulan, hoped to be the 2020 blockbuster.
Kung Fu Tai Chi almost put me on the Spring 2020 cover.
They didn’t know that would be their final issue.”
Coronavirus came from East;
The pandemic spread to the West:
It closed theaters in the South Market;
And it closed theaters in the North Market.
In March, Mulan held a star-studded Hollywood premiere
KungFuMagazine was attending the screener before dusk.
Then the Shelter in Place cancelled all Mulan screeners.
Theaters around the world went dark.
Kung Fu Tai Chi covered Disney’s original animated Mulan
KungFuMagazine met Crystal Liu on The Forbidden Kingdom.
KungFuMagazine saw Mulan’s sword at San Diego Comic Con
KungFuMagazine was so ready to cover Mulan.
Our Spring 2020 brought Mulan’s story to thousands of readers
Within our print column ’Fast Forward to the Fight Scenes.’
That would have served as the intro to a Mulan cover story,
If Disney had approved. But the newsstands died.
The magazine dead after a hundred battles,
The staff disbands after twenty years.
Publishing returns to the internet,
Sitting at KungFuMagazine.com.
KungFuMagazine.com has merit since 2001
Giving hundreds of articles and over a million posts.
Readers ask KungFuMagazine what we desire,
“We have no need of advice from the unpublished.
We only ask for support of MartialArtSmart.com,
That can continue to fund our work.”
Mulan finally premieres to the world on September 4th.
Disney+ welcomes her on their Premium Streaming service.
When American hears of the Mulan premiere,
It baulks at the price, wearing anti-China sentiment.
When Hong Kong hears of the Mulan premiere,
It sharpens its knives because of Crystal’s politics.
“I open the door to my Eastern audience,
And sit on the bed with my Western fans.
I take off any Hollywood whitewashing
And put out an all Asian cast.
I sit in front of the window, watching from quarantine
And look to the future as I hope for good returns.
I go outside to see my fans”
They are all shocked and astounded.
“We’ve followed your legend since the 6th century,
But we never suspected Mulan would come to this!”
A theatrical movie hops towards box office results,
A streaming movie looks at the number of views.
When a film premieres in 2020,
How can they tell if Mulan is a success?
