Weighing Things

Well, Apple finally announced pricing and a start date for their TV service. At $4.99, they actually undercut Disney's monthly price, which was wise, since Apple doesn't have a large catalog of content. I am mildly interested in a couple of their shows, and I read that 1 year of content will be free if you buy new Apple hardware. So possibly if I upgrade my phone or computer, I could get the TV stuff at the same time. That could be doable, and then I could cancel later maybe.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong protests continue because only one of their demands were met. I'm not sure how long these protests will last or if they'll be successful in getting reforms. The results might be mixed like the Arab Spring a few years ago. In August, the star of the live-action Mulan posted something on Chinese social media supporting the police instead of the protestors, so people started calling to boycott the film because of that. Her comment reminds me of Gal Gadot's comments in support of the Israeli army, not the Palestinians being brutally repressed. I didn't like that either, but the film itself was financially successful in spite of that. It was important for that film to succeed to make Hollywood stop shying away from female-led films and female directors. With the new Mulan, there are similar issues at play about diversity. It might still be important to support the movie to make sure the new Asian trend doesn't fade away.

I'm guessing that the boycott might be forgotten by March when the film is released, because after all, proposed boycotts didn't take down Wonder Woman. So ultimately it comes down to a personal ethical decision of whether I can put aside politics for the art. For some people I can do that; for others, I find that the person is too repugnant for me to put controversy aside. Like, I don't even want to watch Johnny Depp anymore, but Hollywood keeps casting him in stuff anyway, so that's frustrating. It's similar to my decision to see Avengers movies when Black Widow was part of the ensemble cast but not to support the solo movie due to the actress's stupid casting decisions. I don't know yet if I really can stay away from Mulan, in favor of other movies that have Asian casts like the new Marvel superhero, or the Crazy Rich Asians sequel. I'll have to think about it more.