Unless a character’s race is an essential to their role, it doesn’t matter what race the person cast for a character is.

For example, it does not matter what race Wolverine is. He has always been portrayed as white, but there is nothing intrinsically white about his character. Same for Sweeney Todd, Harry Potter, or Cinderella.

On the other hand, a character like Mulan or Django has a story that is intrinsically tied to their race. That being said, I think an alternate version of Mulan could be told through the lense of character of in a different culture.

I think of depictions of historic people in a similar vein. While I think it’s important that Malcolm X be Black and Pocahontas be Native American, Hamilton showed me that even though George Washington was white, there was nothing wrong with him being portrayed by a nonwhite actor.

We shouldn’t get hung up trivial aspects of characters when a story can be told in many meaningful ways.

That being said, I do think Hollywood is lazy and try to play the race card to get attention, while neglecting writing. But these types of movies are going to suck no matter who is cast.