Walt Disney's Mulan
The movie Mulan is a folktale about a young Chinese woman
who disguises herself as a man to join the army so her elderly father will not
have to fight. Every family is expected
to send one man to fight the Huns, but the only man in Mulan’s family is her
dad. He wants to be honorable and serve
in the military but he is too frail for battle.
To protect him, Mulan pretends she is a man and goes to be trained to
fight alongside the others. Eventually
she is forced to reveal her gender, but manages to courageously bring her
family honor after all.
1998
I first watched this movie in 1998 when it came out. My original thoughts about the movie were
that I was impressed for its feminist message.
I thought it was much different from many of the Disney movies I’d seen
in the past. Mulan was a young woman who
showed everyone she was quite capable of doing the work of a man. She was a rare heroine to join the ranks of
heroes like Prince Charming, Hercules, Peter Pan and Robin Hood. In addition, I thought the animators did a
wonderful job of depicting the characters, their clothes and culture. When I finished watching it I felt as though
I had learned some valuable information about Chinese culture. Watching this movie now, after getting
educated about racism and sexism, I realize I was quite naïve.
After watching the movie again, I felt there were several
things children might absorb from watching it themselves. First, I thought the appearance of the
characters represented an American stereotypical portrayal of Asians, such as
their slanted eyes. Many of the
characters looks very similar which could lead children to think all Asian
people practically look the same. In
addition, there was no diversity. All of
the characters were Chinese which doesn’t reflect the diverse society children
(at least American ones) live in.
The movie gives a very limited aspect of Chinese culture and could potentially leave children with incorrect impressions. I felt the movie implied that parts of Chinese culture were wrong or barbaric. For example, Mulan was restricted from being the tom-boy she wanted to be because of China’s patriarchal structure. The movie made it seem like Mulan’s androgynous behavior would bring shame to her family and that this was a universal belief of all Chinese people. Also, the government was trying to force the frail old man to go fight regardless of the fact it would probably get him killed. This implied the government in China is cold-hearted and not concerned with its people’s welfare. I felt like the creators mocked the Chinese inclusion of ancestors via the dragon by having Mulan’s dragon, Mushu, be the comic relief. Children viewing this movie who do not already have an appreciation for Chinese culture may be inclined to use it as a basis for prejudice or it may cultivate misunderstandings.
Mulan’s actions could support a feminist perspective, but
they could also be interpreted differently.
Mulan did do as well as if not better than some of the males she was
training with, however she had to pretend she was a male to do that. A genuine feminist would argue that woman are
as capable as men and deserve to be treated as such. They shouldn’t have to pretend to be a man in
order to get the respect they deserve.
Also, Mulan was revealed as an unsophisticated tom-boy which is how many
feminists are stereotypically portrayed.
In reality, feminists come in all forms, not just the “rough and tough”
form. Although Mulan’s actions did
represent the courage, determination and strength many women have, it was not
actually the best advocate for feminism.
I looked at a couple of websites to see if my thoughts were in line with others. My thoughts were in agreement with most others I found. However, I also found some additional thoughts such as a point made on Heroinecontent.net which was:
“Throughout the story, Shang is in no way
heroic. He likes Mulan when she proves herself as a man, but is immediately
horrible to her when he finds out she is a woman, even after he's seen what she
can do. Then, when she goes out of her way to try to help him even after he has
rejected her, he is too stupid to figure out that she's right. So why in the
world would the film end with him coming to "claim" her as a suitor?”
Although Mulan can be
considered as a feminist, she remains living in a sexist society which implies
she should be grateful for being forgiven and chosen by Shang. Also, at listal.com,
it is mentioned how “westernized” the movie is as evidenced by the perfect
English dialog and behaviors.
All in all, I’d watch the movie again. I appreciate Mulan’s bravery to challenge the
cultural traditions. As with most
movies, I’d recommend parents to watch this one together. This allows the opportunity to discuss
messages received about the characters, their behavior and their culture. It also is a great time to help children
develop anti-biased attitudes.
Works Cited:
"Mulan by Grace 12 Comments." Mulan. Web. 29
Apr. 2012. <http://www.heroinecontent.net/archives/2008/02/mulan.html>.
"Racist Disney." List. Web. 29 Apr. 2012.
<http://www.listal.com/list/racist-disney>.
