Reflection: Mulan

Similar to most of the movies that we have watched in this class, I had not seen Mulan in about a decade, with the exception of the “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” clip for other gender-related projects. While there were some things that frustrated me about the movie, I think that overall, I was far more pleased with and excited by this film than I have been for any of the others. However, I fully acknowledge that my knowledge of Ancient China is basically nonexistent and, while I am viewing the movie with primarily a lens of gender, I do believe that the film is certainly open to cultural criticism about the depiction of Chinese society.

Personally, I absorbed far more satire in this film than I believed was ever evident in scenes like Ursula’s “Poor Unfortunate Souls” or parts of The Beauty and the Beast. To me, the message that the film’s producers was trying to get across was quite clear: it is problematic that women are not given the same opportunities as men, and the world will change when that problem is solved. I honestly believe that rewatching parts of Mulan now was more powerful than when I first saw them as a young girl. I look back on my perception of gender as a little kid and cannot help but think about how clueless I was regarding the large number of obstacles that women face simply because they are women. I am sure that I thought Mulan’s story was cool, but I also probably did not realize exactly how rare stories like that were - in any society. As a first year undergraduate student studying political science and women’s studies, I found Mulan’s mission, and eventual success, heartwarming. I was particularly touched when everyone was cheering for Mulan after defeating Shan Yu; I do not think I could have possibly recognized the significance of a moment like that when I was a child.

I also appreciated Mulan’s bravery, strength, motivation, and stubbornness. Especially at the time Mulan was released, those traits were sometimes scarce among Disney princesses. Mulan was raw and vulnerable in a unique way, and I liked that she was shown not simply in her most manicured version. For example, the first morning at the training camp, she wakes up and looks far more realistic than most Disney princesses - her hair is sticking up and she is far from groomed. After physical labor, viewers can also clearly see sweat on her face; it was all quite refreshing to watch.

However, despite all of this, there were still some problematics aspects of the film, in relation to gender. While the “Did they send me daughters, when I asked for sons?” portion of the song seemed pretty purposefully ironic to me, I did not appreciate the frequent correlations with strength and masculinity throughout the film. I recognize that those, too, may have been trying to make a point about societal gender roles, though I am not confident that young boys (or girls) would pick up on that and realize the problems with that mindset. I also did not like how, as per usual, none of the men besides the male (romantic) lead were portrayed as stereotypically attractive men - they were short, fat, too skinny, etc. They were also totally incapable - at least in the beginning. I think that portraying only one body type of men as capable could end up being very damaging to all of the boys who will not grow into that particular body.

Overall, I think Disney does a good job highlighting the importance of strong women in Mulan in any society, but they still certainly have some work to do…

P.S. I LOVE that this is based off of a real Chinese legend - what a badas**! I so wish that I could meet the true “Mulan.”