Mulan

I love the Disney movie Mulan. It was/is one of my favorites. And now here I am, re-evaluating my admiration for the movie, after reading the article "Destructive and Constructive Characterizations of women in Disney's Mulan" by Katherine Barnett. Is any Disney movie safe? Did I watch anything growing up that did not fill my mind with unhealthy views of women or different races?

Barnett's arguement in this article is that "Mulan presents a mixed bag of negative and positive portrayals of women, with negative representations dominating" (185). She then goes on to describe these negative representations within the movie, playing heavily on her background and culture. She begins by discussing the scene where Mulan's matriarch and other women in the family are preparing her to be a "good bride". Barnett has the opinion that "Evidently the only way Mulan can honor her family is through her ability to attract a man. Her worth comes from her physical objectification as a pleasurable stimulus for the desires of men" (186).

She cites specifically Mulan's relationship with Mushu the dragon, calling him " a symbolic patriarch" (188) and stating that whle Mulan "thinks independantly and acts upon her ideas, that action s followed by or paired with some intervention by Mushu, thus making Mushu a neccessary element for Mulan's success" (188). She also mentions the last scene where Mulan bows to Mushu to thank him for his help, further cementing herself as the lower gender, even to a god-like dragon.

I wholeheartedly disagree with this article. Disney is known for putting heavy emphasis on gender and racial stereotypes but I do not feel that this is one movie where that happens ( at least not heavily). I always loved Mulan because she defied the stereotype of a princess and more specifically, a Disney princess. She was trapped by her culture in an identity that was not her own. She defied that role by taking on a challenge most men would not. She went to battle and was sucessful. Mushu was along for the ride, giving her advice but who doesn't need a good sidekick? What she did was not allowed or supported and she did it anyways to help her family and country. And lets be honest. Mulan kicked butt. She was ten times better and worked ten times harder than all those men to prove herself, thus defying a gender stereotype that women are weaker. I think Barnett missed the whole point that most of the problems Mulan encountered were because of her culture. It wasn't Disney forcing Mulan to be the oppressed woman forced to wear a dress, be polite, prepare herself from marriage and stay away from the war. That was Chinese culture and Disney was trying to pull from that to make it accurate. Was it 100% true to Chinese culture? Probably not. If nothing else, Mulan was a story that broke down those gender roles. Mulan had a role to live up to because of her culture and she defied that by joining the army in disguise and proving that girls can be just as strong as men. Mulan proved to girls everywhere that they could be just as good as a man even in something that is stereotypically a man's job. She did end up falling in love in the end, but after defeating a powerful army so I think we'll let that slide. After all, it is still Disney.

So sorry Barnett, your arguement does not cut it for me. I think if anything, Mulan is the anti Disney movie. It stays true to Chinese culture and above all shows how kick butt girls really are. It shows them that they don't have to settle for fulfilling the stereotypical role of women, they can break through those images. Its also a great movie for boys because it shows them that girls aren't always about makeup and dolls, they can fight too. I told the story in class about the two little boys I babysit for telling me I couldn't engage in a lightsaber fight because "girls don't fight". Well I plan on watching Mulan when I babysit next to see their reactions. In her article The Buffy Effect, Rachel Fudge talks about the level of "girl power" in Buffy the Vampire Slayer enhanced by low tops and a beautiful face. She quotes the producer of Buffy saying "If I can make teenage bots comfortable with a girl who takes charge of a situation without their knowing that's whats happening, its better than sitting down and selling them on feminism" (5). Interesting.

My absolute favorite song in that whole movie is "I'll Make a Man Out of You". In this clip, Shang (the commander) is trying to get his men in shape for battle and all of them are pathetic. Mulan is on the same level as the men, without any previous training or skills. As the song progresses, the men and Mulan improve until the grand finish where they are finally ready and able to fight. Be a Man.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK7XwLbd-oI