Mulan

Mulan

Walt Disney Pictures

Released: 1998

Directors: Tony Bancroft, Barry Cook

Starring: Ming-Na Wen, Lea Salonga, BD Wong, Eddie Murphy,

Music & Lyrics: Jerry Goldsmith

Rating: G

GRADE: 4/5

This post is in honor of the live-action version of Mulan that Disney just announced!

Mulan is an interesting one.

First off, let’s address how awesome this film is for diversity. There are very few Asian protagonists in American mainstream media, let alone aimed at kids, let alone with a female at the helm. So hats off to you Disney. Diversity points for you Disney, you go Disney. And none for the patriarchy

Second, this film is a fascinating meditation on gender roles.

Let’s start with the fact that it’s set in ancient China. Not sure what dynasty. It’s been a while since I’ve brushed up on my Chinese history. Apologies to my high school history teachers. The culture we are dropped into is highly conservative and family oriented with incredibly strict gender roles. But this culture might look a bit familiar. The entire opening montage is Mulan being shoved, poked, and prodded by her family members scrubbing her down and painting her up in the day’s ideal of beauty.  Now, I’ve never participated in a beauty pageant, or debutante ball or anything like that, but if Miss Congeniality is evidence enough, this beautifying process is not so far off from what we still do today as a means of achieving idealized femininity.

Youchie

And Mulan is terrible at all of it. She is not the ideal feminine figure. She may be beautiful, but she doesn’t make the cut simply because, at heart, she’s a tried and true tomboy who feels clownish in a dress.  Her gender expression does not match what people/society are telling her.

Cue Reflection. 

The quintessential ballad of identity.  It’s not difficult to read a trans narrative into the song. “Who is that girl I see / Staring straight / Back at me?...When will my reflection show / Who I am inside?” Ummmmmmm…how much more queer can you get, honestly.

There’s also the cross dressing. 

Sure, the motivation behind it is to save her father from imminent death should he rejoin the army, but not once does she act uncomfortable in her male garb. She stumbles a bit in her masculine performance, but not once does she make commentary on how it is wrong to cross dress, or for a woman to act like a man. She even binds! Now, female protagonists cross-dressing is not a particularly new revelation. Women in Shakespeare’s comedies cross-dress all the time. There’s a whole history of it in classical storytelling dating back to multiple cultures of ancient mythology. I’m definitely not an expert, so I won’t pretend to be, but what interests me the most is that any negativity toward cross dressing presented is forced upon her by the strict societal gender code when she is found out and nearly executed. In fact, the most famous sequence of the film “I’ll Make a Man Out Of You” and her victory climbing to the top of the post is an incredibly radical act that proves with absolutely no concessions that women are not only equal to men in that they can achieve what they can, but that women might even be superior to men. Woah. Take that, patriarchy. 

How's the weather down there?

This movie is clearly feminist, grapples with gender expression, and leaves room for interpretations on gender identity.

There are also some interesting moments on sexuality. She doesn’t really seem interested in the whole match maker debacle. She’s just doing it to bring honor to her family, not for her own benefit. When she takes a bath in the river and sees all the boys running at her, willies akimbo, she says, “I never want to see a naked man again.” Yup. Direct quote. 

So that's what a penis looks like...

And she joins in on “A Girl Worth Fighting For.” I thought she was fighting for her father. Turns out she might swing the other way.  If you want to talk about the ending and how she allegedly ends up with Shang, I don’t know. I think the whole romance plot here is a bit of an after thought. This story isn’t about romance, it’s about empowerment, and this subplot just gets tacked on at the end. Sure, he does spare her life when he finds out she’s a woman, but she also saved everyone’s lives, so the claim for romantic intrigue there is frail. Disney felt the need to give Mulan a heterosexual love interest which just sucks. Probably to appease the patriarchy. DON’T GIVE IN DISNEY! JUMP OFF THAT BANDWAGON!

Aside from the half-assed romance, the ending of the film is a triumph, proving that Mulan is a total badass. 

Say hello to my little friend

SHE LITERALLY SAVES ALL OF CHINA AND THE WHOLE COUNTRY BOWS DOWN TO HER INCLUDING THE EMPEROR! That’s insane! An entire population bowing down to a woman? It’s unprecedented.

Bow down bitches

Can you tell I like this movie? And then, especially with the trans considerations in mind, the ending could be taken as a utopic depiction of governmental acceptance and a huge disruption of patriarchal superiority. Although, the trans interpretation does fall apart a bit when Mulan comes back to save China with her hair down and presenting as female, though with a more masculine air about her. But Disney isn’t quite there yet, even 17 years later.  Someday soon there will be an out queer protagonist. Someday…

Let's hope the new live action version is as good as the original.

MVQ: Mulan. Honorable mention goes to the Emperor for defying the strict gender codes and choosing to acknowledge her accomplishments. Real rulers haven’t really done that throughout history…

OTP: Mushu and the cricket. They make a good team.

Favorite moment: “I’ll Make A Man Out Of You” and climbing the post. I always wanted to try it as a kid, but it’s really hard L

WATCH THE VIDEO VERSION!