By: Emily Papleux
(I will not be talking about the live action remake.)
The movie I will be reviewing is Mulan. I love how she has a romantic aspect in her story, but also how the story isn’t driven solely on that aspect. She, as a woman (in her setting) is expected to pour tea perfectly, or have perfect posture and elegant silk dresses. But instead, she found herself fighting and saving all of China as a woman, almost all by herself, if she did not have the last-minute help of her friends. She put her father before herself, and fought for him, even though if her secret got out, that she was indeed a woman, she could die.
The film starts out with Mulan, trying to be the ideal wife that any girl or woman should want to be. She also starts off not really knowing who exactly she is, or how she can fit into this world. She soon realizes that the whole “be a perfect wife blah blah blah” is not who she is, even though she feels like she does not have a choice. After disappointing the matchmaker of her village, she is then disregarded as a disgrace, and after the emperors council comes to their village to recruit one man from each family to fight in the war, she realizes that her father is too weak and old to fight in the war. She steals her fathers’ armor and sword, cuts her hair to where she can nicely tie it up in a bun. This transformation was one of the best, as we see how much of a brave and headstrong soul she has, even though she may come off as fragile or broken. She knew the risks and consequences, yet she did not hesitate to save her father from inevitable doom.
When she is off, she meets Mushu, a small Chinese dragon spirit that helps her fight, to try to win back some of his dishonored qualities with her ancestors. He ends up being by her side and helping her fight in the war. His witty comments make comic relief in this story, which Is why he is also one of my favorite sidekicks. During this movie, the main reason he sides and helps Mulan is to redeem himself, but in certain scenes, you can really see he cares about her, and despite his narcissistic tendencies he helps her in any way he can.
One of my least favorite parts, is when they find out she is a woman, and they leave her alone in a snowy desert where she had “Defeated” the enemy. She soon finds out that Shan Yu, the villain, is still alive, and headed towards the celebration they made when they “defeated” the enemy. Mulan goes there in search for Shang (Her love interest, and the general), and her other friends that she had fought with. They completely dismiss her, and in that moment, when they decide that Ping (Her boy name) who they could trust, was different than Mulan (Her actual name) it gives the audience a sense of sexism that is very real, and gender-bias. At the end, they realize Mulan’s warning of Shan Yu was real, they come to her aid, and apologize. They end up saving all of China.
Mulan is such a feminist story, that basically says not to judge someone based on their gender. Things like, “the only thing a woman is cut out for is being a good wife”. Or, “Only men can fight”. This discrimination is the actual villain of this story, not Shan Yu.
