Film Review: Mulan

Rebecca Nlewedim
A-level Film Studies

Film Review: Mulan

Recently I watched the Disney classic Mulan, it tells the story of a young girl in Ancient China who goes on a journey of self-discovery who ends up filming herself and saving her country in the process.

Mulan herself is an inspiring character who is set out to be a role model, (as many Disney characters are) but her character differs greatly from other Disney 'princesses' before her. This is done by creating a character that doesn't necessarily fit into the repeated stereotypical feminine archetype; mocked in the film when she is forced into a coming of age sequence to prepare her to be a bride and the character fails horrifically as she doesn't fit into that role. By putting the character into a masculine role it allows the character and the film studio to make a point of breaking down gender stereotypes, and creating a potential generation of film watchers and children that are able to be influenced by this decision and allow them to put these good values and morals forward. This is a deliberate move done by film makers to encourage parents to take their children to watch these films as if they believe it has a good message they will want it to inspire their children which also helps boost the films likability.

The other supporting characters strive to help Mulan on her goal; this includes several animal companions and a group of misfit humans who are generally there to serve as comic-relief. The character Mushu is the next most prominent side character, voiced by Eddie Murphy he adds the humour element to the film all on his own, delivering some of the most memorable lines and often the most humorous as well. The group of misfit humans fit into usual stereotypes as the overweight one, the tough one and the 'funny' one; each of them all on the lowering levels of intelligence. This is done to showcase the more prominent characters and make their decisions seem the slightest bit smarter as the characters around them aren't seemingly intelligent enough to come up with their own individual plans but always help out in the end and in turn the main character ends up helping them achieve their goals as well.

Mulan's journey also takes her to the Chinese Imperial Army in which she then decides to take it upon herself to assume her father's role in the army, completely going against the law and the female social conventions at the time it would have been completely unheard of and in a realistic case it would have cost her life; yet the film allows her to live only to show that even if exaggerated because the film itself appears feminist in nature and from the way it's characters behave, it's based off a real Chinese legend so it reflects it's source material. 

Which Mulan herself is a progressive character she is still confined by Disney's already binary definition of feminism as it reinforces masculine stereotypes throughout the films duration, from the song: I'll make a man out of you'- which reinforces gender stereotypes by encouraging Mulan to bring the 'man' out of her. The film essentially decides Mulan needs to be masculine to be strong. It doesn't show appreciation for femininity or being feminine and classifies it as weak when paralleled to how they portray masculinity. 

In conclusion, the topic of feminism isn't entirely central to the film although it is key, it is generally a family friendly film meant to watched with some thought but not too much in depth analysis as it can't be held to the same standards as one initially set out to challenge this message so it successfully fills its quota as a brilliant family friendly film but doesn't truly define feminism.