Feminist Aspects Of Disney's Mulan

The movie Mulan directed by Barry Cook and Tony Bancroft depicts the hero's journey of a young maiden, Mulan, as she leaves home to join the war against the Huns in place of her father. Characters throughout all cultures experience departure, initiation, and return, the three stages of Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey, including Mulan.

When examining The Little Mermaid from a feminist perspective, it becomes clear that the little mermaid is a misogynistic tale that glorifies a woman’s dependence on men and the objectification of women.

Mulan, a tale of adventure and honor, is not only an engaging film to watch, but it also contains an amazing amount of historical accuracy concerning religions in China. The film Mulan is historically accurate in its portrayal of Daoist ideas, the expected behavior of women according to Confucianism, and Confucian relationships.

Since Mulan is an archetype hero, she goes on a journey (war) to save her father’s life. She must learn how to become a soldier and fight in battle. She has to fight harder than any man, and to stay alive, she must use her quick- thinking skills to save everyone. On her journey, she has a realization that she did not go to war to save her father. Instead, she realizes that she went to war to prove to everyone she can do something right

The story of Tiana in the movie The Princess and the Frog is one of Disney’s more progressive princess movies in that it moved away from the typical, cookie cutter princess story in which the woman needs saving from the handsome and charming prince. The movie is the story of Tiana, a young, African-American woman of low socioeconomic status, who lives in New Orleans. The movie centers around Tiana’s dream of owning her own restaurant named Tiana’s Palace and how she gets to her happily ever after of owning her restaurant. Though progressive the movie still contains similar traits to other Disney princess movies. The Princess and the Frog exhibits traits of Feminist theories throughout Tiana’s journey in building her restaurant while the movie still undermines the oppression of women. Moreover, in her journey aspects of Karl Marxist’s commodity theory arises when Tiana interacts with other characters in the movie.

Mulan is a Disney animated film that takes place in ancient China during Han Dynasty War. Mulan is a young girl in China, the only child of her honored family who struggles to find her identity and meaning in society. While Mulan is a lovable, spirited girl who doesn’t fit in with Chinese tradition because she speaks her mind and follow her heart. Being a girl who experience culture, gender role, and self-image demonstrated what a non- tradition person will do to bring honor to her love one’s and the family.

Men, Women, or transgender we are all human. Each human can act in whichever way they please. However, does this break a traditional gender norm? A traditional gender norm is the types of behaviors which generally considered acceptable, appropriate or desirable for people based on their actual perceived sex or sexuality. Gender norms can be seen in various television shows, movies, and music. However, how do we know if these gender norms are okay to be seen in these forms of entertainment? In the movie Mulan directed by Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook they illustrate how traditional gender norms can be broken by showing that Women can prove themselves as worthy as men, and there is nothing wrong with that.

Fa Mulan is a Chinese female character who is known for her story of joining the Chinese army under the disguise of a man. The Disney movie version is one that tells of her hero’s journey that is somewhat similar to the story of the true Hua Mulan who is based from an old Chinese poem. In both versions of her story she goes through the full hero’s journey that Campbell writes about which includes her departure, initiation, trials, temptations and her return (Shaw). Along with the main parts of the journey, there are also small sections that make up the different parts of her journey.

The prince saves the princess. That’s how it goes… in most stories. That is, however not the case in the story of Mulan. Mulan centers around a young girl who instead of following the footsteps of her ancestors and finding a husband, she goes to war in her father's place imitating a man. Mulan is originally a Disney film, but has been adapted into a book, plays, and many other forms. I had the opportunity to see a junior play version of Mulan at the Canyon Ridge High School Auditorium.. Mulan Jr. was a musical that ran February 25th-27th at 7:00 P.M with an additional matinee performance on the 27th at 2:00 P.M. I attended the later time on the 27th. It was obvious the amount of work that went into this production. The work of the director- Ivan M Hardcastle, the musical director- Emily Peterson, The choreographer- Ally Mora, the actors, and the rest of the people involved surely showed. The show was a great success. It entertained the audience and was a delight to see.

Mulan goes off on her own, knowing the consequences she will have to face if she is caught attending the war as a woman. The ancestors awaken and they all argue about the situation that Mulan is in and how she has went off alone. They explain how Mulan, going to the war, will dishonor the Fa family, even further than she has done when she was meeting the matchmaker. The very scene of them discussing has a very dark and gray color to it, representing the despair that the ancestors all feel about Mulan participating in the war. They do not agree with the attitude and decisions of Mulan. One of the ancestors even said that she did not like Mulan from the moment she was born and told the other that she was a child full of trouble. This depicts

Culture has defined countries in several forms throughout history. One of its prominent features has regarded gender expectations. These have dominated the concept of individuality and forced citizens to abide by regulation and conformity. The imposition of these norms has been detrimental in several instances, placing social constraint on female empowerment. The Disney film Mulan explored this inequality through the story of a young Chinese woman on the path of understanding her self-identity.

From the minute one is born the division between genders is placed. The phrases “act like a lady” or “be a man” become everyday practices and lifelong slogans. Fairy tales are always focused on women who play the beautiful damsel in distress persona and on men who play the handsome knight coming in to save them. Whether you are female or male, it is important to remember that these fixed characteristics placed on genders are never to be reinforced. In a world full of gender stereotypes, the Disney movie Mulan challenges the societal construct of masculinity and femininity by proving that gender roles are not fixed traits, but socially constructed views that can be changed.

We need to understand that the filial piety presented in the movie with the one in the original legend is different, because in the movie Disney portrayed back the filial piety based on American people’s understanding and stereotypes on Confucianism. In this way Mulan described as a free individual who does not want to be bounded by the strict rules of Confucianism. Although, most of the time Mulan expresses her refusal to Confucianism, she still represents the value of filial piety to her father by disguising herself as a man warrior and taking her father’s duty in a war. In this sense, Disney tried to show Mulan’s dutiful character by bringing out Mulan’s “manly” and rebellious personality. However, in order to strengthen Mulan’s head-strong personality, Disney deliberately lessened the value of obedience and replaced it with Mulan’s pursuit of identity. In this sense, Mulan is described as being confused of her real identity. She is given two difficult choices between fulfilling her role as a potential wife or listening to her own calling (She wants to find her own love without the interference of other people, including her parents). Moreover, the Ballad never explicitly tell the relationship between Mulan and her parents; but everyone can assume that Mulan does not have “a close relationship” with her parents unlike the one depicted in the Disney’s version. Because in filial

In the Disney movie, “Moana,” the main character demonstrates her personal strength as a woman capable of determining her own future. “Moana” breaks the typical Disney mold of a princess being associated with a prince as the main character. Moana realizes she has the sole power within herself to take the lead role to save her village by returning the Heart of Te Fiti. The Heart of Te Fiti is what gives the world and most importantly her people’s island life. When the Heart of Te Fiti was stolen by demi-god Maui the world fell to darkness and the island began to deteriorate. The pop culture aspect of female empowerment is exemplified in the scene where Moana is visited by her deceased grandmother, Gramma Tala, after a moment of self-doubt about being able to return the Heart of Te Fiti in order to save her people and island. In the scene Gramma Tala is deceased but visits Moana in the form of a vision. Moana envisions her people sailing the sea and her father upon one of the ships. Moana was struggling with finding her inner self and utilizes her visit from Gramma Tala, to acknowledge her self-power. In the movie Moana, the “I am Moana” scene exemplifies the current cultural theme of female empowerment being actualized when the main character, Moana realizes her own inner strength after understanding her cultural heritage, receiving inspiration from her grandmother, and embracing her role in building her future.

When Disney Studios created Mulan, the original was changed to make it more exciting for movie audiences. Disney begins by showing that there is only one way a woman can