Analysis Of Mulan

A movie from outsiders: orienting cultural position As soon as I was able to read on my own after attending elementary school, I got pleasure from choosing a variety of books to read in the library, including Western classic stories, such as Little Women and A Little Princess, Greek mythology for children, folk stories of ancient China, and the series of school stories written by Taiwanese writers. As I recall, I was first slightly aware of the multiple contexts of the different stories, but interestingly, no matter what the origin of the stories was, I consistently showed a preference for stories with unique female characters. This might reflect the fact that I, the only girl in my family, was eager to learn more about this gender role. Moreover,

The story of Hau Mulan was the one that I especially liked. I was amazed by how a girl can be brave enough to go to war in place of her father and overcome all the adversity to fulfill her filial duty. When the Disney film Mulan (1998), which is based on the Chinese legend of Hau Mulan, was produced and released in Taiwan, I found the movie absorbing. As a Western adaptation of the story, Disney’s Mulan provides a fairly distinct interpretation of the original legend, and some of the details were criticized as inaccurate and inauthentic. It focuses on the theme of individuality, which is not mentioned in the Chinese version at all. Nonetheless, I found myself tending to empathize with Disney’s version of Mulan without any difficulty. This makes me interested in analyzing the Disney film Mulan to ascertain the complexity of my link to the character and the intercultural reading experience, as well as

Now I see that if I were truly to be myself, I would break my family’s heart” (1998). She is torn between the pressure of being herself and conforming to social expectations. I was moved by the music and felt an immediate empathy with her. Furthermore, I could not help weeping bitterly when Mulan’s real gender was exposed, as she was wounded and deserted, alone in the snow. It is also this specific moment when Mulan reveals her hope to prove she “could do things right,” perhaps, to achieve a sense of selfhood. This theme of individualism highlights the universal element of the movie as well as accents the differences between the Disney film Mulan and the original Ballad of Mulan (500–600 A.D.). The theme of the Ballad is far from individuality but more about filial piety and loyalty. Since in ancient China country is seen as the extension of the family, while the family is the extension of the self, filial piety and loyalty are regarded as essential traditional Chinese values that uphold society and the family. Contrary to her image as a tomboyish girl unable to fit in the traditional gender role, in the Ballad of Mulan, Mulan is a dutiful daughter, serving in her father’s place out of consideration for her family and country. The description in the Ballad about Mulan is fairly feminine: she “weaves,” “fixes her cloudlike hair,” and