The Disney movie, Mulan, is a fantastic movie that depicts gender-stereotyped roles, socialization of gender roles, and consequences of over stepping one’s gender role. Both males and females have a specific role in the Chinese society that one must follow. Mulan made a brave choice pretending to be a man and going to war against the Huns in place of her father, risking serious consequences if she were to get caught. She broke the socialization of gender roles and could have been faced with very serious consequences of her actions. The Chinese society in Mulan exemplifies the typical gender roles of males and females, the consequences of displaying the opposite gender role, and showed what the society expected in males and females in characteristics and attitudes. Mulan is a young girl in China, who is trying to honor her family and ancestors by finding a husband. She was expects to be delicate, quiet, obedient, graceful, polite, and poised, none of which Mulan displayed. She showed up late to the meeting with the woman, “The Match Maker”, who picked whom Mulan would one day marry. Although they expect women in China to have a tiny waist, too small of a waist, which Mulan had, was no good. She would not be great at baring children. Mulan could not pour the tea right for the woman either. She missed the cup, spilling the tea on the table. She was not very graceful and upset “The Match Maker”, who believed Mulan would never honor her family. Mulan did not display the characteristics that the Chinese society expected a woman to have and was looked at as dishonorable to outsiders. When the emperor sent out a request to send the men in China to war, Mulan was scared. Her father was one of the many men summoned to fight.... ... middle of paper ... ... had, and how much her parents wanted Mulan to be married, Mulan’s parents just wanted Mulan home, happy and safe. Overall, the Disney movie, Mulan, demonstrates gender roles, socialization of gender roles, and consequences of breaking the gender roles. By Mulan going to war for her father, in China, many things were at risk, life, honor, and the country of China, itself. Displaying the characteristics a man had was the only way for Mulan to survive, granted, she was not great at displaying woman characteristics in the first place. Being caught in war, as a woman, meant death, but Mulan was lucky for her bravery when saving Captain Li Shang, for he spared her life, which allowed Mulan to help save China and the emperor in the end. Even though China had very strict gender roles, Mulan broke them to save her father’s life and became the person she was meant to be.
Mulan goes through being rescued when she fights Shan-Yu on top of the roof of the Emperor’s palace and Mushu helps Mulan pin Shan-Yu down and blow him up with fireworks. Mulan‘s ego decreases when Mushu successfully tries to help her get rid of Shan-Yu. She considers herself a hero now and does not want Mushu to think she cannot fight her own battles. Mulan in the end disregards her ego in order for her to not die on the roof. Mulan crosses the final threshold when she returns to her home with the gifts from the Emperor hoping her family will forgive her for leaving the family to go fight in the war. Her father accepts Mulan’s new power and wisdom and told her that, “The greatest gift and honor is having you for a daughter.” Mulan’s return to the past is pleasant and safe knowing that nothing can change her family’s love and affection for her. In addition, Mulan enters into the final step in the hero’s journey: the freedom to live. Mulan shows her freedom to live when she invites her soul mate, Li-Shang for dinner. This event marks the end of Mulan dwelling on the past and makes her excited, but not concerned about what the future
William Shakespeare once said, “[My] honor is my life; both grow in one; take honor from me, and my life is done.” The idea is touched upon in both the book Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston as well as Disney’s Mulan were family honor is more important than anything else. Mulan was directed by Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook, and produced by Walt Disney Pictures. The film Mulan retold the story of a woman warrior who took her father’s place in battle and became a savior of China.The movie uses many elements from the original story told in the chapter “White Tigers,” but adds many modern twists in order to make the story more appealing for a newer generation. In both stories of Fa Mu Lan the elements of sacrifice, silence and voice, cultural practices of ancestor worship and filial piety, and Chinese stereotypes are present.
Disney’s version of the story of Mulan, depicts Mulan as a young girl in what appears to be medieval China, who from the first scene until well into the second half of the film is shown studying and memorizing the rules by which she is expected to live. In the film as oppose to in the original story of Mulan, Mula...
...sh and adore. However, next time, do not let yourself be so easily grabbed by the catchy musical numbers and seemingly revolutionary story that is told. Yes, Mulan is an unorthodox heroine who changes all the rules, but she does so by conforming to a flawed system and affecting change from the inside, under the guise of a man. In lieu of doing it as a woman, it is not as girl power filled as many of us would like to believe. She, for the most part, affects all of this change as a man. Once she’s discovered, all her hard work in the training and the relationships she’s forged are all tossed to the wind and she’s quickly relegated back to her place as a lowly woman. However, despite its flawed execution in being a girl power story, it embodies a quintessential feel-good, be true to your heart film that will leave you wanting to affect change in the world around you.
Disney promotes sexisim by forcing young girls to live in a patriarchal world. Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The little mermaid, Aladdin, and Snow White are all examples of popular Disney movies that encourage young viewers that they need a man to save the day. Yes, it’s true that there are recent movies such as Moana and Frozen that prove otherwise, but how long will it take to completely get over the fact that women are mainly viewed as secondary citizens compared to the men? There are countless examples of how Disney movies influence this theme, and how much the female characters’ actions, ideas and thoughts are not included in a Disney movie.
My childhood has been just like every kid growing up in the 20th century. It revolved around the Disney story’s that were filled with magic and dreams. From Cinderella to Sleeping Beauty, my beloved children 's stories were controlled by male characters. At a young age this taught me that women are not as useful as men. These stories made me learn what it means to be a boy, girl, man, or woman. The ratio of males to females as main characters was so outstanding it lead me to question how these stories impacted how I view men and women.
Media is a powerful agent in entertaining children. It also influences and teaches the youth of society the suitable and appropriate gender roles that they inevitably try to make sense of. The power of media is very influential especially in the minds of the youth. Disney movies target the youth and plant certain ideas and concepts about social culture into the vulnerable minds of children. Media uses gender to its advantage, just like Disney productions. Humorous caricatures reveal some harsh realities about the portrayal of Disney Princesses in many movies made by the Walt Disney Company. Disney mixes innocence with the ultimate form of fantasy to capture an audience. Predominantly, Disney helps highlight the gender roles by showing the audience simply what they want to see. In the attempt to stick to the norm and portray stereotypical female characters, Disney created Princesses. Presented as damsels in distress and inferior beings to men, Disney Princesses give children an inaccurate portrayal of gender roles at a young age. Through Disney’s social success and intriguing films, such as The Little Mermaid, Snow White, Aladdin, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Beauty and the Beast, Disney Princess movies portray stereotypical representation of gender roles through the denigration of the female image, targeting and ruining the perception of youth today.
... to the Imperial City to warm her old friends of the imminent attack on the emperor, everyone ignored her. Hua Mulan did not face this same problem in the live action movie. When her comrades discovered her, they decided to keep their discovery to themselves instead of sending Mulan to her death. The only reason Fa Mulan remained alive in the movie was her heroic actions before her superior discovered her.
But her beauty lies in her strength, for her bright smile, and strong eyes are what stay the same between Mulan and Ping, her disguised identity as a solider. She is drawn slender with fair skin, round face, rosy cheeks, pink lips, and long straight black hair with a strand in the middle of her forehead. Throughout her films (Mulan (1998), Mulan II (2001)), Mulan wore a range of outfits, from beautiful Hanfus (Chinese dresses) to her soldier's getup, though her most notable outfit is a simple Hanfu, which consisted of a creamy green-yellow dress, with blue over shirt, which has green sleeves, and a red band around her waist. She also sports kung fu styled soldier's outfit, as well as her pink matchmaker's Hanfu and her father's armor (“Mulan” 1). In the film, except to go to the matchmaker, Mulan does not to wear any makeup or anything to beautify her appearance but, even without anything to enhance her looks, Mulan is naturally beautiful
The films message to viewers about gender and power is that women are meant to take care of the home and play the supportive role, while men go out to their jobs and provide. Men are strong and burly and women are naïve and domesticated. Women need men and men always come to the rescue to save women and give them a happy ending. Power is portrayed in the film both visually and through the film’s script and dialogue. The common idea that women are inferior to men is placed subtly in this movie throughout the plot and how these charac...
In the Disney film Mulan, the character for Mulan plays an important part to support the example of a woman not satisfied with her state of being and subordinated position in society and therefore, takes action to show others her true capabilities and qualities. This prototype is scarcely depicted in today’s cartoons and films so that children rarely identify with this image. “Mulan” helps to promote this role model of an intelligent woman and could be the first step in breaking gender constraints. In addition, it might teach children that they have to find their own state of happiness rather than trying desperately to fulfill society’s expectations.
She has no idea how to act like a man because she’s used to a girl tendencies. She changes her voice to sound masculine like a man and does small actions like spitting and poking out her chest to make herself seem more masculine, since that’s how men are supposed to act, so she believes. When the Captain begins training, he looks at his new recruits, and says “Did they send me daughters, when I asked for sons?” He wants to make a man out of all his recruits by turning them into young men with strength, intelligence, and bravery. However, Mulan shows them a man doesn’t have to be any of those things, you can be who you are and still get things done, it doesn’t matter what gender you are. She showed this by being the first “man” to climb the pole with the use of the coins of discipline and accomplish her training. As her training continues, and their on their way to a new camp to meet with the other soldiers, her other recruits are imagining what a perfect example of a woman is to them. A woman that can cook, that is easily charmed by their strength and dominance and their witty jokes. However, Mulan suggested what about a woman who is intelligent and always speaks her mind. Instantaneously, her recruits were not interested in that kind of woman because a knowledgeable woman who can hold a conversation and makes a man feel less masculine is not attractive. This
Mulan tells that the story of brave Mulan. Mulan did not want her elderly father to fight in the war, so she disguised as a man and joined in her father 's army. Finally, Mulan defeated the Huns and Shan Yu (leader of the Huns) with her partners in barracks. This Disney film portrays the conflict perspective, feminism, and symbolic interaction perspective.
The classic Disney movie, Mulan, is often praised as a film involving feminist empowerment, but upon closer look just the opposite appears to be true. The classic storyline includes Mulan, a young Chinese woman, taking over her fragile father’s place in the Chinese army, disguised as a man named Ping. She trains among the other soldiers, becoming one of the very best with her accompanying guardian dragon, Mushu and a cricket her grandmother gave her for luck for the matchmakers by her side. She ends up saving all of China by revealing that the Huns are back and invading the country, and is honored as a hero. This movie breaks away from the typical damsel in distress princess story by having a single woman save all of China. However, on Mulan’s journey she faced extreme female shaming, and experienced stereotypes attempting to belittle her; all
Mulan reinforces the traditional ideas of masculinity in the song, “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” (Mulan 1998). The lyrics, “Let’s get down to business, to defeat the Huns. Did they send me daughters, when I asked for sons?”(Mulan, 1998) portrays the traditional gender roles of men; it claims that male is the only sex that is able to fight. The goal of this scene is to “make a man” out of the new recruits. The movie Mulan asserts that being feminine is detrimental to the war effort. Instead, the docile, feminine recruits have to be transformed into men. This song in Mulan argues that one should strive towards being a "man";