So while there are a lot of great things that are pointed out about the movie Mulan, there are also things that I haven't seen pointed out yet so I wanted to share.

1. Realistic Representation of Culture: I love that it is not over-Americanized and mostly stays true to Chinese and Asian culture. The most American part of the film is the fact that she thinks she can take a man's place in the army. That and Grandmother Fa's comments in general. Other than that, the movie is pretty accurate to her culture. I find this important because I don't understand the point of showing a different culture without showing the cultural differences. To me, that seems more offensive then not attempting to show that culture at all. Basically, I'd rather not be represented than misrepresented.


2. Words of Wisdom and Value of the Self/Independent along with the Collective Community: "One single grain of rice can tip the scale. One man may be the difference between victory and defeat." What a great message. I know many people who feel like their one voice isn't enough but this was a great way to conceptualize why we need to keep communicating with each other and standing for what we believe in.


3. Mulan's Femininity: Despite Mulan's flaws (clumsiness, forgetfulness, laziness and tardiness), she is still a very feminine and nurturing character. A great example is the beginning of the film when she reminds her father "the doctor said 3 cups of tea in the morning and 3 cups of tea in the evening". She really values her family and is very loyal. She genuinely wants to make her father proud. This is something that I would hope that most children would get to relate to, wanting to make their good and loving parents proud. She only leaves because she sees that her father is so elderly and weak (he is a veteran) that if he went, he would surely die in battle. It is her feminine nurturing that initially pushes her to take her father's place. I also love her father's masculinity and sense of honor, duty and respect. One of my favorite lines is when he tells her "I know my place. It is time that you've learned yours." Also by the end of the film, she seems more feminine than she did at the beginning. More graceful, polite and respectful. She even does bring honor to her family as a woman when Li Shang shows up at her house at the end. (Clearly to start courting her.)



4. Tough Love Songs with Words of Wisdom that teach about Men and Life:
A) Bring Honor To Us All - Another culture point: The women in Asia are just as honest and realistic about what men want as the men. I love that the women are the ones giving Mulan the advice which shows that in their culture, the mothers would tell the daughters what the best men care about. I also love the bluntness: Mulan says "It's so cold" about the bathwater to which her mother responds, "It would have been warm if you were here on time." I have full respect for the accountability and responsibility in this culture and find it to be very inspiring. I love that the mother doesn't allow for excuses. The only thing that stands out to me in a bad way is that realistically, the mother would have scolded Mulan for cheating and made her wash the notes off her arm. I also love the foreshadowing of A Girl Worth Fighting For with "Boys will gladly go to war for you." proving that the women were accurate and honest the whole time, genuinely trying to help Mulan. I also love that Disney showed respect to the culture by including the reason for this emphasis in gender roles: "We all must serve our Emperor who guards us from the Huns. The men by bearing arms, a girl by bearing sons." Times were hard back then and yes, women were expected to get married and reproduce but at the same time the men were expected to give their lives and go to war. This leads almost to like a part 2 or male version:


B) A Girl Worth Fighting For - These men are walking into a battle knowing that they are up against a ruthless enemy that is viscous and merciless. This is a very scary thing to face as all wars are. They are basically walking into a situation where they only have a 50% chance of living. As a woman, I find it incredibly complimenting that those men think of "good women" as worth giving their lives for. This is also why it is so important that the females reciprocate for the men by trying to make home life as peaceful as possible since war is the opposite. Hence they give their own personal descriptions of "a girl worth fighting for". This is of course a far more average view and it is clear that Mulan is not average. When she says "How about a girl who's got a brain and always speaks her mind?" and all of the men in unison respond "Nah!" represents that Mulan isn't just an average woman so she's not going to be what an average man wants. She is smarter and more outspoken than most girls which is why she gets the General's attention and not just one of the soldiers. Of course, even he wants and deserves for her to balance these qualities with respect and peace for their relationship, as any man would. It's just that he can handle a smarter and more outspoken woman better than the average man could since he is better than the average man.


C) I'll Make A Man Out Of You - This might be my absolute favorite song in the film. The focuses Li Shang gives the men are: Discipline and Strength. Rarely do men get the credit for the positives of masculinity anymore nor does masculinity get celebrated in any way but here, it does. Not only do we see the hard work and intense training that these men are put through but we see it's effect on character. Where we see this the most, is in fact Mulan's character. When she decides to really dig down deep and really put herself in there with the guys, is when she truly finds herself. She's not as clumsy and she's far more confident. This is one of my favorite Disney character arcs of all time. Mulan didn't cheat, she didn't make excuses, she pushed herself and challenged herself to overcome the obstacles that faced her. In the beginning of the film she would not have won Li Shang's attention if the matchmaker had introduced them but after this segment is where he started to respect her. She earned the respect of her superior and her peers and that is the most admirable and encouraging part of the film for me. (When Mulan first arrived, she said "I don't think I can do this." Clearly she proved herself wrong.) Also I like how it starts with Yao talking back to Li Shang by saying "Ooh... Tough guy." and Li Shang singles Yao out as a "volunteer" showing the lack of tolerance in the military. (And of course Yao's "I'll get the arrow, pretty boy. And I'll do it with my shirt on!" showing the male competitiveness.)


5. Mulan is Intelligent: During the "Honor To Us All" song, she helps a man out in what looks to be a checkers/chess type game. Another great foreshadowing showing her strategy skills that come into play later in the battle scenes.


6. Mulan is Modest: The scene where Mushu says "My eyes can see straight through your armor." and Mulan slaps him is a great comical way of showing this.


7. Mulan does show the reality of gender differences despite the misleading of Mulan's character pulling off this great stunt: The scenes where Mulan is practicing with her male voice and trying to think of how to fit in as a guy are priceless! Also when Mulan arrives at the camp, she refers to the men as "disgusting" to which Mushu responds "No, they're men..." I don't think men are disgusting but again, this was a comical way to show the differences between men and women. (Especially in 1998 when feminists were claiming that there were no differences between the genders other than body parts. We now know thanks to science there are countless differences in the brain, chemical make up, outlook/perception, etc.) Also showing the discipline of the military which, at that time, only men dealt with. (i.e. When Mulan makes a scene, the entire group of soldiers gets punished.)


8. Beautiful Teamwork Lessons: With the decrease in sports and outdoor play going on currently in America, it is always refreshing to see such positive scenes of teamwork. In the military, there is no room for prejudices or other internal conflicts because they are facing a greater external enemy. I love the emphasis of teamwork and how it teaches that our actions and choices do effect other people so we need to be smart about the choices we make. This is shown so greatly in all of the training and battle scenes. My favorite example of this is when Mulan is sent packing because she failed in the army but instead of giving up, she climbed the pole and her victory became the team's victory. She earned the respect of all of her peers and they were genuinely proud of her for accomplishing this goal. This is my favorite scene of the film. Another great line is when they come face to face with the Huns for the first time and Li Shang says "Prepare to fight. If we die, we die with honor." Talk about teamwork, you can't run from that.


9. How Different a Female Competitor and a Female Interest Are: I like that they showed at the end when Li Shang wasn't really sure how to be around Mulan after she had just been pretending to be a man for so long. This is shown with his line "You fight good." though he clearly wanted to say something else. I love that the Emperor, as an older and wiser man, sees this and points out to Li Shang to go after the one-of-a-kind girl he found and reminds him that he is a man and should pursue this unique catch.