reflection essay about mulan

Mulan’s Relatability, Self-Discovery, and Selfishness

Despite its release twenty years ago, Mulan remains a favorite of the Disney classics. The film features a strong main female character who is relatable and unique from the other Disney princesses in more ways than one.

The film’s main character is based off of a popular Chinese legend in which a woman by the name Hua Mulan dresses as a man and takes her father’s place in the army (Klimczak).

Because the legend originates from China, Disney’s adaptation of Mulan easily sticks out from other Disney princess films. Her culture is fresh and captivating to an American audience who is immune to, and perhaps tired of, western-based stories. A film featuring a Chinese woman will stand out from the rest of the white Disney princesses.

But is Mulan “better” than other Disney films that lack this diversity?

Sticking to the same western cultures may make stories feel repetitive and dry, but exploring different cultures can allow for more unique one. Diversity can also draw in a different audience: people like seeing characters they can relate to and so a culture-specific film would bring in people from that culture.

Mulan Defining Herself and Self-Improvement

Mulan’s diversity is not the only reason the film sticks. Mulan as a character is a realistic portrayal of a young woman who doesn’t abide to traditional gender roles. One might view Mulan as a feminist icon because of how she defies gender stereotypes. She doesn’t actively rebel against the ideas of marriage or womanhood — she’s just a different kind of woman than what her culture expects.

Mulan defies gender stereotypes by accepting both a feminine and masculine identity. At the beginning of the film, she rejects ideas of femininity. She’s loud, socially awkward, and persistent. As her family prepares to find her a husband, Mulan is anything but a gentle, proper bride. She also struggles with a masculine identity as seen when she fails tests to prepare for war.

By the end of the film, she succeeds as a warrior (a masculine trait) which then allows her to accept her femininity. She declines a position in the royal palace and instead returns home as a daughter, not a warrior.

Mulan as a character is a rarity and the start of a new trend in the Disney princesses. Often times, Disney princesses reflect gender expectations and ideals. Snow White, for example, is passive and praised for her beauty and never steps out of these boundaries. And while princesses such as Cinderella are independent and go out into the world for their own betterment, the prince still seeks her out for her beauty and gentleness.

Mulan goes to war and becomes a solider: a very masculine thing to do compared to previous princesses. This experience forces her to step out of her comfort zone, thus adding to her character development. Mulan sticks out from the rest of the soldiers. She doesn’t know how to interact with men, especially in a scenario when there are just men behaving as they would without any women around.

This war setting leaves no expectations for how Mulan should act as a woman: she has the freedom to act as she pleases so long as she receives approval from the other soldiers. She uses her intelligence to overcome obstacles, such as taking advantage of the weights to help her climb the pole rather than drag her down.

These types of challenges test her problem-solving skills. She cannot show-off her strengths as a woman because society expects women to be passive. But here, gendered expectations cannot hold her back, thus allowing her to overcome obstacles, gain approval, and improve self-worth.

No other classic Disney princess has found herself in a war and playing the part of a soldier. Mulan is the perfect princess for this role. She has the determination to prove herself and is no longer limited to behave as a woman should. She still identifies as a woman and sees herself as different from the rest of the troops, but none of them shame her for not behaving as they think a woman should.

Mulan’s Universal Relatability

Relatable characters can teach and inspire audience members. Moreover, people who see themselves in their favorite characters feel a sense of belonging (Haberstroh). One reason many people enjoy the film is because of how many people can relate to Mulan. She is not just relatable to a niche of people: just about anyone can see themselves in her.

The first obvious type of people who relate to her are women. This story covers specifically Chinese women and how they are supposed to act, dress, and bring honor to their family by marrying a respectable man. Mulan represents real-world girls who do not necessarily want to behave a certain way or marry a certain man — or marry at all.

As she settles into camp with the other troops, Mulan finds herself not fitting into how men should behave and treat each other. She has an idea, but she fails at executing appropriate behavior, such as how she accidentally starts a fight in attempt to appear manly.

Mulan, then, represents boys who do not fit into masculine culture. Of course, she’s a girl raised to behave as a girl. She has only observed masculine behavior to help guide her alongside poor advice from her dragon companion, Mushu. But technicalities aside, she does portray the difficulties a boy might face if he does not adhere to masculine culture as is expected of him.

If one wants to take this analysis a step further, then viewers might also interpret Mulan as an allegory for struggles transgender men experience. Mulan grew up believing she was a girl but found herself failing to uphold gender traditions. She then switches from being Fa Zhou’s daughter to his son, Ping. And lastly, she struggles to fit into masculine culture as she faces rejection of her newfound gender as well as discomfort in her discovery to identity.

The end of the song “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” represents struggles transgender men may face. Mulan has failed to prove she’s soldier-material, so Shang kicks her out of the camp. Instead of leaving, she’s determined to prove she can be a solider — or be a man, in other words. She climbs the pole and retrieves the arrow, a feat none of the other troops managed, and proves to Shang she is valuable.

Mulan, like transgender men, is incapable of proving she’s biologically a man. The only way she can prove herself is through her actions. Transgender men may find themselves in a similar position in which they have to prove their manhood through their attire, behavior, and actions that other men would approve of.

The Importance of Selfishness

Audiences cherish Mulan because of her selflessness: she leaves for war so her father doesn’t have to, she risks her life to save Shang during the avalanche, and she puts herself in danger to save the emperor from Shan Yu.

At first glance, Mulan seems totally and a hundred-percent selfless because she does all of this for the sake of other people’s lives, not her own.

But Mulan’s long-term goal is selfish. Her motivation to go to war to save her father is selfless, but her motivation is just as selfish because what she really wants is to find herself. Everything she does is to bring her one step closer to finding her identity. The song “Reflection” shows how from the beginning, Mulan wants to find out who she is. Saving her father is only a stepping stone for her self-discovery.

After the troops discover Mulan’s true gender and leave her, she looks at her reflection in her helmet. She says, “Maybe I didn’t go for my father. Maybe what I really wanted was to prove I could do things right. So when I look in the mirror, I’d see someone worthwhile.” This line in the film encompasses Mulan’s true motivation. Although saving her father’s life is a benefit, what Mulan really wants out of this experience is to go to war for her own betterment. In her case, selfishness is an entirely good thing. Viewers see her struggle to understand who she is and want to see her figure that out by the end of the film.

In no way is her selfishness a negative — in fact, it’s one of her best personality traits. A character like Mulan sticks out because she is a healthy mix of both selfishness and selflessness. Her selflessness allows her to connect to other people, while her selfishness allows her to grow and ultimately is what teaches her self-worth.

Conclusion: Going Back to Her Roots

Although there are variations to the legend, the most widely known version of the story has Mulan voluntarily reveal her true gender to the rest of the soldiers during battle. The soldiers don’t react negatively and instead respect her more for her honesty (Klimczak). But in the Disney film, the soldiers are at first appalled and confused to find out she’s a woman. It isn’t until later when Mulan saves the emperor does she get the respect she had been fighting for. The reaction to Mulan’s true gender is the biggest difference between the source material and Disney’s adaptation. If the soldiers reacted more positively to her gender reveal, then perhaps the film could have taught viewers that gender identity doesn’t have to hold an individual back from achieving their goals. Or, views can interpret the Disney version as showing how people will still question women’s abilities and strengths regardless of what they have achieved and are capable of.

Haberstroh, Kelly. T he Importance of Relatable Characters in Entertainment . The Odyssey, 26 April 2016, https://www.theodysseyonline.com/the-importance-of-relatable-characters-in-entertainment.

Klimczak, Natalia. The Ballad of Hua Mulan: The Legendary Warrior Woman Who Brought Hope to China . Ancient Origins, 1 Jan. 2016, https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-famous-people/ballad-hua-mulan-legendary-warrior-woman-who-brought-hope-china-005084.

Mulan . Directed by Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook, performances by Lea Salonga, Donny Osmond, Soon-Tek Oh, and Eddie Murphy, Walt Disney Pictures, 1998.

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45 Comments

This was perhaps my favorite movie as a child.. to me it was an action movie for kids.. looking back though, I credit this movie partly for the ability to look up to heroes regardless of their sex. I related to Mulan, I wanted to be a great warrior just like her. It didn’t matter that I was a boy and she was a girl, she was bad ass! And I wanted to be just like her.

Awesome movie. I loved mulan because she was a bad ass.. Not because she was a bad ass woman, that had nothing to do with it. I think that that makes the story so much stronger.. she isn’t just a strong warrior for a girl, she’s a strong warrior in general.

Everything in this movies is remarkable. My mom’s favorite Disney movies are The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast. Mine’s are this one and Tarzan. So I made her watch Mulan for the first time and she loved it. And she’s a hard cookie. Literally all the songs in it are great. Certain scenes gave me chills. The soundtrack during the action sequences are riveting. Mushu, the Grandma, and the ancestors are absolutely hilarious. I cried at the end of Wreck-It Ralph and during Big Hero 6, and I was surprised to see myself cry at the end of Mulan. Love love love

The problem that I had with the film is the voice acting. Whoever did the voice of Mulan had no emotion whatsoever. Plus I did not understand the ending scene. There were hundreds of thousands of Chinese and just a couple of Huns. How is just a couple of guys and a bird a threat to China? Where was the royal guard to protect the emperor? Other than that it was an okay film.

I think this movie isn’t just cultural but it’s best feature is it is Disney’s best representation of a positive relationship. Shang respected Mulan as a soldier because she works hard, so when it is revealed Mulan is a girl this respect is already in place. Same with Mulan respecting Shang as a general and leader. They both had a respect and understanding of one another that was not just built on genitals. That’s the best example of a good relationship.

Brilliant article. Mulan is a masterpiece. So thematically rich. Even her horse deals with identity issues- being called a “cow” when it’s not being “horse” enough.

The horse’s name is Khan, which is interesting…

Gender and identity issues at its best.

I think what is important is the meaning we find rather than some objective, “accurate” meaning. To some extent, you take what you put in. I came to Mulan deeply repressed and self-loathing and, despite the popular “be a man” chorus, it meant, to me, that it was ok for me to be a woman. Someone that approaches it from a different perspective will leave with a different meaning.

Being trans and having loved this movie as a kid, but haven’t rewatched it since finding out abt being a trans woman…

An enjoyable essay. I’ve recommended it to my middle daughter who dressed up as Mulan several times when she a lot younger for Halloween.

Good job addressing the many qualities that make Mulan such a great character. I liked the relatability section a lot and how you emphasized Mulan’s connection to many different groups of people. Growing up, I’ve watched Mulan many times and have always enjoyed the movie!

Mulan does feminism well, it isn’t pushing a fake agenda. Mulan was the naturally the weakest soldier there, but she became one of the best through work. She didn’t ask for a handout. She didn’t wasn’t one of those “WAAA WOMEN CAN FIGHT, TOO!” she showed it. I wish feminism today in movies was done like Mulan.

Mulan is why there is an extra criteria to be a Disney princess (they are marry royal and be royal and thanks to mulan commit an act of heroism each princess has to at least have one of these to be an official princess)

You hit all the points I appreciate Mulan, and why, although it wasn’t my favorite as a child, it is the best Disney movie to hold up into my adulthood. It wasn’t until my late teens, when I was really struggling to find myself as a person and as an adult that this movie reentered my life and helped me through some tough times. From the standpoint of a female Chinese American as well, the way in which this movie treated my culture, not to mention the extreme relate ability of Mulan, really makes this movie one of the best movies ever. Like you discussed, Mulan was so inspiring because she did feel that struggle between her culture, her family, and herself, and her navigation of it, to be able to reconcile it all, made it a very moving, beautiful experience for me as a person who wishes for the same. No matter how many accolades this movie receives, it will always be underappreciated in my book.

I agree, even now I think the true beauty of what this movie does and what it stands for is lost on so many people.

Great article. Mulan is one of those movies that I didn’t appreciate until I matured a bit more. That’s how it is with most films for me, considering I’m not that much of a movie person, but I’m glad I gave the movie another chance and watched it again. Didn’t at all fail to impress.

Mulan has been my favorite Disney princess since I was a kid. She’s kind and gentle, but also a total badass. She is super smart and brave. I had such a bad crush on her as a kid.

I think the reason Mulan is a lot of people’s favorite princess is because she get’s by far the most focus on her movie. All other princesses have to share the spotlight or are mostly overshadowed by their male counterpart. Jasmine is overshadowed by Aladdin and Belle has to share the spotlight with the beast. Mulan is almost the complete focus of her movie and everything in it revolves around her.

Mulan and Moana are the best! They are true hero’s.

I love Mulan, but one aspect bugs me. When Mulan is exposed, her commander rejects her and he doesn’t actually try to make amends til the Emperor mocks him. But you know who believed her when she warned them? Her comrades. The skinny guy. The fat guy. The short stocky guy with one eye. The handsome noble commander got caught with his pants down by the Huns, but not Mulan’s squad mates who all hated her in the beginning. Her squad listened to her warning and was ready. Yet she doesn’t love them. Nope, the men who believed in her and followed her orders and had her back weren’t good enough. She needed a pretty noble who was a dick to her for 98% of the movie. Her squad believed in her before the commander, before the Emperor and didn’t care she was a woman. Great job Mulan. Because what is really important isn’t men who respect women, but handsome men who disrespect women. And men, respect for women is plainly worthless if you are skinny, fat, short or have any physical flaws. You can disobey your commander and follow a woman who dresses up as a man, but you’ll always be nothing to her.

You nailed it. Thanks for talking about her true motivation instead of making it all about girl power and feminism. She’s an awesome woman, but her motivation was purely to do the right thing and help her family. That’s one of the things they got wrong in the sequel IMHO.

Nice analysis, finding Mulan’s true motivation. At first, I thought Mulan is actually one of the less relatable Disney heroines because what modern moviegoer gets the opportunity to fight a war in place of our father, masquerading as someone else, and then save an entire country almost singlehandedly? But you’re very right; she’s relatable because she discovers things about herself through difficult circumstances. I also like how you related selfishness, selflessness, and self-discovery together. I’ve been thinking about those topics quite a bit; right now I’m in an internship-type program that gives me many opportunities to be selfless and help a lot of people. The whole thing, though, is engineered to help my teammates and I learn things about ourselves and then improve ourselves. It’s not “selfish,” per se, but understanding the benefit to ourselves is a great motivator to do these things for others. Mulan had the same motivation.

This was a really interesting article! I really enjoyed how you incorporated the selfishness and selflessness in it.

You perfectly summed up my thoughts about ‘Mulan’. It is hands down my favourite Disney movie ever!

I literally just delivered an entire presentation on the same topic. I love Mulan because who she was before and after the war is the same amazing person. The only thing that changes is her confidence in herself.

My favorite scene is when whatever miraculous makeup remover is on her sleeves somehow manages to remove EVERY TRACE of makeup from her face. Seriously. HOW?

Mulan is so much better than Elsa. Yes Elsa didn’t end up with a man but she created her own problems. Mulan ended up with a man but she wasn’t in love with him/trying to get him the whole time and the main problem in the movie wasn’t a result of her actions, she just took on the consequences

Honestly, Mulan was the first to set the path of Disney Princesses that needed no man to win what they truly desire. I loved both Mulan and Mulan 2(I still can’t get over Lesson Number One even in the native Chinese languages). Mulan was the first on many Disney princesses to not need a man. Mulan ended up with one. Personally to me, it’s better then Snow White leaving the 7 dwarves for a prince that’s like 10 years her age or Aurora leaving with a prince she barely even knew but loved somehow already. Mulan set the path for Disney Princesses like Merida, Tiana, (a bit of) Elsa, Moana(technically she doesn’t marry or even love a man even though she needed one as it was his fault Te Fiti became Te Ka, she was just blinded by the fact she could’ve done it herself and didn’t trust herself to do it. I believe that Merida and Mulan are more similar then Tiana as in the end Tiana marries a prince while Merida is left with a better relationship with her mother. Elsa technically didn’t need a man, she just needed to open up to her sister. If she did, what happened in Frozen would’ve been toned down in my opinion. Anna also believed she needed a man being coped up in a castle but she too learned she needed her sister and kinda also fell in love so both the Frozen heroines kinda aren’t princesses that followed what Mulan set out or paved a path for. Mulan will always be the first Disney princess to didn’t need a man(yes she ended up with one but remember this movie came out during the times of the first Disney Princesses and they all had a true love so Disney is progressive but not very progressive). Either way, even if it wasn’t Shang Mulan ended up with, she was going to end up with someone as she either A) do something in place of the Emperor’s daughters as she will always have that feeling to protect her country, B) probably want to continue her family’s name somehow as she is an only child and a girl so that’s really her only job to society in her country(and mostly other countries but I know Asian countries put a lot emphasis on this) or C) Fall in love with someone that probably isn’t Shang since she is human, we either get an attraction to someone or we fall in love after being friends for awhile(unless you’re Asexual but I read some Asexuals also fall in love but it just has to be a deeper connection, correct me if I’m wrong.).

This was an extremely helpful article for my senior thesis. Thank you for sharing!

Mulan was my favorite Disney movie as a kid and it turns out i’m nonbinary. looking back at it now, especially through the lens of your discussion here, it gives me serious chills.

Great analysis, I had never thought about the movie’s themes in such depth. Thank you!

Mulan is such an amazing movie. it’s one of my favorites!

Loved this article. So pleased you touched on trans men–that was definitely something I didn’t pick up on as a kid, and now that I’m older, I can totally see in Mulan’s story. I wish more Disney movies had a nuanced message about gender and identity like Mulan. Awesome article.

Mulan was one of the first movies I vividly remember watching in the movie theater when I was younger, so of course it’s going to have a very special place in my heart!

Mulan is definitely one of my favourite Disney films. I really like that the character of Mulan is not made out to be extremely/unrealistically beautiful, as the princesses before her were.

Mulan is definitely one of the best Disney films – so different from the others.

Mulan has to be one of my all-time favourite Disney Movies. When I was a little girl, I wanted to grow up and be a pirate or a warrior and I was inspired by movies that showed strong females characters, such as Mulan. As a movie it has so many fun contributing factors. You learn family values, watch as the characters develop their personality traits, and as a bonus it has an amazing soundtrack. I just love it 🙂

Mulan has always been my favorite Disney movie~ I really enjoyed your analysis of the film as well as what aspects of Mulan’s character make her so relatable and likable.

Nice article. I especially like how you examined the selfishness and selflessness of Mulan’s motives–because yes, your motives can be both. Other Disney heroines have done this (Belle, Tiana, Cinderella, etc.) But because princesses/heroines are supposed to be “ideal women,” you rarely if ever hear them admit, “Yeah, I have a selfish reason for what I’m doing.” Mulan does that, in a way that keeps her empathetic to the audience. It’s refreshing, and we need more of it.

Mulan has always been one of my favourite films for these reasons – an excellent article!

Mulan was one of my favorite movies as a kid. I love the focus on the female character. A lot of Disney movies I had watched, had the typical “princess saved by prince”, however, this movie defied the social construction of gender roles. It was an empowering film. Your arguments provide a great capture of her character. Loved this article.

It’s interesting that you begin this piece with the question of if Mulan is lauded as such a great film simply because it was more diverse than most animation of the period. I say this because I feel like it’s answering a question that people were never really asking. While I wasn’t really cognizant of conversations at the time of the film’s premiere, I feel like the general consensus nowadays is that the film has always been great for the reasons listed. That said, I love your analysis of Mulan’s selfishness and how that plays into her decision making in the film. Despite a gazillion rewatches of the film, I never thought about it like that. Awesome article!

This is my favourite movie of all time and I’m sure always will be, but the original Chinese folklore has no mention of a love story or romantic precepts, and this is a major issue I identify with the Disney version. I love your allegory of Mulan and transgender men; a great article!

I love Mulan, and I enjoyed what you said about her motives. I think this shows that Mulan is a complex character. No one is made up of purely selfless or selfish motives. Our actions can be caused by multiple sources. Some sources might be more motivating than others, but we can have many reasons for what we want to do, and some of those reasons may be hidden even from ourselves.

Mulan gave way for many children to feel better about not having to fit into stereotypes. In a course I took at school I was able to look at the original legend and how it changed over time. The theme is always the same she goes to war for years in place of her father (or brother depending on the telling), but there are differences that reflect the changes in culture and ideals. Overall Mulan is what in my terms I consider a heroine, because of her resilience through difficult times. The Disney version is a good combination of the versions.

Not only did she express her filial piety but by breaking the stereotypes, there was a break in the distressed princess that needed to be saved.

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“Reflection”: A History of the Best Song From ‘Mulan’

In celebration of the Disney classic’s 25th anniversary, one writer takes a deep dive into the movie’s standout song.

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The renaissance era of Disney princesses — which spanned from the late 1980s to the 1990s — gave us such childhood icons as Beauty and the Beast ’s Belle, The Little Mermaid ’s Ariel, Aladdin ’s Jasmine, and the eponymous Pocahontas and Mulan . It also gave us banger soundtracks to go along with them, including Aladdin ’s love song “A Whole New World,” “Colors of the Wind” from Pocahontas (sung by ’90s icon Vanessa Williams), and pretty much the entire track listings from Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid . Mulan , which celebrates its 25th anniversary on June 19, has some pretty stiff competition for its best song, including “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” and “A Girl Worth Fighting For,” but the one that endures all these years later is “Reflection,” the lead track from the movie.

“Reflection” comes at an inflection point in the movie for the titular Mulan (voiced by Ming-Na Wen with vocals by Lea Salonga) after she’s failed her matchmaker assessment and just prior to her aging father being drafted into the imperial Chinese army. Mulan feels stuck between two worlds: the traditional one of her family and culture, and wanting to be a good daughter and marry well, versus her innermost desire of wanting something more.

“Reflection” is not only a song of female empowerment but is also seen by some fans as a trans allegory based on the lyrics:

Who is that girl I see

Staring straight back at me?

Why is my reflection

Someone I don’t know?

Must I pretend that I’m

Someone else for all time?

When will my reflection show

Who I am inside?

It certainly appears as though many people read Mulan that way , with some viral tweets in 2017 likening Mulan’s passing as a man to Donald Trump’s anti-transgender military policy . To be sure, Mulan is not an explicitly trans character , but gender-diverse viewers have long felt a kinship with her prior to openly trans characters appearing in pop culture to the extent that they are today.

Adding more gravitas to “Reflection” is the fact that before hitting the big time with “Genie in a Bottle” in 1999, Christina Aguilera released the song as her debut single in 1998. The track soon reached No. 19 on Billboard ’s Adult Contemporary chart. While the aforementioned Lea Salonga, who also played the singing voice of Jasmine in Aladdin , sang “Reflection” for the movie, Aguilera recorded her version for the soundtrack.

“When we heard her sing, it was like, ‘Oh, my God. This kid sounds like she had the phrasing and understanding of lyrics of someone who had been singing for 25 years,’” lyricist David Zippel said in 2020. “Even then it was so palpable. She was a perfectionist even as a 17-year-old.”

Aguilera had long been affiliated with Disney, performing alongside Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, and Ryan Gosling in The Mickey Mouse Club . In the ’90s and 2000s, Aguilera was often perceived as second fiddle to Spears, whose debut single and album of the same name, … Baby One More Time , set the tone for the year and indeed much of pop culture for the next 20 years. Viewed this way, “Reflection” could be read as a personal anthem of sorts for Aguilera. “But somehow I will show the world … and be loved for who I am” certainly reads like someone looking to break out of others’ shadows and move into the reflective light.

Though Aguilera was not available for comment for this article, it appears as though “Reflection” has stayed in her heart all these years, with Aguilera rerecording a new version of the song for the soundtrack of the 2020 live-action remake.

Despite the clear meaning it holds for many, “Reflection” almost didn’t make it into Mulan at all, according to Insider . “Word came down from on high that they wanted us to cut the song from the score,” composer Matthew Wilder told the site. Test audiences apparently felt that “Reflection” “overstayed its welcome” and was conducive to a “popcorn moment”— when viewers would tune out and break for snacks.

“We believed so strongly in the song, and the compromise that we came to with the powers that be was that we were only going to showcase half the song in the movie,” Wilder said.

Salonga recorded that version in 1995 and was asked to rerecord the shorter one in 1996.

“Every time I sing it in concert, it’s always the longer one,” she said .

Yet for some reason, the 2020 live-action Mulan subbed out the iconic music, including “Reflection,” in favor of scenes that angered viewers and bloated the movie out to more than two hours. “She knew in her heart of hearts that she just wanted this movie to be different and not necessarily be a rubber-stamped version, if you will, of the animated film,” Wilder told Insider in a different article about director Niki Caro ’s decision not to make the 2020 Mulan a musical.

Instead we get instrumental hints at “Reflection” and “Honor to Us All” played in the background, and “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” is mentioned in a passing line of dialogue. A Mandarin version of “Reflection,” sung by the film’s star, Liu Yifei, plays over the credits.

“I’d be lying if I told you that there wasn’t an element of disappointment there,” Wilder said. From the critical and fan response to the remake, it would appear he wasn’t the only one.

At least we’ll always have the original “Reflection.”

Scarlett Harris is a culture critic and author of A Diva Was a Female Version of a Wrestler: An Abbreviated Herstory of World Wrestling Entertainment . You can follow her on Twitter @ScarlettEHarris .

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– Entertainment Analysis and Reviews

The Enduring Legacy of song “Reflection” by Lea Salonga

Lea Salonga is a renowned Filipina singer and actress who gained international recognition for her role as Kim in the musical “Miss Saigon”. Salonga has since become a beloved figure in the entertainment industry, having starred in numerous stage productions and films. In 1998, she was tapped by Disney to sing the theme song for their animated film “Mulan”. The song, entitled “Reflection”, became an instant hit and showcased Salonga’s exceptional vocal range and emotional depth. In this article, we will delve into the significance of “Reflection” as a song and examine how Salonga’s performance of it has impacted popular culture.

Background on “Reflection”

Lea salonga reflection lyrics, lea salonga’s performance, “reflection” as a standalone song, legacy and impact.

“Reflection” is a ballad that was written by David Zippel and Matthew Wilder for the 1998 Disney animated film “Mulan”. The song serves as a pivotal moment in the movie, where the protagonist Mulan, disguised as a man, reflects on her inner turmoil and the societal pressures that she faces. The lyrics of the song convey a sense of self-doubt and a desire to find one’s true identity, which are central themes of the film.

Some additional points that could be included in this section are:

• The original demo recording of “Reflection” was performed by Wilder himself, but Disney executives were looking for a singer with a more powerful voice to do the final version. They ultimately chose Salonga, who had previously worked with Disney as the singing voice of Jasmine in “Aladdin”.
• Salonga’s performance of “Reflection” in the film is accompanied by stunning animation that captures the emotional depth of the song. The scene shows Mulan gazing at her reflection in a pond while Salonga’s vocals soar in the background.
• “Reflection” has since become one of Disney’s most iconic songs, and has been covered and translated into multiple languages around the world. The song’s popularity has also spawned numerous remixes and mashups on social media platforms.

[Verse: MULAN] Look at me, I will never pass for a perfect bride Or a perfect daughter Can it be I’m not meant to play this part? Now I see that if I were truly to be myself I would break my family’s heart [Chorus: MULAN] Who is that girl I see Staring straight back at me? Why is my reflection someone I don’t know? Somehow, I cannot hide Who I am, though I’ve tried When will my reflection show who I am inside? When will my reflection show who I am inside?

Lea Salonga’s performance of “Reflection” in “Mulan” has become an iconic moment in Disney’s history. Salonga’s powerful and emotional rendition of the song perfectly captures the inner turmoil and self-discovery that Mulan experiences in the film.

Salonga’s vocal range and control are on full display in “Reflection”, with her voice soaring to high notes and conveying a wide range of emotions. Her performance has been praised for its sincerity and vulnerability, as Salonga imbues the song with a sense of personal resonance.

The animation sequence that accompanies Salonga’s performance also adds to the impact of the scene. The visual of Mulan looking at her reflection in the water as Salonga’s vocals crescendo in the background creates a memorable and emotional moment in the film.

Overall, Lea Salonga’s performance of “Reflection” has become a defining moment in her career and has contributed to the lasting popularity and impact of the song.

While “Reflection” was initially written for and featured in the 1998 Disney animated film “Mulan”, it has since become a popular standalone song that has transcended the movie’s storyline. The song’s relatable themes of self-discovery and identity have resonated with audiences of all ages, and its popularity has only continued to grow since its release.

• “Reflection” was included in Salonga’s 1998 self-titled album, which also featured other Disney songs that she had performed, such as “A Whole New World” and “Part of Your World”. The success of the album contributed to Salonga’s ongoing popularity as a singer.
• The song’s message of self-acceptance and inner strength has inspired many listeners, particularly young girls and women, to embrace their individuality and pursue their dreams. The song has become a popular anthem for empowerment and self-confidence.
• Salonga’s performance of “Reflection” has been lauded for its emotional depth and raw vulnerability. Her rendition of the song has become the definitive version for many listeners, and her vocal performance has been praised as a key factor in the song’s success as a standalone piece.

“Reflection” and Lea Salonga’s performance of the song have had a lasting impact on popular culture and the music industry. The song’s enduring popularity and message of self-acceptance have made it a beloved classic that has transcended generations.

Here are some additional points that could be included in this section:

• “Reflection” has been covered and remixed by various artists, including Christina Aguilera, who recorded a version of the song for the 2020 live-action adaptation of “Mulan”. Aguilera’s version, which featured both English and Mandarin lyrics, was well-received and further cemented the song’s status as a timeless classic.
• The song has also been referenced and parodied in various contexts, including on social media platforms like TikTok and Twitter. The #ReflectionChallenge, which involved users lip-syncing to the song and showcasing their before-and-after transformation photos, went viral on TikTok in 2020 and helped introduce the song to a new generation of fans.
• Lea Salonga’s performance of “Reflection” helped establish her as a talented and versatile singer who could convey emotion and sincerity through her vocals. Her work on the song has been cited as an influence by many aspiring singers, and her legacy as a performer has continued to grow in the years since the song’s release.
• “Reflection” has also been recognized for its impact on the representation of Asian culture and voices in mainstream media. The song’s inclusion in a Disney film with an Asian protagonist helped to break down barriers and promote diversity in the entertainment industry. Salonga’s performance of the song has been praised as a landmark moment for Asian representation in popular culture.

Lea Salonga’s performance of “Reflection” has left a lasting impact on popular culture and the music industry. The song’s relatable themes of self-discovery and identity have resonated with audiences of all ages, and its message of self-acceptance has made it a beloved classic that has transcended generations.

From its origins in the 1998 Disney animated film “Mulan”, “Reflection” has become a popular standalone song that has been covered and remixed by various artists and referenced in numerous contexts. Lea Salonga’s emotional and heartfelt rendition of the song has been praised as a key factor in its success as a standalone piece, and her legacy as a talented and influential performer has continued to grow in the years since its release.

Overall, “Reflection” and Lea Salonga’s performance of the song have helped promote diversity and representation in popular culture and have inspired many listeners to embrace their individuality and pursue their dreams. The song’s enduring popularity is a testament to its timeless message of self-discovery and acceptance, and it will continue to be a beloved classic for years to come.

Hi, I’m William Jones, the administrator of the exciting website explainedthis.com, which offers movie, music, and book reviews. With a deep passion for entertainment, I created this platform to provide a trusted source of information for fellow enthusiasts who want to stay up-to-date on the latest releases and trends.

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Meaning of Reflection by Mulan (Ft. Mulan)

The song "Reflection" by Mulan captures the internal struggle and self-discovery experienced by the protagonist, Mulan. The lyrics delve into themes of identity, societal expectations, and the pressure to conform.

Mulan begins by expressing her doubts about fitting the mold of a "perfect bride or a perfect daughter." This highlights her realization that she doesn't conform to the traditional expectations imposed on her by her family and society. She questions whether she is truly meant to play the role assigned to her.

The line "Now I see if I were truly to be myself, I would break my family's heart" suggests Mulan's understanding that being true to herself would disappoint and possibly betray her family's expectations. This dilemma reflects the conflict between her personal desires and the duty she feels towards her family.

The chorus emphasizes Mulan's confusion and feeling of disconnect with herself. She sees someone in her reflection who is unfamiliar, someone she doesn't know. This represents the dissonance between her true identity and the persona she has been trying to uphold. She struggles to hide who she truly is, despite her attempts to conform.

The lyric "When will my reflection show who I am inside?" encapsulates Mulan's yearning for self-acceptance and the desire to be seen for who she truly is. She longs for the day when her reflection will reflect her internal identity, breaking free from the constraints of societal expectations.

Overall, "Reflection" by Mulan expresses the universal struggle of self-discovery, authenticity, and the pressure to conform. The song encourages listeners to embrace their true selves, even if it challenges the expectations placed upon them. It serves as a reminder that true happiness comes from embracing one's identity and not from conforming to societal norms.

This meaning interpretation was written by AI. Help improve it with your feedback

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Mulan (1998 Film)

By barry cook , barry cook.

• Mulan (1998 Film) Summary

When the Huns invade China by breaching the Great Wall, the Emperor realizes that he must conscript his male subjects to the Imperial Army. He sends a letter to every household in China requiring every family to send one man to fight with the army. Fa Mulan , a young girl who has proven ineligible for marriage and is worried about the safety of her ailing father, decides to disguise herself as a man and take her father's place in the army. Wearing his armor, she leaves early one morning.

When her family awakens, they realize what she has done. Mulan's grandmother is distraught and prays to the family ancestors to keep Mulan safe. The ancestors respond and decide to send the great stone dragon to protect Mulan, and they send a smaller dragon, a demoted guardian, Mushu , to summon the stone dragon. When Mushu breaks the stone dragon accidentally, he decides to go help Mulan fight himself, in the hope that his success will win him favor with the ancestors, who will reinstate him as a guardian.

At first, Mulan—now disguised as the young man "Ping"—is not much of a soldier, but with her fellow beginners, Yao, Ling and Chien-Po, she gradually learns how to become a warrior. They are all guided by the brave and competent Li Shang , whose father is leading the Imperial Army in the mountains. Mushu wants to see Mulan succeed and shine in the army, so when Chi Fu, the Emperor's assistant, decides that Shang's troops are not fit for battle, Mushu sends a fake instruction from the Captain's father, General Li, telling him to bring his men to the mountains as reinforcements. The soldiers set off for battle, but when they arrive, they find that the Huns have beaten them there and the General and his men have been massacred.

Shang sadly leads his troops away, but as they go, they are ambushed by the Huns. Thinking strategically, Mulan uses a canon to cause an avalanche, which buries the Huns in snow. Shan Yu , the brutal leader of the Huns, is angry and slashes Mulan in the torso. When a doctor examines Mulan, he finds that she is a woman and reveals her to her fellow soldiers. While Chinese law dictates that Shang should kill Mulan for her deception, he is too impressed by her bravery and simply banishes her from the army.

As Mulan is trying to decide how she will leave the mountain and get home, she sees Shan Yu and some Huns have survived the avalanche and are heading for the Imperial City. Meanwhile, in the city, Shang and his army are being celebrated as war heroes. Mulan rushes to the city and tries to warn Shang about the Huns, but he does not believe her. The Huns capture the Imperial Palace and take the Emperor prisoner, at which point Mulan helps Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po to disguise themselves as concubines and gain entry into the palace. Shang also enters with them and together they defeat Shan Yu's men. Shang stops Shang Yu from personally assassinating the Emperor, and Mulan tricks him into chasing her onto the roof of the palace. They engage in hand to hand combat until Mushu, on Mulan's instruction, fires a rocket directly at Shan Yu, which propels him into a tower where fireworks are stored. There is a huge explosion and he is finally killed.

Mulan is a hero; the Emperor awards her his crest and she is also given Shan Yu's sword. She is offered a position on the Emperor's Council, but politely turns it down, requesting instead that she be allowed to return home to her family. Her request is granted and when she arrives she gives her father the awards she has received. Shortly after, Shang arrives at Mulan's, ostensibly to return her helmet, but clearly with the intention to see her again. Mulan's family invites him to stay for dinner, which he readily accepts. During the celebration that ensues, Mushu is reinstated as a family guardian.

Mulan (1998 Film) Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Mulan (1998 Film) is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

If you were Mulan, would you choose to stay to avoid your family’s disgrace or do the same thing as she did to protect your loved ones? Why?

This is really asking for your personal opinion rather than mine.

Mulan Calgary soldier

I don't know what you mean by "Calgary Soldier".

Who is the author of Mulan and what can I actually learn from the author

Robert D. San Souci

Study Guide for Mulan (1998 Film)

Mulan (1998 Film) study guide contains a biography of director Barry Cook, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Mulan (1998 Film)
• Character List
• Director's Influence

Essays for Mulan (1998 Film)

Mulan (1998 Film) essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Mulan (1998 Film), directed by Barry Cook and Tony Bancroft.

• Mulan: Subverting the Roles of Women in the Patriarchal Feudal China

Wikipedia Entries for Mulan (1998 Film)

• Introduction

Self-Reflection: 4 Life Lessons From Mulan

Exploring lessons from yet another fictional character, today we travel back in time to ancient China to look at one of Disney’s well known and well-loved animated characters Fa (or Hua) Mulan. Inspired by a real legendary figure, Hua Mulan, people believe that the origins of this story are from a poem written about her, titled The Ballad of Mulan.

In certain situations, a little optimism and creative thinking can go a long way!

In this movie, Mulan takes her father’s place in war, as she fears his age and fragile health will be greatly disadvantageous to him. Accompanied by her trusty horse named Khan, a little dragon named Mushu, and a lucky cricket named Cri Kee, she sets out to war as her male alter ego Ping. Mulan is someone with a great love for her country, she has filial piety, and a determined spirit – despite her headstrong and stubborn characteristics – and there are many things that we can learn from her. Here are a few (warning spoilers ahead):

1. Don’t ever let limitations stop you

Mulan: No one will listen to me Mushu: Huh? I’m sorry, did you say something? Mulan: Mushu! Mushu: Hey, you’re a girl, again.Remember? Fa Zhou: I am ready to serve the emperor Mulan: Father! You can’t go! Fa Zhou: Mulan! Mulan: (to the recruiter) Please, sir. My father has already fought for… Chi Fu: Silence! (to Fa Zhou) You would do well to teach your daughter to hold her tongue in a man’s presence.

Despite living in a time when it was generally believed that women should be seen and not heard, Mulan didn’t allow such gender inequalities and social pressures to stop her from doing what she believed to be right – fighting for her family. Likewise, there may be many obstacles out there to stop us from doing what we believe in. However (given that they are ethical and moral), we should be like Mulan and first believe in ourselves. Once we do, no external limitations can stop us.

2. Bravery opens doors of opportunities

In the famous scene of her transformation, Mulan is shown cutting her hair and putting on her father’s armour before going to war. While some people may depict Mulan as somebody who is eager to go out and fight, this may not be necessarily true at the outset. Personally, this part of the movie showed me how a brave young woman took on a great task that could potentially have cost her her life, out of love for her father. Mulan’s act of bravery not only leads her to meet the man of her dreams and firm friends, but it plays a crucial role in saving China and bringing honour to the Fa family. In life, sometimes all we need is the bravery to step up and act on things that we believe in, and maybe the doors of opportunity that have been closed will even open to us.

3. Persevere through tough times and never give up

In yet another famous scene in the movie, Shang challenges his soldiers to climb up a tall wooden pole to retrieve an arrow that he shot to the top.

Shang: This (pulls one disk up) – represents discipline… and this (pulls another disk up) …represents strength. You need both to reach the arrow.

While everyone rose to the challenge, not everyone had the determination to see it through. After a long day of training, all the trainee soldiers gave up and returned to their tents, with Shang telling Mulan to return home. However, determined to accomplish the task, she stayed up all night to climb the pole, and eventually reached the top to retrieve the arrow. All of us will face challenges in our lives – be it in the workplace, or in our own homes. Nonetheless, it is important to remember: don’t let them get the better of us; don’t give up.

4. Be creative and think out of the box

(Mulan uses the last rocket, then points it at the mountain behind Shan Yu)

Mushu: (from on top of the rocket as it soars away) You missed! How could you miss? He was three feet from you!

In the battle scene at a mountain, the Hun army attacked Mulan and her troop. With only one rocket left as their means of attack, Yao gets prepared to fire it at Shan Yu who is leading his army. However, Mulan innovatively handles this crisis by grabbing the rocket and firing it at a nearby mountain instead, causing an avalanche that buried the Hun army. Likewise, we shouldn’t allow our limitations to dictate what we can or cannot do. In certain situations, a little optimism and creative thinking can go a long way!

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‘Mulan’ Review: A Flower Blooms in Adversity (and Kicks Butt)

In Niki Caro and Disney’s live-action version of the ancient story, a young woman rides off to war and discovers herself.

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‘Mulan’ | Anatomy of a Scene

The director niki caro narrates a battle sequence from her film..

Hi I’m Niki Caro, I’m the director of “Mulan.” Here we find Mulan, played by Liu Yife, returning to battle, this time no longer in disguise as a man. She has had a confrontation with the witch, Xian Lang, played by Gong Li, who has seen through her disguise and reminded her that she will die pretending to be someone she’s not. Mulan understands that if she’s going to survive and thrive in battle, that she’ll need to do so as herself. And so she sheds her disguise and returns to battle as a young woman. And her fighting is now so strong and so pure that she turns the battle around. When I joined this project, there was already a script. And the script did not include this sequence. But I really felt that we could really honor the avalanche in live action. And with all of our immense capabilities of the visual effects world, we could create something that was really quite fantastic. The sequence was really hard to execute in one really critical and basic way, which is that the sequence required us to have a piece of land that had a number of working levels. And so we spent many days location scouting really remote parts of New Zealand in a helicopter. And we found our battleground in the Ahuriri Valley, which is in the middle of the South Island of New Zealand in a place called Central Otago. The key for me to creating and executing a sequence of this size and scale and complexity was really the collaboration of some really singular women. Mandy Walker, the DP, and Liz Tan, our first AD. The sequence itself was created a couple of years before we shot it. We storyboarded it. We trained all of the horses for it. We brought in 80 Kazakh and Mongolian trick riders to be our Rouran army, because it was incredibly important to us that the people in our film were authentically the ethnicities that they needed to be for the storytelling. And it was like, as a director, being the conductor of a really brilliant orchestra. [AVALANCHE FALLING] [HORSE NEIGHING]

By Manohla Dargis

Feet flying, Mulan enters her new movie with speed and wit. She’s a tyke when she first appears, chasing a protesting chicken. When it takes flight, so does Mulan, by scampering over roofs and all but dancing in the air. The bird is one of the few things that elude her during this otherwise less-than-buoyant epic, which tracks Mulan as she transforms from an unruly daughter into a masculinized warrior in the name of family, nation and those twinned imperial powers called China and Disney.

Set jointly in the Old World and in that newer mythic realm of happily-ever-after female empowerment, this live-action “ Mulan ,” directed by Niki Caro, is pretty much what happens when a legend meets Disney’s global bottom-line. It’s lightly funny and a little sad, filled with ravishing landscapes and juiced up with kinetic fights (if not enough of them). It has antiseptic violence, emotional uplift and the kind of protagonist that movie people like to call relatable: a brave, pretty young woman (the suitably appealing Yifei Liu), who loves her family, but doesn’t quite fit in (yet). She also doesn’t sing, a small mercy given the tuneless warbling in Disney’s 1998 animated film .

As in that earlier movie and the original ballad, this “Mulan” is set in motion by love and predicated on a valiant deceit. Shortly after the story kicks in, invaders attack. The emperor (an almost unrecognizable Jet Li) sends out emissaries with the demand that each family send a man to help defend China. Concerned for her father (Tzi Ma), a disabled veteran, Mulan furtively takes his place — as well as his armor and sword — running off to protect him and the country. She tames her hair, binds her breasts, joins the emperor’s forces and soon distinguishes herself while bunking, training and fighting alongside men who remain remarkably oblivious to her deception.

Stories about women bravely going against the cultural and social grain can be delectable catnip, and it’s no different here. Mulan is an insistently attractive character, no matter how indifferently conceptualized or bluntly politicized. Her tale has been traced back as far as the fourth to sixth centuries, though the first written versions appear later. (The new movie borrows from different dynasties; it was written by Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Lauren Hynek and Elizabeth Martin.) The ballad’s Mulan enters weaving and sighing over the news that the ruler a.k.a. “the Khan” has mobilized his troops and that her father is among the men who’s been summoned.

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25 Mulan (1998)

Difference, Power, and Discrimination in Mulan (1998)

By Andrew Arnold

Disney films are notorious for a repetitive and consistent outline and plot line for their animated films. Most often we see some characters have difficulties at home, and often at odds with their parent(s) or guardian(s), they strike it out on their own to prove themselves, and oftentimes, save the place or the people they love from certain demise. From the get-go, Mulan (1998), seems no different. Yet this movie, more fluidly and elegantly than any other Disney flick I’ve seen, captures that same idea but also captures a respect for the way things are, even if they’re not the way our protagonist wants them to be. It’s in this dichotomy of progression and respect that Mulan dictates a commanding and virtuous display of representing, interpreting, and championing issues of difference, power, and discrimination that the western world faced at the time of its creation, and even still today. The character Mulan displays an effort to recognize major areas of societal difference in gender roles, change the perspective of what power means, and challenge the forms of societally-based discrimination faced by women, and non-cisgendered people.

The story of Fa Mulan in the film Mulan is based upon actual Chinese legend. Film critic Roger Ebert, in his review of “Mulan,” writes, “The story this time isn’t a retread of a familiar Western children’s classic, but based on a Chinese folk tale about a plucky Chinese teenage girl who disguises herself as a boy to fight the invading Huns.” Lan Dong in his book entitled, Mulan’s Legend and Legacy in China and the United States , describes how our beloved animated Mulan stems from, “The Ballad of Mulan” in popular folklore. Disney was at the crossroads of upholding Chinese culture and meaning but westernizing the film to be digestible for the American family, and the expectations of a typical Disney movie.

With the Disney Revolution of the 1990s, and growing political processes to support minority group representation, this is especially true. How could Mulan follow this trend and also be a beloved children and family flick? Ebert said it best, “The outcome manages somehow to be true simultaneously to feminist dogma and romantic convention.” Mulan’s journey of taking her life into her hands, stepping into places she should not go, avoiding the traditional matchmaking process, and yet still falling for the charming, heroic, masculine man. Mulan does give the best of both worlds.

In terms of labeling differences of roles, gender, norms, and capability, Mulan hits all the boxes. In, “How Disney’s Mulan Brazenly Challenges Gender and Sexuality,” Soren Hough details this relationship, stating, “We saw non-traditional families, people of color in lead roles and a general break from the norms of Disney princess storytelling. This new art was an essential part of growth for a generation that is more fluid.” Mulan, as a Chinese woman, brings to the picture a different cultural system from what the western world understands and allows Mulan to challenge this culture. Yet, Mulan does not altogether reject this culture. She still respects and honors those who came before and those who are not her. Lan Dong writes, “Instead of being miserable victims or unusual radicals these women are agents ‘who embraced certain aspects of official norms while resisting others.’” This method of acceptant rejection is a new trope to Disney films, and a new trope in many ways to our own society. There is beauty in the past and tradition, but also courage and belonging in the brand new.

The symbolism of power within the film is uniquely displayed not only in its literary aspects, but also in the cinematography of key scenes. Mulan herself sought out power: to be seen as a man, strong and capable, and to bring honor. Even this concept of masculinity is challenged. Masculinity as a marker is redefined by Li Shang, her commanding officer of war, during the famous “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” track and montage. Shang transforms the burly, aggressive, “masculine” men into disciplined warriors: people willing to fight with honor and die for their people. Late in the film, however, Mulan once again adjusts this concept. Hough discusses this transition of power tropes by stating how Mulan used wit rather than raw might. She found power in herself, rather than the standards of power placed ahead of her. At the end of the film, Mulan concocts a plan that involves the raw, masculine warriors dressing femininely to outwit the opposition. This is clearly a bit of a reversal of roles in a comedic manner, but it works to perfection. There is no lost honor in this gender-blurring act, and no less power within femininity.

The most pivotal of scenes comes in the revealing of Mulan’s true identity. She is dragged out of her tent and cast aside by the consular. She is shamed and disregarded. As it is explained, the penalty for her actions is death. Herein lies the biggest moment of power transition. The camera completely flips from a very frontal, level, and bright atmosphere and focus, to a very dark, depth extending, angled picture. We see Shang tower over Mulan in a larger-than-life pose. In most frames we see Mulan huddled under the blanket and her own shame, with a slightly out-of-focus Shang, his back turned, and his respect and trust for her lost. The music transitions to dramatic, rhythmic, cadence. This all builds to the climactic moment of Shang casting down his sword before her rather than striking her down as would have been his duty. Whilst clearly he lost his respect for her as a liar, he respected her, still, as a human, and as a human, he was indebted to: “A life for a life.” We find Mulan has, even in her weakness, accessed power due to her courage and bravery. She has earned her life.

Discrimination is the most key social point to the film. In the final scenes, Mulan returns to Shang in the Chinese capital to warn him of the surviving Huns. This holds key dialogue for the nature of discrimination, not just diegetically, but non-diegetically too. Shang tells Mulan, “You don’t belong here.”

“Shang, I saw them in the mountains. You have to believe me.” Mulan replies. “Why should I?”

“Why else would I come back? You said you trust Ping, why is Mulan any different?” This is the major point Mulan and the film as a whole are making. Mulan stepped out of her place, even crossing gender lines, tradition, and literal Chinese law to do what’s right. Here she is once again doing her best to serve the people she cares about and is once more cast aside. How is she regarded differently than a man? Why should this be so?

Ultimately this comes full circle by the very end of the film. Mulan returns to her father with the emblem of the emperor and Shan Yu’s sword. These are the highest symbols of the highest accomplishments. These surely would bring her father honor as she so desperately desired to do. But he casts them aside with the closing line, “The greatest gift and honor, is having you for a daughter.” Finally, her value is seen. Not for being a man, not for her accomplishments, but for her value as a daughter. Simply someone who deserves to be loved. This is where the conjunction of Chinese tradition and honor, and western ideas and focuses find their meeting ground. Mulan has pushed these boundaries but ultimately finds her way back home once more. Even Shang returns to pursue her as a love interest. Now she is not only the progressive, independent, butt-kicking, woman, but the traditional romantic who still gets the guy in the end.

The messages and themes of Mulan did not strike so resonantly with every viewer, however. Johnson Cheu’s book,  an anthology with many other authors, entitled, Diversity in Disney Films: Critical Essays on Race, Ethnicity, Gender, Sexuality and Disability , discusses DPD issues and how they are portrayed in many Disney films. The section regarding Mulan is co-authored by Gwendolyn Limbach. An excerpt reads, “Rather than blurring the boundaries between genders, Disney’s Mulan continually differentiates men and women through ‘axiomatic’ concepts of what is female and what is male.” Cheu and Limbach felt that in an attempt to generate an acceptance for gender progression and non-traditionality, they inadvertently further deepened these defining lines. They go on to argue that a true blurring of these defined lines would not be layered in conjunction with several scenes: strictly defining man, woman, and their expected roles. In fact, in each moment of gender “swapping,” it is clear that this is a dramatic shift from one side to the other, and not a spectrum-esque leaning between. This does bring the perspective that in accordance with gender roles, the film does well to progressively adjust, but in gender-binary focused thinking, the film further solidifies more traditional ideas.

Mulan has always been a personal favorite Disney Princess movie. It avoids a lot of the sickly-sweet blind romance tropes of films like Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella . Instead, Mulan offers a look into an interesting and new culture. While it is westernized in plot, there is very tangible and meaningful respect given to the origins of the film and the traditional Chinese culture it represents. While we might have a negative reaction to non-western themes like matchmaking, and conscription, Mulan challenges these themes but does not disgrace these ideas. In fact, it teaches that there is honor in these traditions, not shame. Mulan does not put disgrace on its origins. This is so refreshing for Disney. There are few things better than an action-packed, but character-focused, plotline with climax and meaning, not to mention some of the catchiest Disney tracks you’ll ever hear.

While Mulan is a family film, understandable and simplistic enough for the youngest of viewers, there is depth and meaning in the story. There is a harmonious intertwining of cultural and societal ideas. We see traditional Chinese culture meet modern, western romanticism. We see tradition and honor meet progression and courage. We see power in oneself and power in unity. Most of all we see truth, beauty, and meaning in the simplest of stories, and the most complex of moralities. Mulan offers the grand yet subtle displays of difference, power, and discrimination, through one character’s hard decision. How can you bring honor to who you are? How can we truly see who we are? How can who we are meet who we are meant to be? Fa Mulan has plenty to show us.

Cheu, Johnson. Diversity in Disney Films: Critical Essays on Race, Ethnicity, Gender, Sexuality and Disability . McFarland & Co., 2013.

Dong, Lan. Mulan’s Legend and Legacy in China and the United States . Temple University Press, 2011.

Ebert, Roger. “Mulan Movie Review & Film Summary (1998).” Roger Ebert.com, 19 June 1998, https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mulan-1998.

Failes, Ian. “The CG Side of the Animated ‘Mulan’.” Befores & Afters , 29 Sept. 2020, https://beforesandafters.com/2020/09/26/the-cg-side-of-the-animated-mulan/#:~:text=The %20film%20was%20animated%20in,the%20free%20open%2Dsource%20software.

Hough, Soren. “How Disney’s ‘Mulan’ Brazenly Challenges Gender and Sexuality: Features.” Roger Ebert.com, 28 Dec. 2016, https://www.rogerebert.com/features/how-disneys-mulan-brazenly-challenges-gender-and-sexuality.

Rowney, Jo-Anne. “Is Disney’s Mulan Based on a True Story? Meet Hua Mulan, the Chinese Warrior.” Is Mulan Based on a True Story? Real History behind Disney’s Movie | Radio Times, Radio Times, 21 Sept. 2021, https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/mulan-disney-true-story-hua-ballad/.

Difference, Power, and Discrimination in Film and Media: Student Essays Copyright © by Students at Linn-Benton Community College is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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As an Asian American child, ‘Mulan’ was my favorite movie. Here’s how it held up rewatching as an adult

It doesn't matter how old I get, the song “Be a Man” still absolutely gets me amped.

It had been years since I watched Disney's animated film “Mulan” but in honor of Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander History Month , I decided to revisit the film that had such a profound influence on me as a young kid.

“Mulan” came out in 1998, just one month before I turned 7. At the time, it was truly the first experience I'd ever had as a young child seeing Asian faces on the big screen .

I loved the film and forced my parents to take me several times to see it. I can still picture the sticky floors of the now-defunct movie theater in my hometown and the cold air conditioning in the summer heat.

I didn't exactly start taking martial arts or learn Chinese but I did memorize the entire soundtrack. I even sang “Reflection” as a child in a voice lesson recital. I now realize “Mulan” probably helped me feel more confident in marching to the beat of my own drum as a kid.

As an editor for TODAY.com, I coordinate much of our AANHPI Month coverage and in brainstorming what stories we should work on this year, it occurred to me to write about “Mulan.” I was curious to see if rewatching the film nearly three decades later would pack the same punch. After all, so many of our nostalgic favorites from the 1990s can feel dated or cringeworthy nowadays. Would I still be inspired? Would I still feel hopeful at the end?

So many of our nostalgic favorites from the 1990s can feel dated or cringeworthy nowadays. Would I still be inspired? Would I still feel hopeful at the end?

My fiancé and I decided to make a date night of it and watched the movie together one evening with snacks and adult beverages. I'll add here that one of my partner’s biggest green flags is that he always loved the film as a kid; honestly, I think it probably influenced him to be OK with a strong, independent woman as his partner — but that's a different essay.

As we tuned in, I could see my fiancé watching me watch the film. Moments into the first montage of Mulan trying to fit into societal expectations of getting married and instead consistently dropping things/burning the matchmaker, he turned to me.

“ Did you model your personality after this?” he joked. “This is you if you had to live in feudal China.”

He’s not entirely wrong. I have always done things my way and do lean on the clumsy side. I cannot, however, claim to have any military prowess.

Later, when Mulan saves her troops from the invading Hun army by shooting a cannon at the face of a mountain and causing an avalanche, I note aloud that her actions are both “impulsive and decisive.”

The duality of Mulan’s character and the fine line she walks between impulsive and decisive is one I know well. It’s also a reflection of how society often views decision-making — when Mulan is a woman, she is impulsive. When she’s dressed as a man, she’s decisive.

That dichotomy is something I think all women can relate to. In the nearly three decades since this film came out, it’s a theme that's been featured heavily in many pop culture moments. From Taylor Swift ' s 2019 song “ The Man ” to this past summer's blockbuster hit “ Barbie, ” women everywhere have wisely critiqued the unfair societal standards placed upon them.

In our personal lives, we've seen this play out time and time again. Consider even the visceral reaction many women had to Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker's graduation speech — which, among other things, critiqued working women and told recent female graduates that they should be excited to take on the “vocation” of homemaker.

Watching the film again, I realized that as an adult, I can identify with Mulan — she wants to do right by her family and bring “honor to us all,” but she also wants to choose her own path and do things on her terms. It's a choice almost every modern woman has to make and the answer is different for all of us.

Even when viewed through a modern lens, I was pleased that so much of “Mulan” still holds up today — the themes of female empowerment and living your truth still feel prevalent and meaningful. Plus, it doesn't hurt that the soundtrack has several absolute bops.

That said, several things in the film haven't aged well. The dragon character of Mushu, voiced by Eddie Murphy, has been critiqued for trivializing Chinese culture ; there are historical inaccuracies within the film as they pertain to ancestral worship; a flag on Mulan's tent, while she recovered from her injury, is in Japanese instead of Chinese; and Li Shang, Mulan's love interest, was problematic because of the relationship's power dynamic. It's worth pointing out that Mushu and Li Shang are both absent from the 2020 live-action remake of “Mulan.”

My intense fixation on the film likely stemmed from the way it straddled two worlds, the same way I do as a mixed-race American. I deeply identified with Mulan's individualistic search for her own identity as I grappled with mine — both as a child and to this day as an adult.

As an adult, I can recognize that the movie made cultural mistakes. But that conflation of American and Asian cultures, even if it was misguided at times, is what I identified with as a part white, part Japanese child. My intense fixation on the film likely stemmed from the way it straddled two worlds, the same way I do as a mixed-race American. I deeply identified with Mulan's individualistic search for her own identity as I grappled with mine — both as a child and to this day as an adult. I understood exactly how she could feel like she looked Asian but wanted to be seen for who she was inside.

Re-watching “Mulan” through a modern-day lens and acknowledging this is a specifically American interpretation of a Chinese story actually left me feeling even more inspired as an adult than I was as a kid.

It was a great reminder that not only can times change, but we can change with them.

As for me personally, I've spent time in therapy doing the work to understand what it means to me that I am multiracial. I've researched my family's history and found ways to incorporate and appreciate my culture for life's biggest and smallest moments.

And while Asian Americans are still fighting for more representation in Hollywood, it's more and more common to see faces like mine on the screen.

So though “Mulan” may not be perfect, I still love the movie and thank her for being the inspiration I needed as a little girl.

Besides, it turns out that no matter how old you are, you can still rock out as you celebrate having the “strength of a raging fire” and being as “mysterious as the dark side of the moon.”

Sam Kubota is a senior digital editor and journalist for TODAY Digital based in Los Angeles. She joined NBC News in 2019.

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How Disney’s “Mulan” Brazenly Challenges Gender and Sexuality

Disney’s “ Mulan ” came out right around the time my generation started watching movies in earnest. Long after Disney’s Golden Age (1937-1942), Millennials’ grew up during the animation giant’s important soul searching phase: the Disney Renaissance (1989-1999). We saw non-traditional families, people of color in lead roles and a general break from the norms of Disney princess storytelling. This new art was an essential part of growth for a generation that is more fluid  (and more free to be fluid) about labels and identity than those that came before us.

Millennials are especially familiar with the tail end of that wave—when smaller films popped up in the wake of giants like “ The Lion King ” and “Beauty and the Beast.” It was around the time the studio began to pivot toward 3D computer generated animation (a trend that gained steam throughout the 2000s) that a few truly unique films made it to production. Among those were “ Lilo and Stitch ,” a radical film for its time and, along with this year’s “ Moana ,” one of the only mainstream examples of a non-white, non-princess to come out of the Mouse House. The other film that fits this mold is, of course, “Mulan.”

“Mulan” sticks out even more than “Lilo and Stitch” for managing to cast a largely Asian—if not always Chinese—stable of actors. (“Lilo and Stitch” did feature Tia Carrere as Nani and use some Hawaiian authentic music, but largely relied on a white cast and crew.) And yet as unique as “Mulan” was for pulling such a diverse and interesting cast (in 1998, no less), it is even more remarkable for its treatment of gender and sexuality. To explore “Mulan’s” subversive tendencies, we must first understand what archetypes the film challenges. 

THE BADASS PARADIGM

In many (if not most) action films throughout the 20th century, female characters functioned as damsels. They existed for male characters to fight over or rescue. To combat this trend, filmmakers started to turn damsels into badasses. 

These kung fu mastering/gun toting/butt kicking women (think Trinity from “ The Matrix “) were physically imposing and more aggressive than their predecessors. But issues arise when this approach is relied on exclusively to produce “strong female characters.” It reduces female strength to how well it can imitate male physicality. This can manifest in a few unfortunate ways, leading to a phenomenon I like to call “badass fatigue”: filmmakers relying on badass attributes to excuse thinly written female characters. In the process, their female leads lose nearly (if not all) agency and complexity.

Forcing female leads to function as physically imposing forces implies that traditionally male characteristics are necessary for women to achieve agency in the badass paradigm. For the paradigm to work, these women must be physically strong and, if possible, they must defeat men in combat to prove how strong they are. 

The product of this is a “strong female character” in the most literal sense—but not where it matters. Simply being a physically domineering badass doesn’t mean you won’t be swept aside when the plot demands it (see Tasha Robinson’s excellent article on “Trinity Syndrome” for more). Further, this rigidity trains millions of young women, feminine men and other genders to feel like they’re not strong enough, or indeed worthy of their humanity, because they don’t naturally exhibit traditionally masculine tendencies.

STRENGTH IN FEMININITY

At first blush, “Mulan” looks exactly like the kind of movie that traffics in the regressive ideology of the badass paradigm. The elevator pitch for the film is, “Young woman fills in for her ailing father to fight in the Emperor’s army by pretending to be a man, outshines her male counterparts and then saves China.” The movie goes to lengths to have us believe Mulan ( Ming-Na Wen ) is an archetypal badass.

To do this, “Mulan” begins by establishing a gendered social hierarchy for its title character to rebel against. Indeed, in the first song of “Mulan,” “Honor to Us All,” other women bathe, clothe and prepare her like a doll to meet the matchmaker. She is told that her manners and appearance will win her a husband, and in doing so, she will bring honor to her family. The consequence of not conforming is literally “uproot[ing] her family tree.” As she theatrically fans herself in a struggle to impress the matchmaker, the weight of her ancestors hangs on her shoulders.

This moment leads to the song “Reflections,” wherein she considers the duality of her identity. She has been asked by her family and her community to fulfill a role of abject conservative femininity. Yet Mulan knows that not only will she never be the person her family expects, but that she won’t even “pass for a perfect bride, or a perfect daughter.” Note the use of “pass” here, a loaded sociological term that has meaning across everything from race and religion to gender and sexual identity.

“Mulan” continues to lure us into the comforts of a well-worn badass trope when she rebels against these expectations and leaves to join Li Shang’s (B.D. Wong) regiment in the army in her father’s stead. Note here that Mulan’s agency is still merely in filling her father’s shoes; her identity is locked into proving she can do a man’s duty.

In the camp, she is instantly confronted with signs of traditional masculinity: boastful gruffness (a minor accident leading to an all-camp brawl) and repellant social habits (picking toes, spitting). This world which Mulan sought for herself couldn’t be more antithetical to the vision of traditional femininity we experienced with the matchmaker. Again, the film paints a black and white gender divide which erodes over the course of the narrative.

The most popular song off the soundtrack, blatantly titled “I’ll Make a Man Out of You,” immediately has double meaning. Li Shang challenges his recruits’ idea that gruffness and poor social habits are the measure of manhood. Instead, he has his soldiers fulfill their masculine promise by becoming refined fighting machines. In parallel, of course, Mulan becomes a “man” by this new definition. This transition is, not coincidentally, communicated through a brilliantly animated and edited training montage reminiscent of the ultra masculine “ Rocky ” and so many other copycats that it inspired.

The film goes further to suggest that it’s succumbing to the badass paradigm throughout the montage. Mulan—now going by the pseudonym Ping—outdoes her peers on every task. She even manages to figure out how to get the arrow from the wooden pole in the center of camp, a task none of the bigger, stronger recruits manage to do. Gone are the feminine-centric songs that began the film like “Honor to Us All.” She has become, as far as the audience is concerned, “a man.”

But has she? Successful training is indeed how she captures Shang’s attention, but it isn’t how she ultimately defeats the Huns. When the army finally does face down with Shan-Yu ( Miguel Ferrer ) and his band of raiders at the mountain pass, Shang and his warriors find themselves woefully outmatched. It’s Mulan’s ingenuity—using a rocket to target the snowbank and cause an avalanche—that eventually buries their enemies.

This is significant. Here a lead female character doesn’t use strength to prove herself, but rather wit. This is even more jarring after we spend a good deal of time watching Mulan not only meet her fellow soldier’s feats of strength, but outdo them. By neglecting her successful training in the camp, this moment undercuts the value of physical strength (and indeed masculine traits) entirely.

CHALLENGING THE BADASS PARADIGM

Directors Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook don’t stop there. Mushu and Cri-Kee see the unvanquished villains emerge from the snow and head for the Forbidden City, promising yet another showdown as they try to assassinate the emperor. And once again, Mulan is the only one left to save the day.

The film takes an even bolder stance on gender in the finale. Mulan uses her smarts (again) to concoct a plan to defeat Shan-Yu as she did on the mountain. This time, however, she wields the femininity she allegedly rejected at the film’s onset in conjunction with what she learned from Shang. 

Consider how she takes back the palace after Shan-Yu’s men break in and take the emperor hostage. Mulan asks her friends from the army, Yao ( Harvey Fierstein ), Ling ( Gedde Watanabe ) and Chien-Po (Jerry Tondo), to dress up in distinctly feminine clothes and makeup. The whole sequence harkens to the ultra-feminine satirical number “Honor to Us All,” where the film makes it clear that Mulan rejects strict gender roles. Yet here, she calls on this experience to ask her team to engage with Shan-Yu’s men as women by adopting traditionally female traits. 

And it works. First, Mulan and her pals manage to scale the side of the palace using the sashes from their outfits—again, explicitly using feminine accoutrements to achieve their goal. Upon entering the building, they then dupe the guards into thinking they’re women (and therefore non-threatening) and knock them out. 

“Mulan” breaks from the badass paradigm in two ways as its title character takes initiative in the climax. Most obviously, Mulan and her allies prey on the presumption by Shan-Yu’s men that women pose no immediate danger to their well-being. Despite the fact that they’ve suddenly appeared in a locked-down palace, Shan-Yu’s soldiers think nothing of their presence and shrug them off as “concubines.” But deeper than that, Mulan also builds on lessons she learned not only from Shang’s training, but from the matchmaker and her own family, as well.

Of course the film doesn’t go so far as to say that the restrictive, rather oppressive nature of female roles in the opening scene are the ideal. But it does suggest that the femininity baby need not be thrown out with the patriarchal bathwater. This is a point often lost on directors and writers who trade in badass fatigue. There is strength in femininity , and feminine people do not need to forego their personality and behavior to gain agency. 

The scene takes the message further when Yao, Ling and Chien-Po all willingly engage with this plan despite their obviously masculine demeanor. Their lack of protest is a statement from the filmmakers; once again, they challenge the notion that femininity and male identity are mutually exclusive, and that femininity represents weakness. At no point during this plan are any of the gang seen as fragile, clumsy or meek. They brazenly push ahead with their task (following a woman’s lead, no less) and deal with Shan-Yu in the process. 

It is worth noting here that “Mulan” suggests a combination of classical femininity—the crew’s outfits and demeanor—and masculinity—physically taking down the guards—is the true foil to the huns. We see at the mountain pass that simply training to become “a man” isn’t sufficient. “Mulan” nudges that merging these identities in strength is the key to success, branded here as “saving China.”

On the rooftop, Mulan finally defeats Shan-Yu using yet another combination of femininity and ingenuity. First, she disarms him using her fan. This is significant; this is the very same object she used in her meeting with the matchmaker—a heretofore intrinsically feminine symbol in the film’s visual language. Yet on the roof, Mulan uses it to trick the physically imposing Shan-Yu into losing his sword. From there, she uses a foot swipe she learned in her hand-to-hand training with Shang to trip Shan-Yu, setting him up for a firework finish from Mushu ( Eddie Murphy ). She finally bests her archetypal male foe with a clever fusion of the masculine and the feminine, demonizing neither in the process.

“MULAN,” ROMANCE AND SEXUALITY

The other related trope “Mulan” manages to undercut is how it handles romance and attraction. Once again, the film appears on the surface to succumb to the same pitfalls of so many other Disney films: woman meets man, woman has a troubled life or a secret, man saves or validates her, a conflict arises and is resolved and then they get married. It is the classical Hollywood narrative, as based on traditional sexuality and gender roles.

Some films in Disney’s recent past eschew this trend. Although it features romance between two of its main characters, “ Frozen ” (2013) puts its focus on the relationship between sisters Anna and Elsa. In the recently released “Moana,” the titular lead never treads on romantic ground at all. “Mulan” doesn’t play out this way. Bankcroft and Cook take a riskier approach: break down the traditional Disney romantic path down piece by piece instead of sidestepping it.

LI SHANG’S ATTRACTION

When Mulan and Li Shang meet, Mulan has assumed the identity of Ping. For all intents and purposes, Shang has no idea that Mulan is in disguise. To him, Ping is just a scrawny, clumsy male soldier. This is the first moment the film makes a clear delineation between “Mulan” and films in Disney’s princess pantheon. Instead of a woman meeting man, we have a man meeting a man.

This context is what makes Li Shang’s attraction to Ping all the more interesting. Once again, we turn to the famous montage sequence where Shang begins to take notice of Ping’s quick learning, physical acumen and inventive methods of meeting his challenges. As they train, Shang expresses pleasure at Ping’s progress through body language.

Disney, of course, never goes so far as to allow us to see Shang making any overt romantic gestures toward Ping. Yet, perhaps to foreshadow an eventual romance, we do get a few stolen glances from Shang. As Ping continues to try and blend in with her peers and prove herself to the captain, Shang becomes increasingly affectionate. What starts as head shaking and disregard becomes a genuine smile when Ping defeats him in hand-to-hand combat. 

This repeats when Ping (Mulan) tosses down the arrow from the wooden pole. She sits at the top with a smirk, perhaps unaware of Shang’s genuine admiration and affection from below. At this point, Mulan has proven herself in every way except the traditionally feminine. Despite this, Shang shows genuine interest—something he withholds from the other soldiers under his command.

We see more of this attachment a few scenes later. The scene opens with a rousing (and arguably ironic) rendition of “A Girl Worth Fighting For” as each soldier pitches in their vision of the perfect woman. These often come down to the superficial traits discussed in “Honor to Us All”: appearance, the ability to cook. Yet Shang doesn’t contribute to the song after heading up the previous number in the camp. Even Chi-Fu ( James Hong ) and Ping/Mulan get a verse in, the latter pining for “a girl who’s got a brain, who always speaks her mind.” Shang’s lack of participation is perhaps another hint at his disinterest in traditional ideas of sexuality and gender norms.

Just as the song ends, the film’s most devastating moment lands as the company reaches the Tung Shao pass. There they find a smoldering village and Shang’s father’s defeated army: decimated, burnt to the ground by the Huns. All that’s left is a little girl’s doll.

Shang is understandably devastated by the revelation. He solemnly builds a shrine in his father’s honor. Behind him, Ping waits in solidarity. At this point, we are led to believe that Ping, of all the soldiers, has enough familiarity with Shang to be there for him in his grief. Shang even rests his hands on Ping’s shoulder, wordlessly expressing his thanks for sharing the pain.

We see this gesture again when Ping saves Shang’s life moments later. Shang says he trusts Ping now more than ever before, again laying a hand on her shoulder. Shang becomes even more intimate when he learns that Ping is wounded; he calls for help and then offers words of encouragement as Ping fades out of consciousness. When the scene refocuses, Shang paces anxiously outside Ping’s tent as he worries after her health.

“MULAN” AND THE SEXUALITY BINARY

Mulan awakens to learn that the façade has been lifted. The whole camp now knows that she’s a woman. Yet it isn’t for being a woman that Shang rejects her service. In the moments just prior to her passing out, we learned that Shang trusts her. It is the violation of this trust (and perhaps Shang’s own confused feelings) that leads to his anger and her rejection. Of course, his affection is also likely the deeper reason for him sparing her life (and leaving her a sword) against official law.

What does this mean about Shang’s sexuality? We can only speculate, but it certainly paints a picture of someone who found himself attracted to someone who presented as a man for part of the film. While Ping does eventually turn out to be a woman, Shang appears to be attracted to the person regardless of gender. 

Too often in film, sexuality is limited to a strict binary. A film is either a “gay romance film” or a “romance film” (because straight is the default norm in films about love—a discussion for another time). Characters are almost never allowed to be bisexual or pansexual, certainly not in the leading role. 

And yet here we see Shang demonstrate affection for someone whose gender is fluid throughout the movie (at least outwardly). This is a unique feat rarely repeated. And as we soon see, his love for Ping/Mulan never really dies.

In the final scene of the film, Mulan has fully unveiled her identity and Shang still wants to marry her. He knows her masculine and feminine qualities. For him, gender isn’t locked into a rigid category per the matchmaker’s (and tradition’s) decree. He loves Mulan—or Ping—for who she is. He realizes that as much as Mulan lied about her name, she didn’t lie about who she was: an industrious fighter and a quick thinker. She is, as discussed, a fascinating marriage of masculine and feminine identity. 

SHANG’S AMBIGUOUS SEXUALITY IMPROVES THE NARRATIVE

There is some level of ambiguity about Shang’s sexuality. It may be that the stolen glances and camaraderie between himself and Ping are nothing more than platonic friendship building between two men. I would counter this point in two ways. 

First, aside from the fact that Shang doesn’t show anyone else this level of attention in the camp, it is possible that Shang could never and would never have moved on his feelings for Ping due to the nature of their relationship as commander and soldier. That doesn’t mean the feelings weren’t there, but it does preclude open expression beyond subtle looks and gestures and explains why this connection isn’t made more explicit.

Second, the story works better if Shang has feelings for Ping and Mulan. The only way to make the final moments of the film meaningful is to have Shang build his romantic interest in Ping/Mulan from the start. If all Shang has seen of Mulan is her saving the emperor, then he’s known her as a woman for approximately a few hours. In any good romance story, that wouldn’t precipitate a marriage proposal. Conversely, if Shang built his affection from the moment he met Ping to the conclusion of the narrative, then the romance has a full, almost classical narrative arc. Indeed, Mulan and Shang’s relationship does in many ways follow the traditional Disney framework, but radically redefined with a more fluid spectrum of gender and sexuality.

“MULAN”‘S WRESTLING WITH IDENTITY IS KEY TO ITS SUCCESS

On the surface, “Mulan” appears to adhere perfectly to the badass paradigm: a woman becomes a “strong” lead by virtue of her physical competency. However, closer examination of the film reveals that the story emphasizes strength in femininity and ingenuity, not physical power. Primary male characters also adopt feminine traits in order to defeat the the film’s villains. Mulan therefore becomes the consummate strong female character not (only) because she is literally strong, but because she demonstrates agency in every phase of the narrative. Her mode of success transcends gender, a theme so powerful it affects her peers and causes them to break out of their own gender norms.

Mulan also inspires Shang to explore his feelings someone he knows as a man for most of the film. Yet the only sensical reason for Li Shang’s proposal at the conclusion of the film is that he fell in love with Ping long before he knew she was Mulan. And it is her explicitly depicted expression of the traditionally male and female that wins her Shang’s heart.

The fluidity of sexuality, like gender, sets “Mulan” apart from other films. And in the process, it produces a narrative that continues to work as a benchmark for not just animated films, but all fictional storytelling. Even “Moana”— in some ways a spiritual heir to “Lilo and Stitch” and “Mulan”—skips romance in avoidance of the well-worn Disney tropes. “Mulan,” conversely, embraces and wrestles with this element in a way we so rarely see, particularly in family-oriented storytelling. It is this aspect that makes “Mulan” such an important film for Millenials and marginalized communities. I hope that in addition to featuring an Asian cast in the 2018 live-action remake of “Mulan,” these important narrative elements aren’t lost in translation, either.

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