(Student’s Full Name)
The Disney animated film, Mulan, is based on a female warrior living in ancient China. The movie shows how Mulan, who is a veteran’s daughter, struggles with living up to the expectations of women as dictated by the Chinese society at that time. The teachings of Confucius believed that it was “incumbent” on the women to “accord with the wishes and needs of closely-related men” (Ebrey, n.d., para. 2). Therefore, the woman was not expected to fulfill her own desires. The Chinese woman living in ancient times was expected by the society to fulfill the desires of the male at the expense of her own. One of the most important duties that the woman was expected to carry out was to have male “descendants” (Ebrey, n.d., para. 2). However, men were given more freedom and independence to be who they desired to be.
Despite the oppressive environment of ancient China, Mulan, in the Disney film, criticizes herself about not living up to the standards set out by the teachings of Confucius. Mulan behaves more like a tomboy rather an average young girl, who is feminine and desires to be considered as such by others. The Mulan film is inspired by ancient Chinese literature, which tells the tale of Mulan “washing clothes” when she heard that the “army was recruiting new soldiers” (Klimczak, 2016, para. 5). Mulan decided to join the army as his son because she knew her father’s poor health would prevent him from surviving the war. The Disney film adaptation of the ancient Chinese character made it appear as if it was wrong for Mulan to decide to act like a boy by being aggressive and war-like. She expresses her thoughts concerning this in the song, “Reflection”. However, we have decided to change the lyrics of the song so that it can sound positive and affirmative, as seen at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-zGA3xvj_o&feature=youtu.be. We want the character to be more accepting and proud of her tomboyish behavior. This is because we believe that Mulan as a woman should be able to have the freedom to protect her ailing father while fighting for her country.
References
Chan, K. (2016, June 03). TCOM 258 final project video. Retrieved June 04, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urMx_eIbrSo
Ebrey, P. (n.d.). Women in Traditional China. Retrieved June 04, 2016, from http://asiasociety.org/education/women-traditional-china
Klimczak, N. (2016, January 1). The Ballad of Hua Mulan: The Legendary Warrior Woman Who Brought Hope to China. Retrieved June 04, 2016, from http://www.ancient-origins.net/history-famous-people/ballad-hua-mulan-legendary-warrior-woman-who-brought-hope-china-005084
