#Mulan would be such a good movie if it was called literally anything else. It erases everything what made the animation great - all the themes everyone related to in some way just thrown in the bin. Thats the real dishonour methinks

I respect that they tried to gave it all an original take, but if you want that?? Why don’t make another original story?? And it can be also Mulan inspired like many other stories??

The biggest themes in Mulan are: identity, war, loyalty, duty. All of those concepts are at war within Mulan reflecting the physical world around her. She’s in constant struggle with herself.

FEMININITY VS MASCULINITY

With gender roles and gender norms come strict rules. You’re either one or the other, or at least that’s what’s established the Chinese society of Mulan’s time. But Mulan never really fits one or the other. That’s what she struggles with throughout

There’s her trying to fit in with “women” and those very strict rules of femininity. But she’s not “feminine enough” for women, she doesn’t care about clothes or makeup or grace or finding a husband or what ppl think of her

Then later in the film she tries to find herself in the masculine world, around soldiers. And she finds there are soldier’s who don’t conform to typical “masculine” standards and she finds common ground with them, befriends them even

Chien Po, Ling, Yao and esp Li Shang are so essential to the story I cant even imagine who proposed to throw them out. The first two show Mulan the different side to masculinity that is gentle and kind, and doesn’t have to involve physical prowess
On the other hand Yao & Li Shang

very masculine at a first flance. Physically capable, Yao is hotheaded while Li Shang is this calm responsible masculinity you’d expect and want in a leader. And the Yaos, the crude soldiers, are who Mulan tries to imitate at first

While after meeting and learning more about Li Shang she has a such a deep respect for him, that no matter if he’s a man, you can see she wants to be like him. She wants to be respected, dependable, loyal to her team, country and most importantly - her father/family

Only later, as she learns, Li Shang also suffers because of all the roles and responsibilities placed on him as a man by society, by his father’s ideals. That “masculinity” is also a cage he’s trapped in that ultimately blinds him in the last act of the film

The whole film is about Mulan finding her own gender expression, someone who incorporates both “feminine” qualities like patience, compassion, kindness and “masculine” qualities of a soldier and makes them all her own. Thats her identity crisis and what Reflection is about

It ties so perfectly with the whole narrative. You know how they save the emperor in the end? By combining both their feminine and masculine traits unashamed, in this iconic scene

It ends with Mulan facing Shan Yu as her true self and be seen by him as equal. It ends with the emperor recognising all she’d done for him and for China as her true self

So as much as you want to make commentary about gender roles and their restrictions... You had it all in the original text. And as much as I love Gong Li& the witch from #Mulan disney could’ve taken up that big issue and expanded on it, made interesting points but they just didnt

The 1998 animation was so widely beloved because so many people resonated with its core themes. And identity beint at its core, and this struggle to fit in the gender norms, I believe, resonates with everyone. Not a single person fits 100% to one or the other

Other concepts at war in Mulan are: DUTY vs FREEDOM

I might not have named them well, but let me explain. The freedom means a freedom of expression, free will, being able to chose what you want, fight for what /you/ believe in, freedom to be yourself

But it’s a strict society. No one can just do what they want. There rules and there are roles to fulfil. Duty to the family, to community, to the country. Everyone has a duty, and obligation to something or someone

Mulan first breaks that consciously by sneaking off to become a soldier in place of her father. There’s duty in that, deep one to her father/family, but also freedom, in wanting to chose her way

And in the end she does find balance in that. She fulfils her duty to her country by saving the emperor, but she does so her own way and out of her own free will.

It’s all about balance in Mulan, I’m now noticing as I write this

Also the antagonist of the animation Shan Yu was perfectly chosen. There was a war going on, Shan Yu wasnt a villain at all, he had no ties to Mulan, the protagonist. He was just a leader of an enemy, fighting

a war. There was no revenge ploys and deep grudges, just two enemy soldiers at war. So simple, yet so deep. Bc Mulan wasnt about external forces, not really, it was about internal struggles and wars first ad foremost

Won’t be spoiling the 2020 movie and comparing but I just mourn a great story being simplified like that. One film, disney, that you could just rehash without chanting the script too much and... well... you created a different movie altogether. Which is entertaining enough

But loses the deeper themes it desperately tries to grasp and hand-feeds them all to the audience. I didn’t feel much watching this movie at all, but I cry watching the 1998 Mulan every time
Idk whats the point of this thread, Im just just sad