Chace Blackburn

 

Mulan, the Disney movie, shows a surprising amount of plot dynamism and theme elements. The main character, Mulan is a young woman whose father is asked to serve in the Chinese military. The father is old and weak, and will surely die if he is to serve in the war. Defending her father’s honor, Mulan dresses as a man and fights in place, pretending to be her father.

Mulan is a clear-cut protagonist, if there ever was one. She is a classy woman, but is willing to sacrifice her feminine role in exchange for defending her defenseless father. She is able to gain both the pity and respect of the audience. You want to help Mulan, but she is not helpless.

In contrast, Shan Yu is clearly the antagonist in Mulan. He is rather typical Disney villain fare so far as personality, meaning that he causes trouble in the life of Mulan, and creates a separate troupe of other antagonists. His menacing yellow eyes and hulking frame, along with the shrill calls of his evil falcon definitely gives viewers the creeps. Adding to dramatic effect, we are often shown the aftermath of the evil Shan Yu perpetrates, as with the burnt village that Mulan and the other soldiers come upon late in the film.

In this way, the central conflict of the story is derived. Mulan and her camp (involving her romantic prospect) wage battles against the Huns, trying to stop them from Chinese invasion. The conflict is developed via the plot, which goes as follows: she and her pet lizard Mushu set off for war so as to take her fathers place. Mulan is misguided by Mushu in how to behave like a man, which starts a ruckus at the training camp. However, under command of Li Shang, she and her new co-workers at the camp, Yao, Ling and Chien-Po, become skilled warriors. Mushu, desiring to see Mulan succeed, creates a fake order from Shang's father, General Li, ordering Shang to follow them into the mountains. The troops set out to meet General Li, but arrive at a burnt-out encampment and discover that General Li and his troops have all been killed by the Huns, the enemy of the Chinese. As they solemnly leave the mountains, they are ambushed by the Huns, but Mulan cleverly uses a cannon to create an avalanche which buries most of the Huns. An enraged Shan Yu slashes her in the chest, and her deception is revealed when the wound is bandaged. Instead of executing Mulan as the law requires, Shang relents and decides to spare her life for saving him, but expels her from the army, stranding her on the mountain as the rest of the army departs for the Imperial City to report the news of the Huns' demise. I would say the moment that Shang finds out Mulan is really a girl is the climax.

The rising action is centered around Mulan’s ability to stay in costume and succeed as a man, and when the disguise fails, the turning point is achieved. The falling action is comprised of the scene in which Shan Yu survives but is then killed by Mulan in the Imperial City in an epic battle. Mulan is praised by the Emperor and the people of China, who all bow to her as an unprecedented honor, especially for a woman. While she accepts the Emperor's crest and Shan Yu's sword as gifts, she politely declines his offer to be his advisor and instead returns to her family. Shang, who has become enamored with Mulan, soon arrives under the guise of returning her helmet, but accepts the family's invitation for dinner. Mushu is granted a position as a Fa family guardian by the ancestors amid a returning celebration.

The plot brings about many themes. Perhaps the most important theme is that of the role gender stereotypes play in society, especially antiquated Chinese culture. Gender roles are defined in the movie, with Mulan’s trip to a matchmaker in the beginning, as well as the scene with the song “A girl worth fighting for.” This scene very obviously shows what qualities men want in women, what a “girl worth fighting for” is like. Desirable qualities include beauty, appreciation for strength, and the ability to cook. When Mulan’s squad talks about a woman who won’t find any faults in them, she suggests instead a girl “who’s got a brain, who always speaks her mind” which is very quickly dismissed.

In the same vein, typical male qualities are discussed in the scene with the song “Ill make a man out of you.” “Lets get down to business, to defeat the Huns. Did they send me daughters, when I asked for sons?” portrays the stereotypical representation of men because it asserts that they are the only gender who are worthy to fight. The goal of Captain Shang in the scene is to, “make a man,” out of the new recruits. This whole scene is very sexist because it is discriminatory towards women, asserting that being womanly is not acceptable in war. 

The central moral in the story evolves from the subsequent breaking of these previously defined stereotypes.

The conclusion results in Mulan defeating the Huns, as well as securing a man.  Furthermore, Mulan is absolved of the guilt of identity crime through transcendence; she only engaged in her law-breaking act to spare her aging father from participating in the war. She is even more literally absolved of guilt for posing as her father when the Emperor himself commends her for her actions. This secures the idea of her being a protagonist in all the viewers’ minds.

Thus, the message we should be taking away with us is that it can be appropriate to break society’s gender roles, or at the very least, not believe in them.

The message and plot are achieved by a 3-act structure. The first act entails Mulan at home, preparing for her role in war. The second act entails Mulan at training camp, and then eventually battling the Huns, which results in the climax of her being found out as a girl. The third act culminates with the resolution in which Mulan and her cronies defeat the Huns, and ultimately Shan Yu. Mulan is honored by the emperor and even gets together with Shang, her love interest, in the end. In typical Disney fashion, everything is wrapped up beautifully. However, unlike other Dinsey movies, Mulan explores complicated and negative themes like sexism and the gender roles discussed in this paper. This contributes to an overall dynamic and enjoyable movie, which respects all the rules we learned in CMC regarding generating great film content.