He is the one who learns of her secret, helps her behind the scenes and falls in love with her.

He is also contrasted against Mulan’s best friend who is an arrogant fast-talking trickster figure who is significantly less badass than Mulan. However, he soon proves to be an antagonist as he sees Mulan as a rival for his ascent in the the ranks. You may ask how her family still feature given Mulan goes to war and the only answer I can give is: shenanigans.Īlso interesting is that there is a Shang-analogue character who begins as a heroic martially-accomplished manly character admired by Mulan. It’s also notable that her younger brother is a grown man in this, but a scholar and hence unsuitable for war when the conscription arrives. Her sister is very feminine and this constrast is often played for comedic effect. Mulan begins as an accomplished martial artist, defending her sister from being taken advantage of. Mulan weaves and holds together the family: bumbling father, shrewish mother, naive sister and weak brother. I watched this religiously every weeknight, wolfing down my dinner so that I would’t miss the opening credits. Well, not quite but that’s how Hong Kong pop culture parses it and that’s why it’s there. The garment being held up next to Mulan is an ancient chinese “bra” incidentally. The song Reflection articulated a lot of my own anxieties about who I was and who I should be growing up.Ī Tough Side of A Lady (Hong Kong TVB, 1998 series)Īs one can probably tell from the poster, this was a New Year comedy. As went into my teen years, I appreciated Mulan’s arc more and more. Yet despite myself, I slowly fell in love with the film. I had still wanted a definitive Mulan at that age. I was not into the concept of the plurality of stories yet. She really only saw one battle the Mulan I knew was at war for ten long years and only afterwards did she out herself.īut then, I also faulted Hercules for inaccuracies. Her other siblings didn’t make the cut and she slunk off in secret instead of with the help of her father. I was ambivalent about the fact the she wasn’t already a capable warrior the way I was used to from folktale. I still remember the review my twelve-year-old self wrote of Mulan when I first saw it. One by having angry coconuts and the other mostly by bear-on-bear action.

She even fought people, something that both Moana and Brave dodge. She was the first real warrior in the Disney panethon and that is still something of a scarcity. However flawed (and it is flawed), Mulan still stood as important source of inspiration. This is no bad thing, but the movie isn’t just problematic jokes told by Mushu and dark-skinned aggressor tropes. Its prominence in the pop culture pantheon also means it is far more scrutinised. There is little I can add to the discourse of Mulan.

Cast of mulan rise of a warrior