The animated film Mulan produced by Walt Disney Pictures in 1998, follows the story of a young woman, Fa Mulan, who impersonates a man to join the Chinese Imperial Army instead of her injured father. Mulan’s courage and heroism inspired young women to believe they can do anything that men can and more.
When I heard about the live-action remake of Mulan, I was overjoyed that one of my favorite Disney movies would have a second life. My expectations crumbled when I learned that some of the original’s key features would not be in the remake, but I hoped these changes were in service of accurate cultural representation and adjusted to the social environment in 2020. I am eager to explore how the remake’s adherence to or deviation from the animated film Mulan’s representation.
The 1998 version of Mulan is based on a Chinese poem, “Ballad of Mulan”, from 400 AD which was shared orally before it was recorded on paper (Naudus). Recounting the story through film, a form of digital reproduction, enabled unprecedentedly broad distribution of the tale. However, its reproduction by an American company for an American audience jeopardized its aura, its “unique existence” (Benjamin, 1936, 50) in time and space, and its authenticity. Neither would necessarily be present in any remake because even a perfect reproduction lacks the “presence in time and space” (Benjamin, 1936, 50) of the original and “the whole sphere of authenticity is outside… reproducibility” (Benjamin, 1936, 50). The loss of aura and authenticity “detaches the reproduction from the domain of tradition” (Benjamin, 1936, 51) that is central to the story. The animated film took liberties to create a story for a younger audience, but further adaptations like making it a musical, adding comedic characters, and including a love story distance it from the “Ballad of Mulan.”
The 2020 Mulan was praised and criticized for its deviations from the animated version, but many of these changes attempt to regain what the initial reproduction lost. The remake replaces the dragon Mushu – Mulan’s comical ancestral guardian in the animated film – with a phoenix, as the dragon is not in the poem and was perceived as too American by many Chinese audiences (Rao, 2020). The live action film takes on a different tone from the animation. The 1998 movie was a musical with popularized songs. To make it appropriate for all ages, fighting scenes were lighthearted and showed little violence. The remake, intended for a more mature audience, only includes instrumental versions of some of the animated film’s songs and centers war imagery, complex stunts, and elaborately choreographed fight scenes. The remake works off criticisms of the first movie to present Mulan’s tale as it was originally told. While this reproduction cannot hold the authenticity of the poem, it shows care for the aura of the original and the tradition it is tied to.
The remake, given its modernity and older audience, was expected to push the boundaries of Mulan’s feminist representation and include more nuanced narratives. The 1998 Mulan somewhat succeeds in feminist representation, but remains reliant on the male gaze, the depiction of women by men and for men (Ziesler, 2008, 7). Mulan surpasses her male counterparts in training and is commended for heroism against the Huns, excelling in a hypermasculine role and an environment that excludes women. However, her disruption of gender norms ends when her gender is revealed. From that moment, the film defines Mulan around the men in her life. She is given no voice as she is expelled from the army. She defies these orders and plays a critical role in the film’s final battle, yet meets a stereotypical fairytale end when she finds love with the army captain and resumes her womanly duties at home. Despite her bold, unconventional character arc, the reversion to domestic life depicts Mulan as accepting the gender norms she overcame and suggests to the audience that there “is nothing to fear from women” (Ziesler, 2008, 8).
The disappointing end to Mulan’s arc may be attributed to the lack of women involved in its production; it was directed entirely by men and only two of six screenwriters were women (TVGuide). As Andi Ziesler said, by including more women in production, “perhaps women would stop being relegated to wife-and-girlfriend roles in action movies” (2008, 20), the way that Mulan is at the end. However, Ziesler notes that involving more women in production does not guarantee that their choices “will elevate all women” (Ziesler, 2008, 21).
This struggle between production and representation is apparent in the 2020 Mulan’s almost all-woman writing and direction team’s partial success representing the character through a feminist lens (TVGuide). The writers newly attribute Mulan’s powers to ‘chi,’ the Chinese conception of life force (Rao, 2020). Rather than succeeding in training through cleverness and strength, she does so by harnessing her chi – something only men are allowed to do. Though chi was likely incorporated as an additional layer of Chinese culture, it severs the connection between Mulan and the audience. Mulan no longer represents what all women are capable of, but only what women with chi are capable of, undermining the inspirational feminist message of the poem and the animated film. Similarly, the exclusion or inclusion of characters partially express modern views on gender equality and dynamics. The remake modernizes aspects of the story that reflect outdated social norms. Mulan’s commander in the army and original love interest was replaced by two new characters to remove inappropriate power dynamics from the romantic subplot (Rao, 2020). Furthermore, the remake includes a foil character to Mulan, Xianning, who also harnesses her chi. Xianning is motivated by her experience as an outcast to fight alongside the invaders, adding dimension to the film’s representation of women. However, her arc is criticized for entrenching tropes. Xianning ultimately sacrifices herself for Mulan, portraying women’s ability to succeed in a man’s world as the exception rather than the rule.
The 2020 realization of Mulan honors the aura of the poem lost in the Disney film and injects the story with modern social values. However, its depiction of Mulan and women altogether fail to deliver the expected inspirational feminist message.
Works Cited
Benjamin, W. (1936). The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction.
Mulan. TVGuide. Retrieved November 14, 2022, from
https://www.tvguide.com/movies/mulan/cast/2030286273/
Mulan. TVGuide. Retrieved November 14, 2022, from https://www.tvguide.com/movies/mulan/cast/2000132194/
Naudus, P. The ballad of mulan (木蘭辭). Mulanbook. Retrieved November 14, 2022, from https://mulanbook.com/pages/northern-wei/ballad-of-mulan
Rao, S. (2020, September 5). Less singing, more fighting: How disney's live-action 'Mulan' differs from the classic animated film. The Washington Post. Retrieved November 14, 2022, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2020/09/05/mulan-live-action-animated-differences/
Zeisler, A. (2008). Pop and Circumstance: Why Pop Culture Matters, In Feminism and pop culture, (pp. 1-21). Seal Press.
Commentator: Brenna Cotter
ReplyDeleteNadia,
I really liked your analysis comparing the original and live-action remake of Mulan. I have not yet seen the remake of the film, however, it seems as though many cultural errors made in the first film were corrected, however the remake may have failed to depict the inspirational and feminist message embedded in the original film. I really liked your connection to the Zeisler reading. I thought it was interesting that you mentioned the original Mulan had a strong sense of feminism and female empowerment, but did not address the male gaze. I agree that her disruption of gender norms ending once she is revealed to be a woman is an example of the male gaze because Mulan's life is once again constructed around the beliefs and standards of the men around her.
In your piece you write about how the original Mulan was based on a Chinese poem called “Ballad of Mulan”, however, when this was reproduced by an American film company they took liberties to make the film more suitable for younger audiences making many adaptations distancing it from the original poem. This made me think about Stewart Hall and stereotyping/essentializing something. Stewart Hall describes stereotyping as reducing something to a few essentials and simplifying it. Hall describes that people and objects can be oversimplified and stereotyped by the media. The American production team took a poem with a lot of cultural significance and importance and simplified it to fit more American standards and be more acceptable to this audience. This is significant to recognize because a portion of the culture and importance of the poem was reduced leaving viewers not receiving an accurate representation of the story. Overall, I really liked your piece and the connection to the Zeisler reading.
Hey Nadia,
ReplyDeleteMulan was one of my favorite Disney movies as a kid so I really enjoyed reading your post about it. It is very interesting because I watched the movies a few times as a young kid and just liked the movie for what it was because I didn’t understand the cultural, gender, or historical aspects that went along with it. But, when I rewatched the movie a few years ago with my younger siblings, and saw the remake, it made me ralize that this was more than just a cool story, it had a lot of deeper meanings that you mentioned in your blog post, that I hadn’t been able to understand before.
Anyways I especially liked your connection to the Zeisler reading and I actually wanted to expand on both that and add in the Melissa Brown reading to make some more connections. You talked in depth about the usage of the Zeisler meaning in Mulan, with the male gaze and the idea that there “is nothing to fear from women”. But I think that the idea of popular misogyny is very applicable to Mulan as well. This is the idea that there is always a negative reaction to positive forward progress for women (Zeisler 2008). Which is evident in the Mulan original with the situation that you stated where she is kind of banned and punished for being in the army, even though she was one of the best troops. It was all based on the idea that she was a women, she shouldn’t be there, doing a mans job, and doing it better than them. More so, in the Melissa Brown reading and the idea of politics of respectibality, where african american women feel as if they can’t speak up for themselves or break out of their current roles. This is specific for African American women but I feel as if it is definitely applicable for other minority women. Mulan goes against this, but it takes a lot of courage for her to do this and it is widely looked down upon by her family and the rest of society. Discussing how she feels that she has to fit this certain stereotypical role to make others proud could be helpful. Even mentioning the scene where she is being sent off to find a husband and has to wear the fancy clothes and do all the etiquette classes could add some humor but also prove the point of Mulans distaste towards the idea of being a stereotypical Chinese women.
I feel like the deeper connection with Zeisler and the popular addition of Brown could add a little bit more to the feminism argument. Besides that I really enjoyed reading the paper and seeing the connections you made to a movie I grew up watching!
Commentor: Danny Heintz
Works Cited: Brown, Melissa. “Beyonce's Boudoir and the Culture of Dissemblance.” Blackfeminisms.com, 2018, https://blackfeminisms.com/boudoir-beyonce/.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCommenter: Annabel Sumardi
ReplyDeleteNadia offers an analysis of the Mulan (2020) film, one which did not receive strong success or reviews in the box office, with the smallest box office earnings of any Disney live-action. Despite the poor reviews, Stuart Hall’s ideas of intertextuality and the regime of representation could point towards characteristics of the film which were actually successful. Nadia successfully distances herself from the actual ratings and reviews of the film in order to offer an objective review of important aspects of the film.
The Disney cartoon packages the story of Mulan in a completely transformed manner, adding in playful but childish additions, as well as symbols which are perpetuated by the regime of representation in presenting East Asian characters. The addition of the Chinese dragon named Mushu and other stereotypical Chinese insertions played into the regime of representation, which is the repertoire of imagery through which difference is presented. In order to play into the Chinese factor of the film, the cartoon version went overboard in adding stereotypical forms of representation. Alternatively, by connecting the live-action remake to the original Chinese poem, Nadia reviews how the live-action more closely attempts to recreate the cultural truth of the original poem. The live-action sticks to the original poem’s maturity and war story. Perhaps if audiences were more aware of this strength in representing the original work, there could have been a better reception to the film.
With Stuart Hall’s definition of intertextuality, we learned how texts accumulate meanings across different texts, where one reading or movie might alter the meaning of another. Thus, because the cartoon film came out before the live-action, it is possible that audiences were expecting a playful musical, with comedic relief from Mushu. Because these aspects were not present in the live-action, audiences could have been disappointed at the lack of amusement. If the only texts interacting were the original ballad and the live-action Mulan, then audiences could focus on the strength of the replication. It is interesting to think how people might respond to the film without the cartoon’s presence. The cartoon, while more popular, failed to create a truthful representation of the original poem’s authenticity regarding Chinese culture. The live action, though it had its own issues, actually succeeded in these other manners.
Nadia McGrath,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your piece! I thought the readings you chose to incorporate helped to further develop your analysis on the remake of the movie Mulan. I thought that using Zeisler’s piece on feminism in pop culture connected really well to your argument because you argued that the remake essentially changed many cultural elements to adjust to modern times. For example, you talk about how in the original movie, the writers first talk about Mulan in the army as an undercover woman who has to depend on strength and agility to achieve the success as the rest of the men in her militant group. However, in the remake the writers try to focus more on Chinese culture instead of the gender divide of the Chinese army. THey do this by showing how Mulan has to harness her “chi” rather than strength and agility to be successful in the military, showing audiences that women can be just as useful in the military now as men.
While I thoroughly enjoyed the sources you included in your analysis on the remake of Mulan, I do think that incorporating another source could have served to the beendit of your overall argument. In Stuart Hall’s piece Representation: Cultural representations and signifying practice, Hall introduces this idea around regimes of representation, meaning that despite one known stereotype/ how something is represented, their appearance or reputation could be totally opposite of how they are typically perceived. In this specific case relating to the remake of Mulan, I think it would have been smart to introduce this idea of how there is ultimately a regime of representation among how the Chinese army is supposed to be composed solely of men. Moreover, you could further develop this idea by mentioning how the remake is trying to break down this regime of representation present in Chinese culture by showing that Mulan is harnessing her “chi” rather than increased strength and agility, two skills that are viewed as masculine when achieved at a higher capacity.
Blake Massoni
Commenter: Shelly Faskha
ReplyDeleteHi Nadia,
I enjoyed your analysis on the original Mulan movie and the live action remake. Personally, when I was little, I watched the Mulan movie, but I have not yet seen the live action remake. The original Mulan movie shows Mulan’s courage, heroism, and feminism. There has been a change in the live action remake of Mulan because it has been modernized in aspects of the plot that tie up to old societal norms. But, as you expressed, the remake of this was criticized for trying to regain the reproduction that was lost and the aura when the Chinese poem “Ballad of Mulan” was reproduced. This made the bizarre distribution of the tale, therefore threaten its aura as Benjamin explained. Apart from the aura, the poem and the movie in general lost authenticity and its “unique existence” in time and space. This made me realize that a reproduction of something is much more than only “reproducing it.” Reproduction takes away key elements of things.
After reading your blog post, I am curious to watch the live action and pay attention to what you brought up. Zeisler’s idea about feminism is a good point to talk about. As I read your piece, I thought about the male gaze that Mulan could have received in both the movie and the remake. You talked about how when Mulan was revealed as a girl, she received male gaze since she is not defined around the men in her life and is given no voice to express herself. This backs up Zeisler’s point that women are given roles of wife’s and side characters in movies.
Stella Cha
ReplyDeleteHi Nadia,
I found your analysis of Mulan’s live-action remake very insightful! It was quite disappointing to find out that the changes within the remake align with the male gaze rather than pushing boundaries for feminist representation in Disney movies (a core popular media source by which many young children are influenced and gain knowledge of basic principles). The discussion of changes in the live-action that adhered to the male gaze particularly sparked my interest. I was reminded of respectability politics, and wanted to assess the level of comportment in both the original and live-action remake.
In Misogynoir Transformed, Moya Bailey defines respectability politics as “the idea that if marginalized groups comport themselves well, they may be able to be accepted into society” (Bailey, 2021). Though Bailey was referring to Black women when writing about misogynoir, respectability politics can also be applied to other marginalized groups as well. In the case of Mulan’s live-action remake, women are the marginalized group, and are made to conform to society’s standards of gender roles in the hopes that the Disney movie would please audiences and gain positive reception in the media and society. This movie is one of the few that attempted to push the boundaries of feminism. Mulan’s female individuality and push-back against the men and people of power–displayed in instances such as slicing her hair short and attempting to fight in the battle, pushing against female sexualization in the male gaze–marks her as this figure of strength in femininity. However, as with every step forward for women, there are shortcomings to this attempt at womanpower. Once her gender is revealed, people begin seeing her as a typical woman again, and she ultimately ends up falling in love with a man (notably, the captain, a man of high power), as is true of a majority of “fairytale” Disney movie endings. The pattern of the female lead falling in love with a man and living “happily ever after” is just another way to subject women to society’s standards in order for the film to be accepted into society and able to be considered a successful Disney movie. Another change made in the live-action also plays into this concept of respectability politics: Mulan doesn’t slice off her hair when she heads into battle in the live-action. This not only plays into the male gaze (prioritizing her looks rather than making a powerful statement of the insignificance of appearance for women), but also serves to subdue women and please audiences by making Mulan attractive and comply with beauty standards. With a woman who is possibly seen as more feminine and less threatening, her appearance and love story with a man creates a feeling of safety for audiences to not be worried about going against the social norm, and therefore performs respectability politics to be accepted into society.