Opinion | Disney’s Mulan tells women if they know their place, they can ‘have it all’
- Disney’s adaptation is a more conservative telling of an ancient story – and the place of women – than some historical Chinese renditions
- While Mulan might claim to be a tale of female empowerment, ultimately this film is about how women will only be rewarded if they know their place
Disney’s live-action adaptation of Mulan was released last week amid much controversy. Accusations of Disney bowing to the Chinese Communist Party emerged when the trailer was released.
Criticisms of the movie include its historical and geographical inaccuracies, an undertone of Islamophobia, and a misrepresentation of chi (life force).
Also concerning, but less visible, is how Disney’s Mulan is a more conservative telling of an ancient story – and the place of women – than some historical Chinese renditions. While Mulan might claim to be a tale of female empowerment, ultimately this film is about how women will only be rewarded if they know their place.
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A 1,500-year-old tale
The 2020 adaptation of Mulan follows the basic plot of the 1998 Disney animation. The dutiful heroine, Hua Mulan, cross-dresses as a man to take her father’s place in the army. She returns victorious.
