Alright so context here is basically I went for a research symposium yesterday and one of the research papers presented was about different adaptations of Mulan.
So the Disney Mulan was actually based of the original ballad of Mulan or 木兰诗. And in their adaptation, the changes made were most noticeably, adding a romantic subplot and making Mulan out of be bad at warfare to start with. Also, the entire portrayal of chinese (or Han in this case) culture.
(A bit long so the rest is below the cut)
(Now there are problems with the original film in the presentation of Chinese culture and orientalism which is a... p damn big problem but that’s not what this post is about. Suffice to say, Chinese culture is presented as inherently patriachal and oppressive and the film basically glorified Mulan’s more westernised views over the evil chinese.)
In the original ballad, it is very explicit that it’s not about romance. When Mulan is asked why she’s sighing, it’s very explicitly stated that ‘no one is on daughter’s heart/No one is on Daughter’s mind’ (女亦无所思，女亦无所忆) and that Mulan’s main concern is for her father being needed in the army. The ballad goes on to describe Mulan’s journey to the army and she’s explicity portrayed as already knowing what to do and as a competent warrior.
Now in the Disney version, Mulan has an entire romantic subplot using the trope of forbidden love between her and Li-Shang. And it’s portrayed as a legitimate source of tension between them, especially after Shang finds out that Mulan is actually female.
Now in the ending: In the Disney version, Mulan goes home after having the emperor bow to her and the assembled crowd bow to her too, and she gives the sword over to her father. And her parents and family are presented as only caring about whether she brought a man home with her. This isn’t the case in the original ballad where the family celebrates her return before she’s back. In the original ballad, the parents are said to ‘go outside to the wall to meet her (...)’ and her siblings celebrate her return by presenting themselves neatly and by preparing a feast for her. This shows that Mulan’s return is actually heavily anticipated by her family rather than dismissed as in the Western version.
And at the very end, Mulan wears her female clothes and fixes her hair. And now this is very interesting because the exact line is ‘the he-hair’s feet go hop and skip/The she-hare’s eyes are muddled and fuddled/two hares running side by side close to the ground/How can they tell if I am he or she?’ (i’ll include the actual lines in chinese later). It’s very explicit about the fact that her comrades don’t know whether Mulan’s male or female, because she’s acted as both. Whereas in the Disney version, it’s very clear that she’s seen as female by her male colleagues.
Tl:dr: go look at the original ballad of mulan. The disney version erases her aro-ness and her badassery and also has problems with orientalism and exoticisation.
I’m not a tropical bird, nor am I a rare fruit. I’m the product of the negative economic effects of colonialism and imperialism (namely the theft of capital and resources) on my Motherland and on its diaspora. I’m the product of my ancestors’ toil. I am enough as I am.
As for the African Miss, ah . . . h . . . h . . . look at her costume. How charming. And they gaped at her, pointing at her smile. Her nose. Her lips. Their own eyes shining. Not expecting her to feel embarrassed.
That's why, my brother,
You and I
Shall be
Impressed with
Aeronautics and all such
Acrobatics when they
Bring us a
Breathing Martian or a
Ten-eyed
Hairy drummer from the
Moon . . .
Ama Ata Aidoo, Our Sister Killjoy: or Reflections from a Black-eyed Squint (Malaysia: Longman, 1977; 2010), p. 43.
Via Sociological Images (good blog, generally), I saw this trailer for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, which, well, whoa.
For obvious reasons, I’ve been thinking a lot of about travel and its ethical implications. (Not the in the air travel/carbon emission sense, really, but more directly social.) I recall hearing friends share critiques of travel, but they’ve receded into the mists, and in conversations with M, I feel like what we’re coming up with is inadequate.
I’ll be web-binging on this topic, but care to share your thoughts about things that are fucked up about travel?
