[ SECRET POST #3415 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3415 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 027 secrets from Secret Submission Post #488.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Mulan does have a character, complete with flaws.

For one, she's not able to be successful at being a bride (unable to meet expectations of what it means to be an honorable woman). She's awkward and clumsy at it. She's always awkward when she's pretending to be something that isn't natural to her - her trying to "be a man" puts her at the butt of jokes.

But her real flaw - and characterization - is revealed after she joins the army and gets kicked out, and realizes what she really wants... isn't to protect her father, or to be selfless. She is in it for herself, she wants the glory and excitement of being a soldier.

You can call that a flaw or not, but it's a pretty defining moment. Mulan isn't just letting the plot lead her along, she's making choices that both define her and the story. I find her to be a more well-defined character than virtually any other Disney princess. She's not a "girl power mary sue", she's not doing it to make a point, or to be a nice person, she's doing it because she wants to.

OP

[(Anonymous)]

Thanks for giving an explanation instead of a meme. That's a fair point.

[(Anonymous)]

yeah that moment where she wanted to matter to HERSELF really got to me. it was good

[(Anonymous)]

??? Maybe I'm remembering Mulan wrong, but I don't remember her wanting to do it for the glory or excitement. I thought she got kicked out of the army and was going to go home in shame until she found out the Huns weren't dead so she had to go warn people (and then they didn't believe her so she had to do shit herself etc).

[(Anonymous)]

You're missing probably the most important scene in Mulan's character development then.

The scene right before she sees the Huns are still alive, when they are sitting out in the snow, she reflects with Mushu about her real reasons for wanting to be in the army.

[(Anonymous)]

Oh, I guess I don't remember that. It's been 5+ years since I last watched it.

[(Anonymous)]

Didn't she say that she wanted to prove she could do things right? I think she said something like, "So when I looked in the mirror, I'd see someone worthwhile". I didn't interpret that part as her wanting glory and excitement. I thought that was her wanting to do something right for once (since she failed at traditionally feminine pursuits) to make her family proud of her.

[(Anonymous)]

I completely agree, and I think this is a really good distinction.

[(Anonymous)]

This is what I really didn't like about the movie... in the original story, it was all about doing it for the sake of her family and fighting for her father's sake. Her characterization of "doing it because this is who I am" is very American and very modern. It's shitting in the face of the entire point of the original story. What's the point of even setting it in ancient China when the heroine is acting like a modern American?

[(Anonymous)]

For one, I think Mulan certainly was still motivated by protecting her father, she just ultimately wanted something more besides that. Protecting her father would've probably been "enough" but what is really motivating her is being a soldier.

But for another I find this argument that ANY sense of wanting to be true to yourself is "modern and American". I guarantee plenty of ancient Chinese girls wanted to be more than what society demanded of them. A few probably pushed the boundaries, too.

And lastly, what do you mean by original story, it's a myth, there are loads of versions and no single original one. And Chinese myth is full of people going outside the boundaries and doing crazy stuff. I find it to be pseudo-orientalism to pretend all East Asians only care about ~honor~ and never have a single selfish thought.