Mulan (1998 Film) Essay Questions

How does the film engage the theme of gender?

Even before the famous cross-dressing that Mulan undertakes in the film, she finds herself having an identity crisis related to gender. Having failed to impress the matchmaker and bring honor to her family, Mulan finds herself having a crisis of identity, wondering if she will ever be the woman she is meant to be. Then, when her father gets conscripted into the Imperial Army, she chooses to leave behind her gender altogether and pretend to be a man. In this journey, she comes to understand herself more, and the performance and charade that she undergoes becomes a way that she sees her authentic self more clearly. By the end of the film, she is comfortable in her skin as a powerful, skilled and adventurous woman. She does not feel pressured to fit either a feminine or masculine ideal as dictated by society, but create her own authentic identity in a way that feels honest to who she is.

What is the role of Mushu in the movie?

Mushu used to be a guardian to the family but has since been demoted. He is a small dragon and his job is to simply to wake up the ancestors by ringing a gong. After messing up in awakening the actual guardian who is meant to help Mulan, Mushu takes it upon himself to help Mulan become a great warrior, which will hopefully impress the ancestors enough that they will promote him.

Mushu helps Mulan to disguise herself in the army and engineers a situation in which she can shine as a soldier by faking an order from the General for Shang's men to join the main troops. Throughout the film, Mushu both acts as comic relief, throwing around goofy one-liners, and as a legitimate advisor and helper in Mulan's journey, proving that he is as competent as he is comical.

What is the tone of the film?

The tone of Mulan changes quite a bit throughout the narrative. At times it is playful, rambunctious and silly, in line with the potential of animation to create outrageous visuals and broad comedic scenarios. At other moments, it is epic, dramatic, and moving, such as when Mulan returns home after war, or when Shang finds that his father has been killed by the Huns. The tone of the film transforms many times in an often sudden, but seamless way.

What does Mulan's father tell her when she returns home at the end of the film?

When Mulan returns to her family home at the end of the film, she tells her father about all she has accomplished, and the fact that the Emperor honored her with a medal and an offer to serve on his council. While Mulan's father is undoubtedly impressed with this, he tells her that he is just proud that she is his daughter, suggesting that her value is not in what she has achieved, but in her innate existence.

Why does Mulan enlist in the army?

Mulan first gets the idea to enlist in the army as a man because she cannot bear to see her elderly and ailing father do so. He is not up for the military and has already served, so Mulan wants to take the pressure off by serving in his place. Then, later, when her identity has been discovered and she has been banished from the army, she considers her decision and wonders if maybe she also partially chose to undertake the mission in order to learn more about herself. Thus, we see that her motives are at once selfless and selfish, having to do with her desire to self-actualize.