Disney’s Mulan

Danielle Trumbull
Disney’s Mulan

Cultural artifacts of Disney have given us representations of gender, class, race, ethnicity and social background throughout most of our childhoods. Females were most often conveyed as the dainty princess who relied on her prince to rescue her or were considered to have no control over her decisions such as the character of “Jasmine” in the Disney production of “Aladdin”. Males were seen as first class citizens a good percentage of the time and were conveyed as strong and independent heroes who saved the day. I want to focus on a particular Disney movie known as “Mulan”. A specific scene featuring the song “I’ll Make a Man out of you” has very strong representations of how men and woman should be and are in our culture. The warriors are preparing for battle and of course Mulan is disguised as a male fighter. The scenes show her struggling to keep up with a male character that plays the ultimate alpha male throughout the movie. She is not as quick and agile and of course not as strong and capable. She is supposed to be perceived as having learned the skills she needs to but only because she had the “alpha male” to teach her.

According to Kellner, the best way to analyze cultural media and texts is a three step process. First, we look at how production and political economy play a role in the analysis. The audience this film is directed towards is mostly children so political economy puts an emphasis on production concerning what can or cannot be put in the film based on what is appropriate for children. Children, from this film, will learn that women are to be submissive and feminine and that Mulan is breaking this societal norm by going to war. This perspective depends on what type of audience is viewing the film however. According to Mayne, Mulan, because of her sexuality and what she portrays in her actions would be considered good because that is what she is displaying. This movie also both reinforces a sense of patriarchal stereotypes and provides female viewers with a sense of empowerment that they can do unimaginable things that only men are usually given the opportunity to do. Like “Watermelon Woman”, the film can be broken down into a perception of the revision of women’s lives.

Kellner’s second stage of analysis is textual analysis. Cultural signs throughout “Mulan” are frequent. The sword and armor for example, are designated to represent her father’s honor as well as her bravery in stepping out of the societal norm. These meanings are seen as representations and ideologies of feudal China at that time. It is clear that their ideologies reflect their systems of ideas concerning men and women and the specific roles they should play in that culture. The textual analysis shows how the symbols and meanings combined with formalist analysis is the production of the specific ideologies that were present in feudal China’s culture. Audiences will perceive these meanings differently depending on their race, class, and gender. Age will also play a role due to levels of ability to understand concepts.

The last step in Kellner’s suggested method is “Audience Reception and use of Media Culture.” This describes how those with different backgrounds will perceive things differently. Obviously, those from a Chinese background are more likely to understand things differently than those from a European or American background. Some fans will remake the film into something that they better understand and some may see a woman being submissive to expectations set upon her in that culture because of how Mulan transforms back into the dainty ageisha at the end of the film. Others may view the film as empowering because of focusing on the segments of the film that show Mulan defying societies standards and fighting as a warrior in a male role. The film can be seen as submission of a female or as empowerment for women because of the role she takes on the central part of the movie. However, it is very possible one may argue more towards the submissive message because even when she is a warrior, it is shown clearly throughout “I’ll Make a Man out of You” that she is in submission to the alpha male serving as the teacher. She is displayed as weaker and dependent in the sense that she needs him to learn. Seven subjectivity positions that are important to cultural media analysis are gender, age, self, group, family, class, nation and ethnicity. The perception of the messages, meanings and perceptions throughout the film depend on these seven factors. Textual analysis should have a focus on various perspectives on a wide range of subjects so that different viewpoints can be recognized. Movies like Mulan can most definitely empower audiences to pursue their freedom and individuality due to exposure to mainstream societal standards that are displayed in the movie.

To sum up an efficient analysis of cultural media and perception, we must recognize Kellner’s three step method. Production and political economy, textual analysis and audience reception with various perceptions are crucial to a thorough and accurate reading of cultural artifacts, cultural media and cultural texts.

1.) Kellner, Douglas. "Cultural Studies, Multiculturalism, and Media Culture" Gender, Race, and Class in Media.
California: Sage Publications 2003.

2.) Mayne, Judith. “Women, Representations and Culture” Reading Women’s Lives,3^rd Edition. Pearson Custom Publishing

Youtube video for Mulan “I’ll Make a Man Out of You”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSS5dEeMX64