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Lauren Su

Dr. Tabitha Clark

ENGW 1111-09

23 November 2021

Bringing Honor through Gender and Class

From a woman pretending to be a man in an army to protect her family, to a brave

woman representing all of China and bringing honor to all, both Mulan (1998) the cartoon and

Mulan (2020) the live action-encapsulates the main story of Mulan saving all of China. When

Mulan was released in the year 1998, the movie was praised as “a new direction for Disney's

animation studio, combining the traditional elements (brave heroine, cute animal sidekicks) with

material that seems more adventuresome and grown up” (Ebert para. 1). The 1998 film directed

by Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook was a huge success as the movie was an Oscar Nominee for

Best Music, Original Musical or Comedy Score (“Mulan (1998) Awards”). In the year 2020, the

remake of the classic was released in theaters but the director Niki Caro decided to “discard the

songs and affected a more serious tone, similar to the epic films of Jhang Yimou and Ang Lee”

(Naahar para. 5). Mulan (2020) does not have lively music like the original and instead heavily

focuses on the more serious themes such as war and standing out in society with new renditions

of the songs as musical soundtracks. Both versions of Mulan tell a story of bravery and a

powerful tale of feminism but the remake has more accurate portrayals of historical context of

class and attempted to fix the gender stereotypes from the original.

In the Mulan (1998), there were themes of gender stereotypes which played into themes

of general stereotypes about what a man does, themes of toxic masculinity as well as themes of

misogyny. When Mulan first arrives at the army camp, she comments that being a man about,
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“when you get those, uh, manly urges, and you just gotta kill something, fix things, uh, cook

outdoors” (Bancroft and Cook). The comments Mulan makes about “manly urges” validates the

stereotype that men do more and need to do more aggressive types of activities to be seen as a

“true man.” The assumptions about men in the movie also has indications of toxic masculinity of

the men not being able to express themselves well. After Mulan saves all of China, Shang Li is

unable to express his gratitude and awkwardly exclaimed, “you uh fight good,” while rubbing his

hand behind his head. Shang Li does not really go in depth with his feelings in the movie and

only shows his affection when he goes to Mulan’s house at the end of the movie; furthermore, he

does not show his real feeling towards Mulan and instead uses an awkward compliment to try to

tell her he likes her. Also, Shang Li’s reaction towards Mulan shows a negative connotation that

men are not good at expressing their feelings towards not just girls but towards one another even

in friendships. On top of some themes of toxic masculinity, there is also themes of misogyny. As

Yao, Ling, and Chien Po talk about what types of wives they want, they sing that, “[they] want

[women] paler than the moon, with eyes that shine like stars, [their] girl will marvel at [their]

strength, adore [their] battle scars” and hopes “[she] cooks like beef, pork, chicken.” The men in

the movie only want a woman who is conventionally good looking, an admirer, and a cook

which are all harmful stereotypes of women; also, this quote makes it seem like men are shallow.

When Mulan suggested “a girl who’s got a brain who always speaks her mind,” she was laughed

at showing the men did not want a woman who is independent and a free thinker. The action the

men showed after Mulan expressed in wanting women to ‘speak their mind’ feeds into a toxic

mentality that men should be in charge and women should be dependent on them and follow

what they have to say.

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Surprisingly, even though Mulan had some negative or nonprogressive themes of gender

in the movie, there is not too much class distinctions in the movie. Throughout the movie, Mulan

and her friends wear all different types of colored armor. Mulan wears a lighter green, Yao wears

red, Ling wears yellow, and Chien Po wears blue. Mulan and her friends are just normal soldiers

with no special ranking in class, the colors are used as a way to make the important characters

distinct rather than showing their rank in the army; however, it is noted in the movie that the

other normal soldiers wear more dark greens and grays. Meanwhile, Captain Shang Li and his

father, General Li, show a difference in ranking as both men are wearing red capes and have a

red hair tie; furthermore, both men are riding horses while the other people in the armor are

notedly walking to war rather than riding horses. Chi Fu also gets to ride a horse because he is

the emperor’s most trust advisor, so people who ride on horses have high power or ranking.

Lastly, the most important ranked or class of people wear yellow or golden colors as General Li

and the Emperor is seen to be wearing the yellow colors and they are from a very high status

compared to Mulan and the other soldiers. Class is distinct in Mulan (1998) with colors but when

it comes to Mulan’s ranking and the other soldiers, the distinction is not as clear.

Contrasting Mulan (1998), Mulan (2020) tries to fix the themes of toxic masculinity and

misogyny seen in the original movie. When Mulan first came to camp in the 2020 version, the

men are seen to be lined up, having some small talk or banter while Mulan stands in line waiting

to register into the camp. In Mulan (2020), men are not used as comedy relief, instead they are

constantly training or being calm and talking among one another; also, the tone of the movie is

more serious as there are no songs and the soldiers are seen constantly fighting or getting ready

to. At the beginning of Mulan’s training in the army, she meets Honghui and after practicing

weapons with him, Honghui expresses to Mulan, that “[she] is [his] equal. [They] fight together
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against the same enemy” and Honghui “will do all [he] can protect the others.” Mulan can “turn

[her] back on [him], but when the time comes, do not turn [her] back on them (the soldiers)”

(Caro). Honghui is not aware that Mulan is a girl at the time but Honghui is honest to Mulan in

the beginning and expresses the importance and wellbeing of his fellow comrades and eliminates

the toxic masculinity of men not being able to express themselves well. When Mulan is exposed

for being a girl, the army abandons her, but when she warns them about the Emperor being in

trouble, the men are much more receptive to what she is saying. Rather than the men in the army

ignoring Mulan, Honghui steps up and tells the army, “[y]ou would believe Hua Jun, why do you

not believe Hua Mulan? […] She’s braver than any man here. She’s the best warrior amongst

us.” Rather than the men ignoring and not respecting Mulan, they are more receptive and listen

to what she has to say because they acknowledge her bravery when they were fighting in the war.

The newer version of Mulan corrects and takes away all the assumptions and harmful gender

stereotypes about men as well as erases the idea of toxic masculinity.

Comparatively, the newer version of Mulan puts more emphasis on class and army

rankings compared to the original version of Mulan to perhaps put some historical accuracy into

the movie since it is a live action remake rather than a cartoon. There are three distinct ranks

classified by color when watching the movie. Mulan and all the soldiers wear red uniforms,

Commander Tung wears a golden armor, and the Emperor wears a green and gold in his normal

clothing as well as his battle armor. The red colors show the normal ranks of the soldiers, the

golden colors show there is some importance in ranking as General Tung wears the armor as well

as the Emperor but the Emperor also wears green so he is distinguished with the goldens and

greens. Soldiers for other towns are also in a distinct blue color to show which area they are

defending and who is considered a soldier in that town. Mulan’s army wears red because they are
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specifically recruited by the Emperor to leave their homes to fight. Bori Khan and his soldiers

are also seen to have class rankings or distinctions. Bori Khan and Xianniang both wear black

colors and Xianniang has white colors painted on her face to show she is below and serves Bori

Khan. The rest of Bori Khan’s soldiers wear a mix of black, brown, and greens while Bori Khan

mainly only wears black. Furthermore, important army officers are on horses while the regular

soldiers are walking or standing. However, Bori Khan and his army are all on horses which

indicates they do not see a need for class distinction through transportation but more through

clothing similarly to Mulan and her army. Class distinction and army ranking is more prevalent

in the remake of Mulan through the clothing and mode of transportation.

Fundamentally, the main story of Mulan saving her home country of China and her

courage and bravery seen in the movie has not changed, but the surrounding themes of gender

stereotypes and class has changed quite drastically over the past two decades. Mulan (1998) had

many harmful stereotypes about men as well as prevalent themes of toxic masculinity; however,

the newer rendition of the movie attempts to fix the problems seen in the original by getting rid

of certain dialogue or bringing in a new refreshing character like Honghui who goes against toxic

masculinity traits. In the original movie, there was not too much historical accuracies in the

cartoon when portraying different types of class and rankings while the current version tries to be

more historically accurate with the colors used in the movies and keep it consistent throughout

rather than giving every main character a different color to stand out. Keeping class and ranking

more consistent would bring more accuracy to the movie as the new version is live action. Due to

a poorer reception to Mulan (2020), it is highly unlikely that there will be a new version, sequel,

or reboot will be made for the movies in the future; however, there are many different Chinese

folklore tales or folktales from other countries of the world out there that the Disney company
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could adapt as Mulan is based from the traditional tale “The Ballad of Mulan.” If Disney decides

to adapt more cultural folklore from all over the world, they will most likely continue to try to

get rid of harmful stereotypes regarding gender and try to be more historically accurate as Disney

is creating more live actions, adaptations, and new stories.

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Works Cited

Bancroft, Tony, and Barry Cook, director. Mulan. Buena Vista Pictures, 1998.

Caro, Niki, director. Mulan. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, 2020.

Ebert, Roger. “Mulan Movie Review & Film Summary (1998): Roger Ebert.” Movie Review &

Film Summary (1998) | Roger Ebert, 19 June 1998,

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mulan-1998.

“Mulan (1998) Awards.” IMDb, IMDb.com, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120762/awards/?

ref_=tt_awd.

Rohan, Naahar. “Mulan Movie Review: A Monumental Misfire from Disney, the Worst of Its

Live-Action Remakes.” Hindustan Times, 3 Dec. 2020,

https://www.hindustantimes.com/hollywood/mulan-movie-review-a-monumental-misfire-

from-disney-the-worst-of-its-live-action-remakes/story-

HeMS996hpoUQ48NqSTzCUK.html.