Mulan: My Favourite Disney Princess
People always assume Jasmine is my favourite Disney princess. But no, she's not. Because A) she's not Indian (a misconception I still have to handle), B) I watched Aladdin when I was much older so she wasn't really part of my childhood, and C) SHE HAD A PET TIGER WHEN I CAN'T HAVE ONE. After watching Aladdin, I defiantly named one of the calves at my grandfather's place in India as Raja. If I can't have a pet tiger named Raja, I will have a pet cow named Raja. Same thing. Anyway, anyone who knows me knows that I'm actually obsessed with Mulan. That if you threw something that implied she was less than, I would throw back a "SHE SAVED CHINA! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"
You guys might know by now that I'm an Indian transplant. Disney princesses was not a thing I knew about, or was raised on. I got into them unknowingly when some of my father's colleagues gave him books to give me so that I can improve on my English (Thank you kind people!). And among them were Cinderella, Snow White and Rapunzel (the old school Rapunzel, not Tangled Rapunzel). As a kid, I didn't even know they were in the same Disney umbrella. I just thought they were different princesses. The first book I read was Cinderella. I remember flipping back and forth so many times because I couldn't understand for the life of me why the prince had no idea what she looked like. I'm sorry, you danced with her all night, but you didn't see her face? You had to go around asking girls to wear shoes? (and as an adult, is that not the least bit feet fetish-y?) And somehow no one else could fit into these shoes? HOW? Next up was Snow White. Kissing a "corpse"? Okay. Even as a young girl, my innately female instincts made me uncomfortable. Then came Rapunzel. Now this was physically the biggest book of them all, and the pictures were stunning. Which made me like the book but not the story. You get what I mean? Everything was so pretty in the book but I remember reaching the "And They Lived Happily Ever After" and getting all kid frustrated and saying "BUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?" Like is this ALL there is to it?
And then came Mulan. I was about 8 or 9 years old when I watched the movie. Since young, I was naturally obsessed with all things warrior and martial arts. I just thought it was all so cool. I played with Legos (building blocks to be honest, because Legos were too expensive for us), toy jeeps, made my dolls fight and had a weird fascination with fire and swords. I didn't do, act or see myself as stereotypically feminine. When I first saw Mulan, I took an immediate liking to her but I didn't understand why. Now that I'm old enough to understand the concepts that you can't really name as a child, I realise that she didn't look overly feminine like Cinderella, Snow White or Rapunzel or like all the female dolls I had. I still didn't understand American accents around this time, so I only watched the movie and put things together with the animation and imagery. It was clear from the opening scene where she has to do the chores, that Mulan is smart and resourceful. You realise from the matchmaker snafu that Mulan doesn't think of herself as worthy because of the cultural expectations of her. Around here, I was already starting to see myself in Mulan. Then comes trouble in the form of army recruitment, and overnight, Mulan decides to get into the army in place of her father to protect him. Which, even as a 8 year old, I had enough spunk in me to know that was something I would do for my father as well. Then she gets into training, where we realise how determined she is. Sure, she joined the army so her dad didn't have to and when she got there she could have done enough just to get by, but instead she becomes the BEST of the platoon. She put herself before everyone else during the battle with the Huns, and I marvelled at how badass that was. She returns to save the Emperor after finding out about the bad guys' plans. When no one would listen to her, took matters in her own hands and SAVED CHINA. She gets home and her dad hugs her, and I understand he's proud of her. Right now I'm already an emotional mess from the scene where all the people bowed down to her (like I said, all things warrior and bravado were so impressionable on me) so I'm just bawling my eyes out at this point. I still get choked up during these scenes. What? You never wanted to make your dad proud?
If you ask me, Mulan is the most underrated Disney princess. She paved the way for Disney to make films like Tiana, Tangled, Brave, Frozen and ...Moana? Is she a Disney princess? Where are we on this? I have heard a lot, A LOT, about why Mulan had to doubt her self worth, she was just showing you had to be a guy to get things done, and did she really have to marry Shang. Well yes, of course she would doubt her self worth even though she's smart and capable because she's in a society that constantly tells her that smart and capable is NOT the way to be! Environment determines an individual's sense of worth people! How do we still not know this? Coming from an Asian culture, it was almost intuitive for me to understand why Mulan had to dress up as a guy and why she got shunned when it's revealed that she's a girl. She obviously couldn't show up at the military as a girl - that would defeat the purpose of her showing up, which was to protect her father. They needed a man from the Fa family so she gave them a "man" from the Fa family. Also, am I the only one who noticed that Mulan was wearing female clothes at the end scene? That people knew she was female when they bowed down to her? And that even the guys dressed up as women to help out in the end? Mulan bashed the cultural stereotypes and gender stereotypes embedded within her culture when she saved the Emperor. I mean, is that not feminist? I didn't have a problem with the movie ending with Shang asking her out either because first of all, Mulan had her priorities straight. Sure, she had a crush on Shang but she focused on saving China first. Mulan was at the cusp of Disney's "I need a man" films and "I don't need a man" films so it's almost like Mulan took one for the team by getting together with a man at the end. Emphasis being on the "end" and not during. It's because Mulan didn't flirt/ romance/ kiss/ dance with Shang during the film that we have single princesses now. I mean, when it boils down to it anyway, would you rather she marry someone who knows her, and someone she likes or someone she didn't, and doesn't let her be herself?
As a little girl, to me, Mulan's predecessors simply got married. And even though I was interested in "boy" things as a kid, I still had the "wedding fantasy". Mulan showed me I could make a name for myself AND get married. Key being, focus on making a name for yourself first. Since I didn't know about Jasmine around this time, Mulan was the first Disney princess that suited my Asian context more. This was also around the time when I was starting to hear "This is not how girls act" (i.e., to get married one day). Mulan showed me that it's okay to bend gender rules within your culture. At an age where I was trying to find my place and voice in this world, and at a time when even I couldn't understand my own obsession with all things warrior, Mulan encouraged me to find my inner warrior and showed me that it's more than okay for me to be whoever I wanted to be.
As a girl who was starting to question if she was acting too "boy", Mulan, physically, emotionally and mentally strong, proved to me that there is nothing wrong in expressing both "masculine" and "feminine" sides of yourself.
So, who's your favourite Disney princess?
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