Stand Up For Disney. But Not The Way You Think.
Is Mulan a hot mess? Sure. Yep. A hundred percent. (But hear me out?)
I watched the live action Mulan this week, twice, and I gotta say: the former cultural anthropologist in me wants to rip this thing a new one. There’s so much wrong with this little Orientalist plaything that I am not sure where to even begin.
But fortunately, I don’t need to rip anyone’s anything because someone else has done the job for me, and far more thoroughly than I ever could. Xiran Jay Zhao penned an extraordinary essay about all the things culturally wrong with Mulan. It’s a must-read, and even if you only get through a couple of paragraphs, it will be enough for you to realize that Mulan’s a very hot mess.
But there’s another reason I just can’t bring myself to rip Mulan apart.
You see, I just can’t shake the feeling—no, the very hard fact—that I absolutely loved the movie. I was thoroughly entertained by it and found myself cheering for lil’ Miss Hua Mulan from the first to the last minute.
And perhaps what I loved most was hearing my husband wail, “I have goosebumps! Look! I have goosebumps!” as he ignored the rivers of tears streaming down his face.
Is Mulan racist?
It’s always tricky when Disney takes on a piece of treasured cultural heritage and adapts it for a Western audience. But you can bet your bottom yuan that it’s going to be a clutch-your-dogtags racist minefield.
And still, when the choir of critics inevitably erupts with disapproval, I often find myself muttering the good ol’ tired refrain: “Oh for crying out loud, cut them some slack. It’s Disney after all.”
That’s a statement that a lot of people like me seem to mutter. But it’s also a statement that suggests that Disney producers are a bunch of dunces who can’t get out of their own way. Nimrods be nimrods.
But here’s the thing.
Disney producers are not nimrods. Disney producers are creative geniuses. They are diligent researchers. They are worldly collaborators. They belong to one of the biggest entertainment companies in the world with a rich and outsized talent pool. They can absolutely make whatever they want—racist or not racist.
A Disney animator works on Moana.
But they choose to make simplistic, problematic fluff because they think that’s what we want. They think that’s how we want to spend our money to keep children happy and entertained.
Where would they get this idea? Where would they get the idea that Americans are a bunch of remedial simpletons unable to understand cultural difference with any degree of nuance?
I have no idea. Maybe this video can explain it:
Disney’s not a bunch of nimrods. They’re mujer-trucking brilliant. But we freedom-lovin’ dips seem to settle again and again for dog doo doo.
And before you think I’m being an elitist jerk, let me make it clear: nobody is born dumb. They are made dumb by a system that doesn’t care about them—a system that only cares about their easy exploitation.
It’s about time we do something about it.
If you’re still a Mulan fan, albeit conflicted like I am, check out my phoenix packet. It will cheer you up:
Resources:
If you’re an educator and are looking for free, well-researched resources about China for your classroom, check out The Asia Society (full disclosure: I used to be a producer for them, and they are wonderful.)
Also be sure to check out this informative list full of more free teaching materials about China.
