Girl against the world

The children’s movie I have located for this assignment is Disney’s Mulan. This story takes place in China. Upon the imminent menace of the Huns, the Chinese Emperor requests that a man of every family has to be called into the army.

Mulan’s aged father is called into arms being the only eligible member of the family. Mulan’s concern after seeing her father’s patriotic but decayed condition forces her to substitute him in the army disguised as a man.

The implied message of the film Mulan is that anyone can be a hero. The film demonstrates that it takes virtues of courage, perseverance and devotion in order to beat the odds and the pessimists. Virtues such as patriotism and family values can also be attributed to the film’s implied message.

The movie presents its implied message by portraying in the beginning Mulan as the opposite of a hero.  Mulan fails epically at giving a good impression to a matchmaker. She displays a clumsy and nonchalant attitude towards the matchmaker. The matchmaker tells Mulan that she will fail to bring honor to her family.

Upon Mulan’s father departure, family values are displayed. Mulan makes the decision of substituting her father. She cuts her hair short and steals her father’s horse and armour. She heads to the barracks and presents herself as the eligible male of her family.

Mulan’s initial courage presents another challenge, conditioning at the army. Mulan meets several males, most out of shape and poorly conditioned. Under the instructions of Captain Li Shang, Mulan succeeds in training camp after persevering through the rigorous training. Mulan was humiliated and disliked by some soldiers, but she also began her transformation into a heroine. She endured the pessimists and trained harder than anyone to become a formidable soldier.

Mulan and Captain Shang lead the Chinese army into battle against the Huns. After an epic battle in a snow covered mountain, the Chinese take lead in war against the Huns. Mulan, however, is wounded and her mask falls. She is banned from the army as the Chinese army heads to the Imperial City. Mulan’s determination and patriotism leads her to the Imperial City to protect and save the Emperor from one final Hun strike.

The children are the intended audience of Mulan. The film attracts boys, girls and parents with a story line involving combat, an unlike heroine and family values. In my opinion the argument of the movie is ineffective. It clearly displays the courage, devotion and perseverance of a female in the military barracks, but it also characterizes gender roles and inequality. For instance, when Mulan arrives to the barracks, she meets rather incompetent men who all fail at conditioning.

The film shows to kids a male dominated society in which daughters are “weak”. The cliché is that women are too delicate for war, and men only are capable of such situations. Captain Shang and Mulan represent such cliché. Concluding the film argument is ineffective because it shows children a male dominated society in which women are ranked lower and have to work extra hard to level up with men.

The ethos is that anyone with the right will can succeed and be a hero.  It is clear that the soldiers of the Chinese Army can achieve victory as long as they train hard. The pathos is conveyed tby he virtues that impulse Mulan to successfully substitute her father in combat. She believes in herself and knows she will bring honor to her family. The logos is the military. Men form the army only, and Mulan has to disguise as a man to become an eligible member of the army.

I will rate this movie with 3 according the values it shows, and also as an interesting movie for kids. You dont really realize about the messages and the meanings until you are old and you watch it again. Even with my age it is still a great movie.