Hua Mulan 花木蘭 from The Ballad of Mulan
Mulan might well be the oldest female character I’ve featured on this blog considering The Ballad of Mulan dates back to the 5th century and is set during the Northern Wei Empire, a dynasty which ruled northern China from 386 to 534 AD.
The story itself is fairly straightforward: out of filial piety to her father, and with the blessing of both her parents, Mulan disguises herself in her father’s armour and rides to war against Rouran invaders. There she wins herself great renown through her prowess in battle, and after twelve years of fighting she returns home, returning to her feminine appearance and shocking her visiting comrades, who in all their years together never realized who she truly was.
It’s a story ripe for expansion and adaptation, and there certainly have been many over the centuries. Some, like the Romance of the Sui and Tang (1675) come to a tragic end, in which Mulan teams up with another warrior woman, the king’s daughter Xianniang, but eventually kills herself to avoid becoming a concubine (I may pass on that one).
For better or worse Western audiences weren’t introduced to Mulan in mainstream entertainment until Disney’s take on the material in 1998 (I actually recall the film's tagline being "soon the world will know her name", which probably confused thousands of Chinese students who had to study the ballad in school). Their adaptation gives the traditional tale an overtly feminist angle, exploring the cultural expectations and gender roles placed upon women in a way the ancient ballad didn’t (in which Mulan not only went to war with her father’s permission, but without suffering any punishment for her subterfuge).
It’s also a movie filled with queer subtext and commentary on gender performance at a level that hasn’t been seen before or since in a Disney animated film, from both male and female characters partaking in what’s explicitly called cross-dressing, Shang presumably being attracted to “Ping”, Mulan’s male persona, and Mulan’s uncertainty and discomfort in her own skin (conveyed in her Reflection song), which has often been interpreted through a gay or transgender lens.
But due to a number of reasons (including but not limited to cultural/historical inaccuracies, the annoying animal sidekicks, and Mulan being more on a journey of self-discovery rather than one motivated by duty to her family and country) it wasn’t very well received in China, who went on to make their own version in 2009.
Mulan: Rise of a Warrior adhered closer to the events of the original ballad, while also including more themes of self-sacrifice and serving the greater good. This Mulan (played by Zhao Wei) is forced to give up the man she loves twice, first when he fakes his own death to force her into letting go of personal attachments, and then by her own volition so that he might marry the Rouran princess and secure a lasting peace between their people.
The character has popped up plenty of times since then, only a few of which I'm familiar with: Disney released a direct-to-video sequel in 2005, Cameron Dokey penned Wild Orchid, a retelling as part of the Once Upon a Time series, and of course Jamie Chung played the character in that other Once Upon a Time, in which she was a closeted bi who fell in love with Princess Aurora and never got the chance to tell her. Man, that show was so frustrating.
And hey, apparently The Secret of Mulan is a thing that exists, in which she’s depicted as a caterpillar who eventually transforms into a warrior-butterfly. Okay.
Oh, and let’s not forget her cameo appearance in Wreck-It Ralph: Ralph Breaks the Internet, where she’s setting off even more gay vibes.
Across all these versions of Mulan, you can’t imagine more profound differences in characterization. The original is intellectual and duty-bound, Disney’s is awkward and uncertain, Zhao Wei’s is stoic but sensitive. And as for the new Mulan, played by Yifei Liu – who knows? Her film is going to be delayed for a while longer, but it’s guaranteed to be a hit anyway.
Every version of Mulan goes to war to serve her country, but I think the reason she’s such an iconic and lasting figure is because her driving motivation is the love of her father. None of the adaptations really get into why China needs defending, or even if doing so is the right thing to do (hey, what if the Rourans or Huns had a justified reason for invading?) because Mulan’s decision is more about her deep love for the man who raised her.
And this may seem like an odd reference, but I’m reminded of a quote by Ziauddin Yousafzai, father of Malala: “Why is my daughter strong? I didn’t clip her wings. Malala used to be known as my daughter, but now I'm known as her father - and proud of it.”
The same could be said of Mulan.
No comments:
Post a Comment