Xena Warrior Princess: The Price, Lost Mariner, A Comedy of Eros

And we’re back with another three Xena Warrior Princess episodes to take us to the end of season two! Episodes usually improve the nearer one gets to the close of a season, since this is the time in which all the stops are pulled out in order to end things on a bang, but Xena opts for three rather low-key and standalone stories that emphasis the characters’ relationships rather any long-term story arcs.

Those were different times! But it’s been fun revisiting this crazy, funny, tonally schizophrenic show. Now I can start looking forward to season three, where everything really hit its stride.

Woman of the Month: Mulan

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.

Reading/Watching Log #51

It’s strange to think that at the start of this month everything was pretty normal. Now I’m writing this in the middle of lockdown, forbidden to leave the house for anything but essentials. No work, no play. But at least I might finally make a dent in the endless list of books to read and shows to watch.

Due to this, I lightened up my “female writers, female leads, female directors” stipulation a bit, as right now I just want to keep my mind calm by watching/reading whatever the hell it feels like – but for the most part, my New Years Resolution still holds.

In planning to make Mulan the Women of the Month in April (and knowing that the Disney remake is delayed for a good long while) I revisited the live-action Chinese version from 2009, as well as the (slightly ill-conceived) Wild Orchid, which was part of a much larger series of fairy tale-based stories for younger readers.

Nancy Drew also makes a couple of appearances, in both a made-for-television movie and an incredibly strange CW show (which isn't finished yet, so will have to be discussed next month), as does some good movies, some bad movies, and the inescapable presence of superheroes. And I finally read Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, a novel that shares my own name, and so naturally portrays said character as a dead wife. (Honestly though, I loved it).

I hope everything’s going okay with everyone else – there’s not really much to say on that front. Stay at home!

Stay Calm and Tell Stories: A Reading List for Self-Isolation

It’s official: all of New Zealand is in lockdown. I was at work on Monday, though the library itself was closed to customers, and that night Jacinda Ardern announced that all non-essential businesses and public venues would be closed for the next four weeks (today and tomorrow will be the grace period for people to start shutting things down).

The good news is that I was prepared for it: my father’s cousin is a doctor who warned him that this was a) serious and b) something that would last for a while, so that message was passed onto me about a week ago. The panic-buying has officially started, but I’m well-stocked. On the whole everyone is pretty calm: the government put a plan in place and has been following it for a while now; the local news stations have been wonderfully informative and Jacinda herself projects a sense of calm and competency.

I’ve no doubt there’ll be a few wankers who will make things difficult (despite all the warning signs, some people just didn’t bother to prepare) but on the whole the general feel is that we’re in control and nipping this thing in the bud. The number of cases is now over one hundred, but people are recovering and there have been no deaths so far.

So what to do when you’re in self-isolation? I’ve always got a pile of books to read and shows to watch, but I think it’s important to choice your material wisely. Don’t for example, watch HBO’s Chernobyl. Seriously, that would be a really stupid idea. Not something that I would ever do. No way.  

Be smart, and choose something from my recommendations: eleven chill, spiritual, life-affirming stories to read/watch while in self-isolation:

Links and Updates

The coronavirus has reached the South Island of New Zealand with (so far) one confirmed case, so it looks like we’ll be heading towards shut-downs and self-isolations soon enough. For now at least, life carries on as usual, but with a lot more hand sanitizer. I hope everyone out there is keeping safe, and not going crazy with panic buying.

I haven't done one of these posts for a while, because I am looking forward to precisely three upcoming projects, and no more…

Meta: My Favourite Little Women...

My head is still full of Little Women, and since there have been so many adaptations over the years, I felt it was time for a post that ranked the best portrayals of each character. By which I mean the four sisters, their suitors and other important characters (I won't bother with minor characters such as Hannah or Mr March).

And for the record, I wouldn't dare say that my choices are the objective best, but rather are just my personal favourites that you can agree or disagree with as you see fit.

Woman of the Month: Brea

Brea from The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance

There was a bounty of riches when it came to the portrayal of female characters in The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. Its trio of protagonists were made up of the rare configuration of two girls to one boy, a good chunk of the story focused on a High Queen and her three daughters, and the decision to make Gelfling society a matriarchy automatically put dozens of women into positions of power.

The two female leads were very different in personality, status, background and narrative purpose, but as much as I loved Deet’s quiet, understated bravery, it was Brea and her scholarly pursuit of knowledge, in an arc that involved research, problem solving and communication, that I really latched onto.

Brea’s role is to be an information-gatherer, but she also exists at the centre of the show’s family drama as the third daughter of the High Maudra, and one that doesn’t always live up to the expectations laid upon her. But her tendency to always get herself into trouble is the trait that makes her journey possible: she’s always asking questions, seeking answers, burrowing deeper.

So her role in the overarching story is one of discovery; of uncovering hard truths about the world she lives in and sharing them – even with those that don’t want to hear. After being granted a vision of a strange symbol, her curiosity leads her to a sentient rock creature concealed in a cavern under her mother’s throne, which in turn guides her to a desert dwelling where all the answers to the Skeksis’ true nature is waiting.

In light of this role as a truth seeker, I feel it really should have been her and not Rian who puts out the call to arms to the rest of the Gelfling clans through the fire (especially since everyone would have been more inclined to believe the daughter of the slain Maudra). But hey – her notebook, her relationship with her two sisters, and her discovery of the crystal shard all have their part to play.

From a technical point of view, I think Brea managed to have the most expressive face of all the Gelflings, whether she was thoughtful or frightened, desperate or tearful, and at times you forget you’re watching a puppet. That was the real joy of this show, to see an underrated art form once again be brought back into the spotlight, in such a way that expanded and enriched what was already a cult classic.