I wanted to know what's all the fuss about Mulan.

So, I watched both the live-action movie

and the original Mulan, which came out in 1998.
It's not a perfect film. It has some questionable racial depictions. But it is one of the most
progressive films that came at that time. Mulan is unlike any other Disney female lead at the
time Arguably, ever. She's not born royalty nor nobility and does not marry into one either.
She's a warrior with a kill count of thousands. For a traditionally highly patriarchal country,
Mulan is a crucial icon. Who not only gives girls an important representation but a sense of
empowerment.
Fast forward 20 years later, a new, live-action Disney Mulan came out, and it came at the
perfect time. Feminism is, once again, a hot topic in the world. It is the ideal time for a new
generation of Mulan. To inspire people and Disney messed it up!
To understand how the live-action Mulan fails, We need to see where the 1998 Mulan
succeeds.
The story of Mulan is set in a nonspecific era in ancient China. A time when the greatest
honor a woman can bring is to get married and bear children, which Mulan is terrible at.
During this time, the Huns begin to attack China. To counter the offensive, China conscripts
one son from each family. Having no sons in the house, Mulan's father is the only one who
can go. Too wrapped up in the social order, Mulan's father refuses to consider otherwise.
And with his age, he will surely die on the battlefield. To save him, Mulan decides to dress
up as a man and join the army.
Mulan's journey empowers women in two ways: First, by showing her capability in holding
her own against men, Mulan starts as a total amateur, and in any relevant aspect, Mulan
can keep up with men. As the other soldiers grow, So does she. Here, the film made a
statement that Women, in any practical situation, Can be just as capable as any other man.
Mulan learns to be masculine. She is capable of harnessing strength and power, traits that,
traditionally, are valued by men. But what's more interesting is the second way the film
empowers women. By empowering femininity: Now, this sounds strange because, at first
glance, Mulan isn't very feminine. She is a tomboy and a failed bride, and she's also not
good at masculinity, being too awkward at pretending to be a man. That's because those are
the extreme versions of gender expression.
Femininity means submission
Masculinity means aggression
In a sense, Mulan's journey is to embrace her gender expression. She succeeds in doing
traditionally masculine tasks by refusing to engage in hypermasculinity, rejecting brute
strength values. Instead, she's able to overcome her challenge by using innovative solutions
on multiple occasions, and her friends learn from her too. They start as hyper angry hyper-
masculine men. But by the end, are willing to be in drag. To save the Emperor, we see both
sides learn to embrace each other. Girls can be manly, and that men being girly is not
necessarily a bad thing. There is strength on both sides, and there is strength in not limiting
one with either extreme. Finally, it's essential to realize the climax is her trying to save the
Emperor and not China. It has probably an unintentional moral, Mulan's power. By
extension, a woman's ability is best used to uphold the patriarchy. The storytellers at Disney
probably took notice, too. The film cleverly suggests that Mulan doesn't save the Emperor
from loyalty, but she merely sees the Emperor as a fellow human in need of help. But more
importantly, after the dust settles, The Emperor offers Mulan a position in his counsel
"You can have his job," Mulan declines, rejecting the value in upholding the patriarchy. She
returns home to the only patriarch she recognizes; her father presents him the sword and a
medal bringing symbolic honors to her family. What does the father do?
He tosses everything aside and embraces his daughter.
"The greatest gift and honor."
"Is having you for a daughter."
They are breaking the final patriarchal relationship. Their love is a human one.

Coming to Mulan 2020 It follows mostly the same basic plot. Mulan fails to be a bride; China
summons its troops, father too old to fight, Mulan leaves in her father's place. But with a
few critical differences.
1. Mulan is now a naturally gifted fighter. That is such an awful decision because of
seeing Mulan growing alongside her friends and letting us know that women are as capable
as men. Now, only the select few who are blessed by the gods and have the privilege of
catching up with men. What about those who aren't so gifted?. Imagine you are a young girl
with confidence issues you watched Mulan 2020. Then you go back to school and see other
prettier girls than you, who are better at sports than you. Instead of saying you are just as
capable with enough perseverance, you say, No, they are Mulan, and you are only the sister
now, and by the way, Sorry, not everyone is special
2. In the animation, Mulan is a problem solver. Mulan finds her way to the top using
her wit Instead of brute strength. And, She's the ONLY ONE to make it. Mulan can solve this
problem because she can think outside the box without indulging in hypermasculinity,
where strength and brute force are valued. In context, the hypermasculine ideal of power is
and will always be only achievable by the few, and not everyone will make it. Mulan's
success is a statement that there is value outside of the hypermasculine way of thinking.
The live-action version of this scene has Mulan climbing the mountain with two buckets of
water. How does she solve this problem? Mulan simply does the manly thing better than
men and through sheer strength and will power. Making this worse, Mulan kills the villain by
using his weapon, a weapon traditionally associated with men.
On the surface, it appears progressive that men and women are not so different. But when
carefully examined, it indulges in the traditional masculine value of strength and that a
woman is good only if she can man up. As a woman, Mulan's experience and perspective
have not valued if anything; her gender is a hindrance. So instead of her teaching her friends
to break free from hypermasculinity. She embraces it.
The only lesson she learns in the film is not to hide her true identity and her naturally gifted
power.
The two themes don't go well together!
The third crucial difference is the reason Mulan wants to save the Emperor.
3. Her fight is literally to uphold the conservative hierarchy. Because in her story, she's
treated fine as a woman. Just because one supernaturally gifted woman is respected, all
women are respected, and gender equality is achieved.
We know few live actions were able to live up to the hype. But the Mulan is entirely rubbish.