MOVIE REVIEW

INC410 PRINCIPLES OF INTERPERSONAL

COMMUNICATION

TITLE: MULAN

NAME STUDENT ID CLASS

ELI SYAHIRAH BINTI AZIMAN 2019692438 MIFH

PREPARED FOR: MADAM ROSILAWATI BINTI SULTAN

MOHIDEEN

LAST SUBMISSION: 28 MAY 2022

TABLE OF CONTENT

Number Description Page

1 SYNOPSIS 1

2 ISSUED / PROBLEMS REVEALED IN THE MOVIE 2-4

THEORIES CAN BE RELATED TO THE ISSUE OF

3 5-7
INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

THE ISSUE / PROBLEMS IDENTIFIED RELATED TO

4 8 - 11
THE STUDY OF INTERPERSONAL COMMUNCATION

SUGGESTION IN MINIMIZING THE ISSUE /

5 12 - 14
PROBLEMS OCCURRED IN THE MOVIE

6 REFERENCE 15
 1. SYNOPSIS

Mulan is a girl, the only child of her honoured family. When the Huns invade China, one man
from every family is called to arms. Mulan's father, who has an old wound and cannot walk
properly, decides to fight for his country and the honour of his family though he will not
survive an enemy encounter. Mulan, who just got rejected by the matchmaker because she
had set her on fire, decides to prove that she is worth something and steals away to fit her
father's place in the Chinese army. She prays to her family's ancestors for protection and
luck before leaving as a man in her father's armour with her family's horse. The ancestors
awake and decide to send Mushu, a little dishonoured dragon to aid Mulan in her quest.
Weeks later, Mulan and the other troopers have survived the training camp and are on the
way north to stop the Huns. After being spotted and pursued by the enemies, an impasse
situation in the mountains forces Mulan to come up with an idea. But then, her real gender
will no longer be a secret. She decides to risk everything in order to save China. Mulan is a
hero; the emperor awards her his crest, and she is also given Shan Yu's sword. She is
offered a position on the Emperor's Council, but politely turns it down, requesting instead
that she be allowed to return home to her family. Her request is granted and when she
arrives, she gives her father the awards she has received.

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 2. ISSUED / PROBLEMS REVEALED IN THE MOVIE

 Gender stereotypes.

Women are depicted as weak and defenceless throughout the film, whereas men are
described as strong, intellectual, and honourable. In a debate with Shang, Chi-Fu declares,
"She's a woman!" in response to Shang's claim that Mulan is a hero. She'll never be
valuable!" The song "You'll bring honour to us all" is sung as evidence that the only way
women may contribute glory to their families is by becoming good wives, learning how to
serve their husbands with grace and obedience, at the scene where Mulan is preparing to
see the matchmaker who will arrange her marriage. Mulan appears to be bringing honour to
her family by fighting in the war and saving the country. When she is disguised as a man,
she is seen as a hero and respected, but not when she is her own gender. The qualities that
people value are once again underlined in the song "A Girl Worth Fighting For." A woman
must be lovely "paler than the moon with eyes that gleam like stars" and a good cook "it all
depends on what she cooks like" to be "worth fighting for." Mulan, the protagonist, has a
strong view about a strong independent girl: "How about a girl with a brain/ Who always
speaks her mind?" The males answer to her concept with a resounding "NAH!". This
demonstrates how society still values women who have the characteristics they expect:
beauty, cooking ability, and, most crucially, the ability to boost their men's ego. Instead of
looking for housewives and girls who "will marvel at [their] strength, adore [their] battle
wounds," the guys in this scene appear to be more interested in women's intelligence,
thoughts, and feelings. Intelligence and education appear to be exclusively male pursuits;
women with those characteristics are useless, and instead should focus on being
outstanding housewives to increase their value.

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  Purpose justifies the way.

Mulan "went away from home, pretended to be a soldier, fooled her commanding officer,
disgraced the Chinese Army, and demolished the emperor's palace..." BUT, because she
saved them all, it's all right. In addition, she did everything "according to her heart." What if
she hadn't rescued China? She would have had to face some harsh repercussions! The
film's general message appears to be that defying your parents, lying to your superiors, and
so on is okay if it's for a good cause and you're doing what you believe is right, which is
certainly not a nice message for youngsters to be left with.

 The enforcing of gender roles applies.

Mulan also supports the image of honourable male attributes. "Let's get down to business, to
battle the Huns," says the song "I'll Make A Man Out Of You." When I prayed for sons, did
they send me daughters?" demonstrates the notion that men are the only ones who should
battle honourably and contribute to the development of their country. Captain Shang's
purpose, as indicated by the term "create a man," is to develop people into "men" with the
strength, power, and intelligence to battle. The line "Be a man" is repeated several times to
emphasise the strength that males seem to possess that woman do not. Mulan must turn
herself into a man and pursue male attributes to be regarded "worthy" of joining the army
because feminine traits are not acceptable during battle. Mulan's male pals disguise
themselves as women and flirt with the Huns in order to save the emperor in another
scenario. This devalues women in some ways, because they are utilised to lure the troops
through flirtation rather than intelligence or physical power. In certain instances, masculine
attributes are portrayed as superior to feminine qualities, which contradicts the movie's goal
of supporting feminism.

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  The gender roles and gender stereotypes are resilient.

Having saved the Mulan is offered an honourable position in the realm, but only as a man.
This demonstrates that men are still expected to succeed and be awarded prominent
responsibilities. Instead of shattering the glass ceiling, Mulan returns to her family and
assumes the role of obedient daughter. Her decision demonstrates that no matter how brave
a woman is when playing the role of a hero, things should eventually fall into place as
society expects. Women marry, care for their families, raise children, and embrace their own
space. Mulan may have saved the entire country, but her family will not be honoured. "Great,
she brought home a sword," her grandma says of becoming a bride, which brings only
honour to her family. She should have brought a male home, in my opinion." Mulan's
conclusion demonstrates that women can only play heroic and honourable roles while
wearing men's masks. Their goal, no matter how clever or courageous they are, is to return
home and become a housewife.

 Conflict and structural functionalism.

Shan Yu, the Hun leader, attacks China in order to achieve wealth and power. He decides to
fight to destroy China's army and demonstrate what a true and powerful leader looks like.
Mulan and her village represent the wealthy, whereas Shan Yu represents the impoverished.
He could be retaliating for his difficulties with being a member of the lower social class.
Mulan and her village must follow the norms in place at the time. Society believes that by
enforcing these norms, they will benefit their society. The women are expected to marry and
serve as housewives and child bearers, while the men are expected to earn a living.

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 3. Theories can be related to the issue that interpersonal communication

My case study the Mulan Movie and the theory that is based on the movie is the
patriarchal society. "A patriarchal social system can be defined as a system where men
are in authority over women in all aspects of society. In modern American culture and
society, the idea of patriarchy is not as accepted or practiced as it once was decades ago."
(McCallister) The characteristics of patriarchal system male dominance: men make all
decisions in a patriarchal system, both in community and in their family unit, occupy all
positions of power and control, and are considered superior. Male Identification: Men are
worried about distinguishing proof that incorporates characteristics of control, quality,
forcefulness, discernment, solid hardworking attitude, and intensity. Every one of these
characteristics add to male recognizable proof in a male centric framework.

Male Centeredness: In a male centric framework, the focal point of action and movement
is on men and what they do to push the general public ahead. In any man, centric
framework, men will be the concentration and engineer all things considered and
innovations, men will be the saints in all circumstances, and men will be the focal point of
social commitment, fun, and amusement. Fixation on Control: Men living in a male centric
framework or society must be in charge consistently. They want to control all social and
family circumstances and must settle on all choices with respect to accounts and instruction.
"As we see in the first line of "I'll Make a Man Out of You", Shang (the captain of Mulan's
military unit) tells the men that he asked for sons, not daughters to fight for him. The song
tells us that he will shape the soldiers into men ready for war. He specifically targets Mulan
during the song because in the beginning of training, she has a much more difficult time
learning to fight' (Tcorsiblog, 'Mulan vs. the Patriarchy', 2016).

At first, Mulan was expected to be selected as a wife for a potential suitor; this is an
indication of women's roles in feudal society. To add respect to your relatives as a daughter,
the most you should do is to have to be a wife with 'good taste, cool, loyal, fast-paced job,
and have a tiny waist, said the lyrics to 'Honour all of us! A girl must be respectful and
depend on her husband's hands to be a woman worth fighting over. Mulan publicly opposed
certain gender stereotypes in her cultural identity, risking her life for her father rescuing the
King and her lover from harm. All of this has clearly demonstrated girls can just do what a
man need to do, and perhaps even more. Mulan is a queen of her own self. She did it on her
own and didn't depend on everyone else, particularly men. The movie revealed Mulan as a
woman who was trying to pursue and trying to prove herself. Physically, she battles even
further to defeat for her parents and because of her own dignity and respect. She's ensuring

5
the safety of the whole empire. Mulan is radical and liberal, and so much more egalitarian.
The best part of it is that Mulan is based on a real person.

The original movie of Mulan originated from Chinese tale * Ballad of Mulan.: The very
beginning lines in the single "I ‘Il Make a Man Out of You' of the soundtrack of the Disney
movie Mulan reflect the colonial economic dominance of the U.S. and traditional China. In
Mulan, the patriarchal social class in our community could Be seen not only as a
continuation of cultural traditions but also as a rejection of traditions. This reflects even our
own ever really changing society today actually. Females is often seen as more delicate and
softer, or as self-reliant, but we need to note that traditional beliefs and views also currently
exist. So, in this movie there is a kind of gender stereotypes which is the patriarchal society
that means men are dominating the society such as in the movie how they see women and
that her only role is to put makeup, be beautiful and get married. That women could not fight
only men can and that women should stay at home, it made Mulan camouflage into a man to
be able to battel in the place of her father and how she kept trying hard to improve herself
and working hard to be better but after that when she proved herself to be better and when
they found out her real identity the wanted to execute her but the male lead Captain Li
Shang stopped himself from executing her because she saved him once and he said " a life
for a life" and then he released her and told her to go back home but she could not and she
went to help them save the emperor. "Women should learn to overcome criticisms
emanating from the public and self-reproaches and they should be determined to succeed
even in a patriarchal society, they should define themselves.

Consequently, women should overcome the insurmountable odd of stereotyping in the

same way that Mulan overcame it to join the army which was predominantly men domain
and that eliminated the stereotypical feminine mentality. This stereotyping of women as
people to perform certain limited roles should be despised." (Snail, 'Role of Gender in
'Mulan' by Walt Disney - 1702 Words: Research Paper Example', 2019). "Modern women
are struggling to define themselves and to justify their worth and they often get into trouble
when they try to define and distinguish themselves. From the story, women can learn that it
is not the physicality that defines gender roles but intellect and tenacity that defined." (Snail,
'Role of Gender in 'Mulan' by Walt Disney - 1702 Words: Research Paper Example', 2019).

The sociological theories that were prevalent throughout the film were conflict and
structural functionalism. Shan Yu, leader of the Huns, attacks China to gain wealth and
power. He chooses to go into battle in order to defeat China's army and show them what a
real and powerful leader looks like. Shan Yu represents the poor while Mulan and her village

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represent the wealthy. He may be taking out his frustrations of being in the lower class of
society in the form of retaliation. According to Stein and Ferris, "Conflict theory proposes that
conflict and tension are basic facts of social life and suggests that people have
disagreements over goals and values and are involved in struggles over both resources and
power". Mulan also experiences gender role conflict between herself and her male alter ego
Ping. When Mulan is herself, her thoughts and actions are dismissed in an instant, but when
she is Ping, she experiences the freedoms that come with being a man. When Mulan first
personifies Ping, she struggles with the ideology of how men act. For example, in one of the
scenes from Mulan, a fight breaks out, and Mulan attributes it to the fact that it was just one
of those things that men do by saying that "but you know how it is When you get those
manly urges and you just got to kill something". Her rationalization of men acting rowdy may
come from her seeing men as dominant figures, so they are entitled to do what they want.
Mulan presents structural functionalism as one of its key points for the expectations of
society. Ferris and Stein define structural functionalism as "a paradigm based on the
assumption that society is a unified whole that functions because of the contributions of its
separate structures". In Mulan, Mulan and her village must abide by the rules set during that
time. Society believes that with these rules in place, they work well for their society. The
women are to get married and function as housewives and child bearers while the men are
the breadwinners.

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 4. The issue / problem identified related to the study interpersonal
communication

Interpersonal Conflict

Interpersonal conflict is “the interaction of interdependent people who perceive incompatible

goals and interference from each other in achieving those goals” (pg. 180). The first concept
that I recognize in the film is image conflict which is define as “a conflict with another about
one’s sense of self (pg. 183). An example of this would be when Mulan and her family are
gathered around the dinner table after an announcement from the emperor states that one
man from each family has to fight in war. Mulan wants to be brave, reasonable and above all
wants to stand up for her father to save him due to his bad condition. Her father quickly
rejects her opinion and tells her she should know her place which is to go by the rules of
their culture. The conflict arises between Mulan and her father as Mulan tries to be the
person her family wants her to be. Second is policy conflict. When people can't agree on a
problem-solving approach or action plan in a particular circumstance, this conflict arises.
Personality, background, education, and a variety of other characteristics may all influence
how someone approaches policy or problem-solving, thus this type of disagreement isn't
uncommon. It might happen when parents disagree on the most effective method to punish
a kid, or when employees disagree about how to approach a large project. Lastly, ego
conflict. Ego conflict frequently occurs with other forms of conflict, making any issue more
difficult to resolve. When a disagreement becomes personal, this is a regular occurrence.
This situation is somehow related to second issue that have been discussed. In the
beginning, nobody cared what Mulan had to say because she Was labelled as weakling
woman. Specially in the scene where Mulan discovered that the Huns were on their way
harm the emperor. She was trying to warn the people but the no one paid any attention to
her even the general. She asked Mushu the dragon why no one was listening to her, Mushu
replied "remember you are a woman again". This label changed the in the end when Mulan
decided to take matters in her own hand and was able to save China. Then automatically
people's perspective towards her changed and she was respected. This change in
perspective is shown when the emperor acknowledges Mulan and bows down to her at the
end of the movie.

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Destructive Conflict

As for the first issue, often, people fail to agree on ideas and conflict often arises. Destructive
conflict is an important interpersonal skill. When people perceive their disagreements from a
win–lose perspective rather than looking for solutions that benefit both parties, conflicts
become destructive. A lack of flexibility in responding to others is a feature of destructive
conflict. Some of the potential expressions of destructive conflict include cyberbullying, hate
crimes, stalking, and physical, sexual, and verbal assault. The Internet makes it easier to
send out negative and destructive relationship messages to a larger number of individuals in
a shorter amount of time. It is illegal in most states to publish disturbing, threatening, or
intimidating statements on social media. Conflict, according to Buchanan and Huczynski
(2004), "begins when one party feels that another party has negatively impacted, or is about
to negatively impact, something the first party cares about." In addition, destructive conflict is
characterized by physical aggression and violence, verbal hostility such as threats or
shouting, intense conflict with contempt and criticism. I see relating to conflict is bullying
which is “a form of conflict in which the abuse is persistent, and the person being bullied
finds it very difficult to defend himself or herself” (pg. 190). This is shown when Mulan shows
up to her first day of training as Ping. As she tries to fit in as a male soldier, the others bully
her by calling her names, putting a spider down her back, taking advantage of one of the
drills by throwing rocks at her, pushing her around which makes her look bad and makes it
hard for her to stand up for herself due to her needing to hide her true identity and avoiding
the penalty of death for being a female soldier in the army

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Interpersonal Power

The third issue is about the chapter of Interpersonal Power. The degree to which a person
may influence or dominate his or her relationship partner is referred to as interpersonal
power. During a confrontation, you may not be aware of how you use your power or how the
other person uses their power to affect you. Regardless, power struggles are frequently the
"behind storey" to a dispute. According to DeVito, the capacity of one person to affect what
another person believes or does is referred to as power. You have control over another
person if you have the ability to affect what that person believes or does. There are a few
ways for empowering others that may be used. First and foremost, boost the other person's
self-esteem. Second, be honest, upbeat, empathic, and supportive. Third, collaborate with
others on skills and decision-making. The first area I will be mentioning is emotion which are
defined as “the internal structure that orients us to, and engages us with, what matters in our
lives: our feelings about ourselves and others” (pg. 135). The scene where Chi-Fu,
emperor’s council member, and captain Shang are in the tent just after the soldiers have
completed their training is a good example of communicating emotionally which is “when an
emotion is part of the way a message is delivered” (pg. 141). While discussing in the tent,
Shang mentions the end of training and in response Chi-Fu responds by raising his voice
and responding to him with a slight yell which shows his emotion of frustration and
disappointment towards the idea of the soldiers going to war when he believes they aren’t
quite ready. Another concept that ties into emotion that I have noticed throughout the film is
the concept of reframing which is “when something with a negative connotation change to
something with a more positive connotation”.

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Collaboration

Last issue, I identified that it is related to collaboration. Collaboration necessitates a great

level of concern for both yourself and others. Conflict is more likely to be viewed as a series
of problems to be solved by people who utilize a cooperation style of conflict management
rather than a game in which one person wins and the other loses. The collaboration conflict
style is best used when all sides of the conflict need fresh, new ideas, or to enhanced
commitment to a solution is important because all are involved in shaping the outcome.
Next, it is important to establish rapport and a positive relational climate. Feelings are
intense, and all involved in the conflict need to be listened to or it is important to affirm the
value of the interpersonal relationship. It may appear that the best strategy to resolving
conflict is always teamwork. However, the negatives may exceed the benefits at times. One
of the most significant drawbacks is the time, talent, patience, and energy necessary to
cooperatively handle conflict. Other tactics, such as compromise, may be preferable if a
solution is required urgently. Though the movie, Captain Li Shang and his troops are
attacked by the Hun army. As the Huns come down the mountain, Mulan takes the cannon
and fires the rocket at a mountain of snow, which causes an avalanche. The Huns are buried
under the snow. Mulan rescues Captain Li from being buried by the snow but is injured. Li
Shang calls a doctor as Mulan faints. The doctor discovers that she is a woman. Although
the punishment for her actions is death, Captain Li decides not to kill her, as she saved his
life the day before. He expels her from the army, and she decides to return home, saddened
by her failure. As she prepares to leave, she discovers that the Huns are still alive. She goes
to the Palace and tries to warn Captain Li's army as they are celebrating their believed
victory, but they don’t listen to her. The Huns kidnap the emperor. Captain Li Shang and his
troops try to follow the Huns into the palace but are unsuccessful. Mulan thinks of a plan.
She and some of the soldiers disguise themselves as concubines and sneak into the palace.
The Huns are distracted by the “women,” and Mulan and her friends save the emperor.
Captain Li and Mulan are still in the palace, fighting Shan Yu. Shan Yu is about kill Captain
Li when Mulan again saves him.

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 5. Suggestion in minimizing the issue / problems occurred in the movie

Based on the first issue that had been identified I suggest is that men and women should
be treated equally. And, if you have a woman who is good at something that is not normally
accepted solely because she is a woman, she will not get the same amount of praise or
respect. On the other hand, if a man were to do the same thing because of society and the
things that certain cultures preach about and teach you he will get all the respect and
everything good that comes with it even if the woman did that thing a million times better
than him. You see this all the time not only in your everyday life but in many other books,
movies, and TV shows. This movie is one of the best examples in my opinion that talks
about gender roles and gender stereotypes and how they play into things that you could not
imagine them playing until you get into the movie. At first, listen I did not even notice how
stereotypical some of the things that were happening were, for example, the song lyrics
talking about how the only thing that matters about women is how they present themselves
in a feminine way by wearing makeup and dresses and having their hair put back in a
slicked-back bun.

This just goes to show how much people pay attention to things that have to do with
stereotypes and gender roles which I think is a problem. These things do go unnoticed most
of the time just because society puts it in our heads that women have to look a certain way
and men have to do things that women should not do because they are not capable of doing
it. Granted it is becoming a lot more talked about, but I feel like it will always be a problem
because you have certain religions that require women to wear dresses and skirts just
because they are women. This movie not only showed the gender roles as they are in
society, but it also showed at the end of the movie that things can happen outside of gender
stereotypes. The end of the movie plays an important role in the theme of gender roles and
gender stereotypes because it shows that both men and women can work together and do
well for the people around them. It also shows that women can do more than just cook for
their husbands and make a pretty wife by working at home and the men doing all of the hard
work and fighting for the country in the war.

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 The second issue, the film also shows some moral confusion, Mulan is driven by the goal
of bringing honour to her family, regardless of whether that involves immorality or morality. I
think the film generally doesn’t teach to be disobedient but rather to be their own person.
Mulan goes to war in place of her father with good intentions and along the way teaches key
lessons to the young viewers. There are multiple lessons implied within this picture, but one
that really stuck out was the lesson of woman strength and superiority. Just by providing the
element of the Chinese culture, it added an additional lesson, which is responsibility and
bringing honour to your family. Lastly, by Mulan’s actions and decisions to go to the army,
she implies a lesson of independence and not conforming to the expectation of her role in
society.

For third issue, gender is a vital part of the moral human experience because it
bifurcates humanity into separate and complementary groups, which has a profound
influence on our ability to understand and relate to others. Gender roles (of some kind) are
required to make the gender distinction real and complementary. Given the principle of
comparative advantage and the scarcity of resource in our society, the general role of
women to raise children and men to gather resources is most reasonable, although of
course the breakdown is not that simple given resource constraints and other
considerations. Moreover, the specific gender roles will shift with social environmental
factors and must be negotiated independently by every couple, who may deviate
substantially from the aggregate expectation. These deviations are normal, expected, and
shouldn’t cause anyone to judge, but sadly they will. Therefore, this principle will come with a
cost that is all too often born by those who do not deserve to bear it. This tragedy is not
unique. It’s part of the human condition. As with all unfair trials, the response it ought to call
forth from us is compassion, support, love, and acceptance for all those who suffer from
trials great or small.

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Besides, Gender stereotypes are negative because they restrict the ability of males and
females to improve their skills and abilities, follow their careers and make decisions
regarding their lifestyles. The patriarchal society which came from the word patriarchy which
is a social classification where men have main power and predominance in relations. Sexual
abuse is sexual conduct or sexual encounter that is imposed on a female or male without
their permission. Domestic violence which is Domestic violence is not just physical assault.
Domestic violence would be any action directed at obtaining authority and control over a
partner, or significant member of the family. So, in this film there is a sort of gender
stereotypes which is the male overpowering culture that means men are ruling the general
public, for example, in the film how they see ladies and that her lone job is to put cosmetics,
be lovely and get hitched. That ladies couldn't battle no one but men can and that ladies
should remain at home, it made Mulan cover into a man to have the option to battel in the
spot of her dad and how she continued making a decent attempt to improve herself and
endeavouring to be better however after that when she demonstrated herself to be better
and when they discovered her genuine character the needed to execute her yet the male
lead Captain Li Shang prevented himself from executing her since she spared him once and
he said ' a life for an actual existence' and afterward he discharged her and advised her to
return home yet she couldn't and she went to assist them with saving the empire.

Last issue, Last issue, we need to have a good intention towards other people. When you
assume bad intentions, you believe something about the person who made the mistake that
is rarely true. When you treat mistakes like they are intentional, you are treating the person
who made that mistake unfairly. It is natural to jump to conclusions, but perhaps we can get
better at considering the possibility of other explanations for behaviour that seems
inappropriate. Good intentions do not always lead to good outcomes. In fact, many times,
they lead to dire consequences.

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