Racial/Ethnic Stereotyping

    The villains in Mulan (1998) are the Huns, who were a group of nomadic people who existed around the time period of the original story of Mulan, but would likely not have been attacking the Northern Wei Dynasty during the time of The Ballad of Mulan or Tang Dynasty during the setting of Mulan (1998), making them highly improbable if not impossible villains for the time period we are most led towards believing Mulan (1998) took place.

    In addition to the confusion surrounding the identity of both Mulan and the villains, the 1998 film’s animation style actually crosses the line from misinformation to rather blatant stereotyping. The appearance of the Huns, with their darker skin, small yellow eyes, and resemblance to the typical Western depictions of Asian barbarians could reasonably offend those sharing ethnic backgrounds to any of the ethnic groups these villains could be representative of. Mulan herself is noticeably lighter in skin tone, with smaller stature, and a more rounded set of features. Chinese people find her appearance unusual, referring to her as “Yang Mulan,” (“Foreign Mulan,”) and associating her appearance with someone more Western  (Langfitt, 1999). It is clear that the design of Mulan is a reflection of how Americans see Asian people rather than how Asian people feel they actually look.

    While some aspects of Mulan’s home life before the war are accurate in both of the Disney movies, one thing that makes them unfavorable to Chinese viewers is the emphasis that is placed on Mulan’s oppression. What all three of the American versions of the story have in common is the idea that without becoming a warrior, Mulan would have lived a life under the rule of patriarchal power, suppressing her own will and obediently following orders from the men in her life. Even if this is accurate to Chinese society at the time, and some may argue whether it is or not, what each version and especially both movies do is paint a picture of Chinese society being overall harshly misogynistic without fully exploring the life of women at this time. Without denying that misogyny and oppression may be part of the picture of womanhood in this setting, it is very unfair to assert that those were the all-consuming bases of society without analyzing the role of women beyond a glimpse into one instance of one girl’s life. To present Chinese culture in this way is misrepresentative and ignores all evidence throughout Chinese history of instances to the contrary.