My English degree in action

I have come to the conclusion that Mulan is the most emotionally mature of the D*isney princess stories. As the mother of a four-year-old daughter, I feel amply qualified to make this judgment. I am far more familiar with Belle, Jasmine, Ariel, Mulan, and Cinderella than I am with Ophelia or Juliet. I have put in hours, probably many entire days studying these characters in movies and books…here are some observations.

First of all, I have to say that I am proud of myself for avoiding Snow White completely. Snow is not part of the family DVD collection. I heard her voice on a preview once and good LORD it sounds like an inexperienced piccolo player. I can’t comment on Aurora because we don’t have Sleeping Beauty, either, though I just wrapped her the other day for Christmas, so I might have to amend this in January, by which time I will surely have watched it 100 times. On to the serious analysis.

Despite Ariel’s strong spirit (she has the guts and independence to go against her father’s wishes) and her brief flash of feminist insight in the secret grotto (“…bright young women, sick of swimmin’, ready to stand…”), let’s face it. She gives away her gift, her talent, her VOICE to be with a man she sees once. Now, I’m not dissing Prince Eric. He is strong, handsome, can sail a boat and play the flute, and is kind and thoughtful enough to take in Ariel when he assumes that she has washed up on shore from a shipwreck. But still — she saw him ONCE and changed her essential being (mermaid to human) and gave up her gift for a chance to be with him. Not a course of action that I recommend for Kate.

Cinderella seems like a ridiculous pushover at first glance, keeping up the “yes, Stepmother” and “yes, Drizella” as she gets treated like a slave. But you see a tiny bit of intelligence and humor, so quick that it is easy to miss, when she raises her eyebrows and almost laughs about interrupting Anastasia and Drizella’s hideous “music lesson” to deliver the announcement of the royal ball from the king. Still, she maintains her sweetness just a bit too long for my taste.

Belle does have a brain and realizes that she would not make it as Gaston’s “little” wife. She is the only princess caught reading, and she cares about her family and about the beast. The other thing she has going for her is that she appears to be about twenty, which, though young, is much more palatable than the 16-year-old Ariel running off to get married (don’t even let me get started about Pocahontas). In addition, she actually spends at least weeks getting to know the beast, unlike Ariel (3 days before marriage) and Cinderella (one evening and she gets married the next day).

Jasmine is an independent young woman who wants to marry for love. She is still kind of Daddy’s girl (by the way, Daddy is a carbon copy of the King in Cinderella), but she can see through the pompous idiot suitors. And she can leap across buildings in a single bound, which counts for something. Her age is unclear, and I don’t recall her reading any books. I do like the theme of freedom: freedom from the bottle (genie), freedom from forced marriage (for Jasmine), and freedom from potential-stunting poverty (for Aladdin). But again, we are talking about 3 days of courtship, tops, before she is marrying the guy.

Then there’s Mulan. She doesn’t fit the mold of perfect silent wife: she speaks her mind and risks her life to save her father. Though she demonstrates physical strength, her greater strength is her intellect. Mulan figures out how to use any challenges or liabilities to her advantage. When faced with with the task of climbing a pole with heavy large discs weighing down her wrists, she loops them around the pole in a way that helps her reach the top. She uses one cannon to take out an entire army by aiming at the snow above, causing an avalanche. And in the Forbidden City, she uses her weakness (as a woman, no one listens to or sees her) to her advantage by dressing the male soldiers as women to sneak into the palace.

We see the destruction of war, an entire village burned to the ground, the Imperial Army slaughtered, no survivors. We are reminded that this really is a war movie when she takes a small doll, says a silent prayer, and places it beside the helmet of the fallen General, as if to honor the women and children lost as well as the fallen warriors.

Finally, Mulan’s father is not portrayed as a slave to honor and tradition, though he clearly values both. He puts aside the tokens of honor (the crest of the emperor and the sword of the enemy) to hug his daughter (“the greatest gift and honor is having you as a daughter.”). Yes, Captain Shang shows up to see Mulan, but she simply invites him to dinner. They don’t get married in the next 5 minutes. This time, the big D got it right. And yes, this is how I deal with English major withdrawal.

Advertisement