[HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Favorite Disney Movies-Mulan

[Meredith Wilson]

First let me say that I always enjoy your posts Ebony.

>>One of the main reasons why I liked the Disney version of *Mulan* is
because 
>>I'm a sucker for *good* father-daughter stories, which are rare.  I loved 
>>the way the narrative was framed by Mulan's relationship with her father.

>I first saw Mulan the year my dad died.  And at the end, when he says 
>something to the effect of "the greatest honor is having you for a 
>daughter", I think I cried my eyes out.  I still get misty-eyed over it.
 
I think this is also why I cry all through Mulan.  Although my dad died a
few years before this, any father/daughter stories like this tear me up.
 
>Amber wrote:

>>"Be A Man" is one of my
>>favorite songs from that movie. I don't care that I'm not a man, when
>>the lyrics come about to "You must be swift as the coursing river, with
>>all the force of a great typhoon, with all the strength of a raging
>>fire, mysterious as the dark side of the moon", I feel great pride
>>welling in my chest. Completely unexplainable, but there you go. It
>>just taps into something unknown in me.
>>

>YES!  I love this song too... I think the music and the words are sort of 
>like one of those battle anthems that is supposed to make you feel that
way.

It's a really great song to listen to on the way to work.  Makes fighting
the horrid Seattle traffic a little easier.  My sister and I can often be
found blasting this while driving and singing at the tops of our lungs.  And
my little 5 year old nephew singing it is awfully cute.

>>Although, on second thought, I could see how the song might give young
>>boys the wrong impression on what a "man" is. The emphasis in the song
>>is on physical strength and prowess, not on mental capacity or
>>emotional feeling.

>Yes... I see gender stereotyping there as well.  The movie's storyline 
>contrasts Li Shang's values with Mulan's, though, and I think most viewer 
>sympathies are with Mulan... or should I say, "Ping"?

Sadly, gender stereotyping is throughout Disney, but what I've been thinking
through this whole discussion about sexism in Mermaid, etc, is that as bad
as it may seem, it's fairy tale life.  Not that it makes it OK to stereotype
or whatever, but many of Disney's movies are fairy tales and old stories,
and though we as a society may try to stamp that out now, it's pointless to
try to change history or not accept it for what it was/how it was written,
good or bad.  I've been discussing on a different list how many churches are
changing liturgy to make language more accessable.  While the idea is good,
some of the changes don't make it _that_ much easier to understand (your vs.
thy, etc) and it kills the poetry.  For some people it might mean more to
hear the plain language, but for me, part of enjoying a service and part of
my faith, is the poetry behind it.  I know it might not be all-inclusive
wording, but it's traditional and what I like.  People watch movies to
escape real life (lord knows I do sometimes!) and many people enjoy a fairy
tale setting.  Changing that, or modernizing it, can ruin it for some (often
that includes me - call me traditional...).

Meredith