Final project Mulan revise PDF

Preview

Summary

Anthropology Film Study final essay...

Description

ATH 111: Intro to Cultural Anthropology Final Project: Mulan Amanda Alward 08/15/2021

Introduction Mulan is one of the most famous Disney classics of all time. The film was first created in 1998 by Buena Vista Pictures and directed by Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook. This Chinese folktale is of a young woman who learns that her ill father is being called to the Imperial Army to fight the invading Huns. Knowing that her father would never survive and her family would lose everything, she disguises herself as a man and take his place in the army. Mulan’s family’s ancestors try to prevent her from being revealed, they order Mushu, a small disgraced dragon, to go after her and force her to abandon her plan. When he meets up with Mulan, he discovers that she will not give up to try and save her father, Mushu decides to help her and teaches her to be a soldier. The three anthropological concepts I will be discussing in this essay are gender, enculturation, and cultural symbols which are all demonstrated in Mulan. Cultural and Sub-Culture Mulan was known as one of the most famous warriors in all of China, but her journey did not start out that way. During this time period, it was against Chinese culture for women to be soldiers because their role was to marry, bear children, and take care of the family home. Chinese women were matched with their husbands by a matchmaker in their local village. Marriage was the way for a woman to bring honor to their family. In Mulan, both sub-culture and culture are represented. The main culture is of course Chinese and the sub-culture is of Mulan and the Hun Army leader Shan Yu who forms his own culture and tries to take over the Empire. He forms his own culture as if his was larger which is still a Chinese culture, but represented his own empowerment by going against the Emperor and trying to overrun China as his own kingdom. Mulan of course is a big representation in the film because she is a symbol of power for women and she shows people that women are capable of anything that men can do and they can do it just as well. The culture that is being stereotyped in the film would be the Huns, even though they are still a Chinese culture, they are considered a subculture in this film. The producers are inaccurate with the Hun culture because they depict them as very evil and they use dehumanizing characteristics such as they all have grey skin tones and yellow eyes. This

was used to demonstrate that they are the villains in the film, but is inaccurate because they cannot have grey skin and yellow eyes in real life. Cultural Norms and Values In Mulan, the cultural norm is that every man brings honor by fighting in the wars and women are housewives who bear children and obey their husbands. Mulan does not fit into these traditions even though she wants to honor her family, she cannot seem to do so the way they want. For women, you grow up to be a perfect and you are trained to be acceptable for marriage. Women are expected to behave, obey, keep up with their appearance, and bear children. If they do not fulfill these expectations in the eyes of the matchmaker, then they are declared unworthy of being a wife and they will bring dishonor to the family. After the matchmaker meets Mulan, it is decided that she is a disgrace because she cannot behave properly and she will never bring honor to her family. Mulan is upset but she knows she doesn’t fit this cultural norm because she wants to bring honor in her own way even though it goes against their culture. When Mulan disguises herself into a man, she breaks her cultural traditions defies gender expectations. Only men are allowed to fight in the army and if a woman impersonates a soldier, the punishment is death and dishonor to your family. An example of a sub-culture is when Mulan decides to impersonate a soldier, cuts off her very long hair, and steals his armor and sword. The Chinese swords are represented by the four virtues and she went on and served in his place by fighting in the war. The four virtues are loyal, brave, truth, and love for your family. Cultural Comparisons The Chinese culture is very judgmental and critical of women and some were even called a witch because they wanted to fight and be a warrior instead of an obedient housewife. Mulan’s actions are justified because she is doing this to save her fathers life but she also wants to be respected and accepted by the culture. She does not want to bring honor to her family through marriage because she does not believe that’s who she truly is, so she wants to bring honor in her own way. Mulan fought her war for the Chinese culture and remained loyal to the Imperial Army while being called a witch. The similarity in the culture is that Mulan is still trying to bring honor to her family and country. Another example is when Mulan’s father accepts the Emperor’s orders to fight in the Imperial Army. Fa Zhou has already fought for China and is disabled from his days in battle. When the order comes in that one man from every family must fight, Fa Zhou steps in and accepts. Even though he knows he will not make it back this time, he still remain true to the Chinese culture and his duties to fight and protect his country and his family as it is his way to bring honor. Cultural Difference A scene in the film that demonstrates cultural difference is when the Imperial Army finds out that Mulan is a woman and she stands up to the men and the Captain as she explains that it was the only way to save her father and that she accepts her fate for breaking the law. Mulan’s behavior goes against culture as she brought disgrace to her family and that her punishment is death. Mulan later explains that she would rather die for the right reasons than bring dishonor to her family. This cultural difference affected the rest of the film as the Captain feels betrayed as she became one of the best soldiers in the Imperial Army and she deceived him, but Mulan felt that she was for the first time being true to herself and brought honor to her family by sacrificing herself in her fathers place. For Mulan, being a soldier whether she was a man or a woman did not matter to her which is what went against Chinese culture and value. Another example is at the end of the film after Mulan saves the empire and the Emperor is offering her a position in his council even though she impersonated a soldier and destroyed half of the palace. This is very different from a Chinse culture because no woman is offered a job let alone a job alongside the Emperor. During this time period, women don’t work unless it is in the household or with their children. For Mulan to be offered a position even after everything she has done she technically should have been executed for her actions as they were all against the Chinese culture. Anthropological Concepts

Concept One: In Mulan, gender is one of the main ongoing issues. Women are only allowed to be submissive and simply obey their husbands, but when they appear to be as powerful if not stronger than the men, they were known as “witches” and during this time period, only men were allowed to be warriors. One of the main scenes that stick out is when Mulan goes back to the palace to warn everyone that the Huns are still alive, but nobody listens. Shang orders her to go home and Mulan reminds him that he said he would trust Ping, her male identity, but not Mulan herself. Even when she tries to find someone who will listen to her, she is immediately brushed off by all the men and Mushu reminds her she is a girl again and no one listens to women. This is crucial to how women are treated with such disrespect and that men do not listen to them because of their gender. Concept Two: Enculturation is one the biggest concepts of the film because it is based on the influence that women remain seen and not heard in the presence of men. Women are to keep up with their appearances at all times and get married to remain loyal to their husbands and they are not allowed to have an opinion of their own. When Mulan meets with the matchmaker she is told to behave and she is given orders to please her future in laws she must remain loyal and silent. Mulan cannot fulfill her duties and is told that she looks like a bride but she is a disgrace and will never bring her family honor. She is then declared unfit for marriage. Concept Three: Cultural Symbols was evident throughout the film. One example is early on in the training camp, Shang shoots an arrow at the top of a post and forces his soldiers to climb and no one is able to retrieve it. Mulan was determined to prove herself as a soldier and she spends and entire night and manages to retrieve the arrow. It symbolizes her determination as a soldier and makes her stand out more compared to the rest of the men. If I conducted an interview with Mulan, these are the questions I would ask her. 1. Why do you think you were more determined to perform better than the other soldiers? 2. Do you think your life/journey would have been different if you were really a male? 3. Would you still have run away and gone to war if your father did not have health problems? 4. What is the significance of the Great Stone Dragon and why your ancestors chose him to be your guardian? 5. When you were left on the mountain from the Imperial Army do you think you would have gone back to them if you hadn’t seen the Huns reappear? The questions I chose to ask will help understand more of Mulan’s beliefs not just with her culture but also with herself and what her journey would have been if the concepts were different. With her being a female she knows what she is not supposed to do but does it anyway and if the situation were different, would she have gone the lengths that she did to save her country and bring her family honor. In the film, the odds were definitely stacked against her because she went into this knowing nothing of war and what it was really like and the chances of her dying whether it be by fighting or as a penalty for being a woman were pretty high. She goes anyway knowing she may never see her family again, but she changes the way people look at women and shows them that we are much more than submissive and we can make a difference just like any other man. Our culture in America compared to the culture in Mulan is we do have our own wars, but both men and women can choose to serve in the military. In America, women had to go through a lot to be respected and even went through a Women’s Rights Campaign where we fought and won the right to vote. Women can now have jobs and are even part of the political party and are treated as equals for once. There are still men who think women should stay home and take care of children, but women are allowed to have a voice and an opinion which was not a common thing back in the early ages. Application: Initial Interpretation I think for myself I would definitely have a hard time with the Chinese culture at the time. It is almost the exact situation in Mulan because we are a military family and my husband has left for

deployment before and I am a stay at home mom for now. While he was gone I was expected to take care of everything and the home and we had just found out I was pregnant and he left three days later to go overseas. Some things are very similar to the film because whoever is home has to take care of everything. Even when he isn’t deployed 95% of things at home fall on me. I never wanted to be a stay at home mom but felt like I had no other option since the cost of child daycare is like a second mortgage, and even when I was working full time I still had a lot to take care of when I went home including two dogs and zero time to myself. Although in the film they are surrounded by family, we do not have that since we move every 3 years and our family lives in Pittsburgh. My husband, Jake, would be gone for weeks at a time for field exercises or taking a course for his next rank while I am at home doing all things alone. Being a wife of an officer is like being a woman in the film because they are the men who go and fight in the military while we women stay home and take care of the house and children. Conclusion In conclusion, this project has helped me understand that culture has an big influence on everyday life. It shapes us into who we are and it holds our perception of the world and the people around us. Anthropological concepts teach us how the cultural norms and values shape a person’s behavior and how they respond to other cultures. We see new culture everywhere we look and I have experienced new cultures since we move a lot and we are always in different areas. For example, we are in Texas now and mostly experiencing the Spanish culture. A lot fo cultures are different from ours, but I think we assume too quickly that they are wrong because it isn’t what we do ourselves. Our own norms and values impact how we view other cultures and it keeps us from being more open. I think if people weren’t so quick to judge, then we would all be more accepting and get along better. This project will influence how I view other cultures and continue to be mindful and teach my own son that you can understand another person’s behavior and not judge them or assume what they are doing is wrong. We are all people and we are all equal with one another. References: Bancroft, T., & Cook, B. (1998). Mulan. Buena Vista Pictures. MindEdge, Inc. (2019) Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. MindEdge, Inc....