My wife and I the other day sat down to watch some TV after a long day. After brushing through the channels for a little while we found the Disney move "Mulan" and decided to watch it. I could tell my wife was loving the movie especially at the end when Mulan simply dominates the remaining Huns and saves China. With movies like Mulan I can just see my wife cheering inside "power to the women" repeatedly.
Me being a man, watching the underlying message all throughout the movie, I was rather amused by how certain scenes would go to great lengths to emphasize and reiterate the message that women are powerful, women can do anything men can do, women deserve to be respected and treated fairly, the list goes on.
Again, this is my perception of the movie because I am a guy. But the portrayal of men, especially those who were in the imperial army was silly. They were clowns and bafoons and by no means portrayed what a typical male soldier would be in an imperial army. As portrayed in this meme above the men are ridiculous. I just wonder what a little boy watching Mulan is gathering about the stereotypes of men and women.
I am honestly not sexist, this was just an observation I noticed while watching the movie :)
Cameron,
ReplyDeleteTrue, there are definitely some men who are portrayed as clowns in this movie. But there are also some very strong male characters. There are also weak female characters (the girls Mulan goes to the matchmaker with). All in all, I think showing strong female characters is a really great thing, we just need to make sure it is not at the expense of men!
Agreed, Elizabeth! I feel like all too often women are portrayed as these cutesy, thin, cookie-cutter girls whose main goal in life is to find "true love". I am so grateful when women are portrayed as being strong, being more than just their looks, and understanding that there's more to life than finding a husband. Although that is important, it's not THE MOST important. Things like being "honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous", and serving others are all important aspects of life that can be done without a man by your side!
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