This creates a great positive image that crossing gender lines is okay, and not something to be ashamed of. Not only do they do it to save the Emperor (positing it as a noble action in the movie), but they also don’t immediately rub off the makeup or otherwise “cross-back” for that whole scene with the Emperor after they defeat the Shan Yu. I always felt judged because I didn’t have the right parts (even though I’m sure that’s not what I was being judged on), and I looked so much less like a girl than they did, pretty much exactly the reason why Mulan hides her face from the women in the rice fields as they’re marching.Īnd, of course, a trans-review of Mulan wouldn’t be complete without talking about the part where the three male soldiers cross-dress as women. Not to mention always having a feeling (no matter how much I tried to hide it) of being uncomfortable with my body around women (especially my naked, or partially naked body). Because others seeing them made them that much more real, and I didn’t want them to be real.
Or that part where she’s in the water and is embarrassed by all the nakedness…I mean, I got to a point where I was pretty comfortable naked (thank you, theatre), but my natural instincts were to hide the ugly parts of my body. And then she is overlooked because of it. A girl worth fighting for? Sure, she can look pretty, or cook, or whatever, but the things I’m really interested in? A brain (and a good one) and being willing to speak her mind…which is exactly what Mulan says. Because, you know, that was THE ENTIRE FIRST TWENTY-FOUR YEARS OF MY LIFE.īut, seriously, I can’t even count the number of times I could totally relate to her character.
REFLECTION MULAN TRANSGENDER MOVIE
However, the part that speaks well to me, being a trans woman, is the section of the movie where she is passing as a guy (oh, and the song Reflection, but I don’t think I need to explain that one). And that’s pretty cool on the surface, but at no point does Mulan associate herself as being trans-gender, or want to be a man, all she wants to do is prove herself. Many Disney movies featured elements that appealed or spoke to the young transgender child that I was, from Belle’s inability to fit in in her “small, provincial life,” or the Beast’s ugly façade (not that I ever wanted to be a handsome prince, but he was definitely more feminine after the transformation), to Ariel’s longing to transform into something forbidden (her hidden stash of forbidden items is very familiar…I think most trans people can relate to having a hidden stash of items “unacceptable” for them to possess), but in Mulan, our title character goes beyond just not fitting in, she actually cross-dresses, despite it being taboo.
On a whim, I just watched Mulan again for the first time in many years (yay for Netflix!), and it brought me back to some of the reasons why I loved that movie so much while growing up, especially now that I am comfortable recognizing myself as transgender.
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