Mulan: Childhood Hero

Anyone that knows me, knows that I love Disney. I love the princesses and knights in shining armor as well as animated talking animals. In 1998, Disney created the first female hero known as Mulan. Mulan was a young maiden who had failed to impress the matchmaker, feeling that she failed. Mulan decides to take drastic measures to save her father's life. She cuts her hair, she steals the horse and runs away to join the army. The ancestors decide to send a great dragon to aide her, but when Mushu (the disgraced dragon) breaks the great statue, he decides to embark on the mission himself. Mushu tries to help Mulan cheat, but she does not get away with it, when Mulan is suddenly dismissed, she does not quit. Instead, Mulan climbs to the top of the totem and retrieves an arrow, proving to herself and other soldiers that she is capable of doing anything. Eventually, through a music montage, she learns how to be better and eventually becomes the top of her class. I was always impressed that even though Mulan was the only woman in the training camp, she managed to best all of the men. Yes, I am aware it is a cartoon, but little girls everywhere should be looking up to brave princesses like Mulan. Mulan taught me that I do not need a man to save my life, she taught me that women can do anything that men can. Mulan also risked a lot for her country, the fact that she ran away to pose as a man would cost her life. Mulan then saw the Huns pop out of the snow and she went to warn everyone in her hometown. When no one believed her, she tried to find someone that would. Mulan did not give up no matter how hard it got. Also, do not forget the incident on the mountain when she selflessly grabbed the missile and pointed it at the mountain causing an avalanche killing most of the Huns, yes some survived but all the group she trained with lived or at least seemed to. Mulan overcame obstacles over obstacles and in the end, she saved China and brought honor to her family. Of course, Mulan could not have done it on her own, Mushu helped her a lot during the start of the training, he came up with Mulan's fake name and saved Mulan from embarrassment many times throughout the training. She was also lucky a number of times, could have perished during the avalanche, she could of have been discovered as a woman earlier in the movie. Of course, Mulan gets injured and they discover that she is, in fact, a woman, but her life was spared because she saved Shang and he spared her life. The cricket was one lucky bug. Even when Mulan was feeling down, she did not have the time to think, she had a problem and figured out a way to solve it. At the end of the movie, her father was right "The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all"(Mulan, 1998). That quote has helped me through tough times in my life, I remind myself that when I am stressed everything will work out okay because I will be resilient at the end. I think that every girl should have a role model like Mulan to look up to, girls need to feel empowered at a young age and the character Mulan brings that to life. This was the movie that displayed what feminism is defined as. It shows that young girls can be heroes too.