Mulan has a few areas in which media violence, bullying, and emotional understanding come into play. While watching various scenes of the movie Mulan has to go through many violent tasks that a young child especially may be more affected by. There is a scene where there is a fight on a mountain and Mulan shoots a blazing rocket at a glacier to cause an avalanche killing all the men on horses running after Mulan and her counterparts.This is a very violent scene similar to a typical war scene that you would see in a war film. As a young child viewing this, this may lead them to handle conflict more aggressively because the characters in the movie killed off the Huns by pummeling them violently with and avalanche caused by firing a rocket. At the end of this scene the Mushu then explains “You’re the man!, well sort of” insinuating that there is a gender role stereotype explaining that the aggressive behavior Mulan depicted was something only a man could be capable of. As media violence effects and risk factors explain it is more likely that males are more affected by violence due to media exposure this line from the film and specific scene both don’t help to reduce this problem.
Emotional understanding of violent content and understanding the meaning is prominently associated with the child’s age. A child 2-7 may only be afraid of the violent, emotional, and bully content being presented to them because the characters or scene may look scary. While on the flip side a child to adolescent who is 7-12 may be more affected by the violent content because the conceptually understand why the characters are acting the way the are acting but may mimic that aggression in real life. This violence is also glamorized. During this great battle Mulan never barely breaks a sweat and her aggressive behavior is brushed off afterwards as if it were a normal part of the day. This concept normalizes and tricks kids into thinking that solving differences can be easily solved with violence.
There is another scene where the song “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” is played and Mulan and the other members of the tribe are led through various difficult tasks. I think for most of the movie this idea is vary challenging for kids, especially younger kids because the film flip flops between showing Mulan as a female character who can be “masculine” and complete masculine tasks, but is always brought back to the reality that she is still a woman. This insinuates that all these tasks she is doing will never be fit or categorizable for women. This ties bullying and emotional portrayals to each other because this reoccurring theme throughout the movie depicts that a woman is less than a man, and men should treat women unequally. Even if in the end the woman was strong, better, faster than the man, she is still discounted for it. For a young child this may be harder to see because they primarily see more abstract images in films. For a bit older child to adolescent this may confuse their thoughts about a woman’s role in typically masculine settings and roles.
As discussed earlier, Mulan is about a young woman who disguises herself as a man in order to serve in the Chinese military. With that being said, this movie has several strong and powerful messages, however these messages may be difficult for a child to fully understand. According to the Developmental Differences lecture, younger children are known to be concrete thinkers rather than inferential thinkers. In other words, children are more focused on what is happening, as opposed to why it is happening (Farrar, 2017). That being said, young children watching this movie may not understand why Mulan has to pretend to be a boy in order to enter the military. This is a complex situation where children may not realize that at one point in time, women were not allowed to enter the military. This may lead to a misperception of reality because it may cause them to believe that only men are allowed to serve their country. In addition to not being able to fully comprehend the underlying complexities of the film, children are also at risk of potentially adopting dangerous health behaviors. According to Gentile and Bushman (2012), the best predictor of aggression in elementary school children is past aggression followed by violent media exposure. Therefore, this is something important to consider, as children who have been aggressive in the past should not be exposed to Mulan or other violent media.
Mulan contains several scenes that would be considered violent and dangerous. In the battle scene Mulan is faced by the Huns who are all holding swords, charging at the Chinese military. In order to prevent the Huns from attacking her fellow troops, she launches a fire rocket into an avalanche which then takes out all of the Huns. According to the Media Violence lecture children who even view a firearm can prime aggressive thoughts(Farrar, 2017). This is also something important to consider. Due to the fact that Mulan is seen as the protagonist of the film, her actions are viewed as heroic and are not demonstrated as a dangerous act. This may be misperceived by children, as they may think that they can also partake in violent acts in order to “fight off the bad guys.” This poses the concern for modeling, as children are said to model figures who are depicted as attractive and heroic (Farrar, 2017). Another concerning scene is when Mulan’s true identity is exposed, and as a result her leader Li Shang, pulls out his sword to kill her. Fortunately, he did not follow through with his punishment, as he claimed that he owed her, her life because she saved his. However, if it were not for this reason, she would have been sentenced to death. That being said, this is a very serious matter, as children may think that it is okay for men to kill women who disobey their rules.
The Disney Classic Mulan is not considered a “scary” movie. But depending on the age of the child watching, it could invoke a good amount of fear. Mulan is a very progressive Disney movie for its time, depicting a young woman who disguises herself into a man in order to save China and become a war hero. The movie is set in the 600’s. Developmental differences can influence the way young children process Mulan as opposed to older children. Age groups 7 through 12 and 13 up are more frightened by realistic threats. Since Mulan is set thousands of years ago in China, any child 7 years and older could put together the fact that this setting is much different than the one they live in. China during this time was in conflict with the Huns, so understanding that we are currently in modern, peaceful time America helps control fear reactions to the fight scenes in Mulan. On the other hand, 2-7 year olds would be scared of the fighting scenes in Mulan. This age group is more prone to being scared of visual images, whether realistic or fantastic, that are naturally scary. The Huns are depicted as huge, dark-eyed grizzly men that growl their words. A 2-7 year old would be scared of this cartoon image even though it is clearly not real and could not possibly come into contact with someone who looks like that in reality. Another visual that may frighten a young child is when mulan starts bleeding after being swiped with a sword, and then faints. Mulan being a cartoon in general would not hold back a 2-7 year old from being frightened by it. Another difference in fear reactions to Mulan has to do with concrete to inferential thinking. Younger children think more concretely, focusing on exactly what is happening rather than why it is happening. In Mulan, the fight scenes are a result of years of conflict between Mulan’s side and the Huns. But a younger child might focus on the fight without regards to why they are fighting; this may invoke fear that they may be susceptible to this kind of attack without any preceding conflicts. In general, a main reason younger children may be frightened by Mulan and older children may not be is due to their lack of regulatory competence, or ability to regulate their moods. Older children may feel nervous during these battle scenes, but then be able to remind themselves to not be scared, it is just a cartoon. Younger children do not have this level of control over their mood.
Citations
[Nicole Rey]. (2015, September 19). Mulan-Mountain Fight HD. [Video File]. Retrieved from
[xFliiy]. (2006, November 6). Mulan-i’ll make a man out of you. [Video File]. Retrieved from
Gentile, D. A., & Bushman, B. J. (2012). Reassessing Media Violence Effects Using a Risk and Resilience Approach to Understanding Aggression. American Psychological Association . doi:10.1037/a0028481
Farrar, K. (2017, January 24). Developmental Differences. Lecture presented at Lecture in Charles B. Gentry Building , Storrs.
Farrar, K. (2017, January 31). Media Violence. Lecture presented at Lecture in Charles B. Gentry Building , Storrs.
Mulan, by Rita Hsiao (& Others). Walt Disney Home Video, 1999. DVD.
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