Things Only Adults Notice In The Live-Action Mulan

While the live-action Mulan contains plenty for both kids and adults to enjoy, some elements of the film will only be noticed by adults. From symbolic imagery to systemic societal issues, here are some of the things only adults notice in Mulan.

As Mulan prepares to meet with the village matchmaker, her mother helps her get dressed and paints her face. During this "getting ready" sequence, we see a number of laces and ribbons being tied tight as Mulan grimaces, showing clearly how constricting she finds not only the clothing but the entire affair. When she emerges, she comments to her sister that the getup completely prevents her from expressing herself.

This isn't the only time that binding imagery is used to convey Mulan having to suppress who she really is. Most notably, she has to bind her chest in order to pass as a male soldier. Later the removal of those bindings help symbolize the "death" of her male alter ego, Hua Jun, and the emergence of Hua Mulan as her true self. Once she embraces her identity, she undoes the bindings of her armor and hair ties. Kids will pick up on the idea that Mulan is shedding a false sense of who she was supposed to be, but adults are more likely to notice that binding has been a recurring theme since the very beginning of the movie, symbolizing not just Mulan's internal struggle but the external pressures of what society determines women should be.

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Symbolic imagery | 0:00
Shadows and reflections | 1:30
Devotion to the Emperor | 2:20
Longing looks | 3:35
The real enemy | 4:11
The meaning of "true" | 5:29
Not a villain | 6:54
Hua Zhou sees Mulan | 8:02
Not much has changed | 9:04
Mulan's biggest battle | 9:52

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