Thursday, November 17, 2005

Tickled

This tickled my head.

I googled the title of my blog today during a slow spot at work, and while I was picking through some suggested sites, I came across one that detailed the purpose and result of a college class on media and culture. Nothing overly exciting in itself, but it sent me to read this article.

http://www.poppolitics.com/articles/2001-01-05-mulan.shtml

I wasn't sure what I thought of it at first, but as I read it a second and third time, I've come to rather like it. She's witty and fun to read, and she does a great job debunking the two extremes that would denigrate the movie Mulan. She makes the excellent point that girls don't require Hollywood to be inspired. True, true, true. You don't have to see something animated and sold in an action figure to dream about being able to live without being put in a box. And she makes the equally valid point that the existence of a movie that isn't wholly liberating doesn't mandate a wholesale acceptance. It is possible to be a discerning consumer, pick and choose the good from the bad.

ETA: Pursue her biography at your own risk. I definitely don't recommend everything this woman thinks and does.

2 comments:

Becca said...

Totally enjoyed the article. I love Mulan, too, and I feel a little of a bond with the author for it. She brings out a good point. We do tend to go after media without taking into account that fact that most of us filter what we watch automatically. Well, I don't know if I can speak for everyone, but it makes sense to me that they would. I think I tend to.

Anonymous said...

I'm a rhetorician, but I am not not a woman and have not seen Mulan. Maybe I have something to say on this article, but its mostly over my head.

All I know for sure is that for several years, whenever I heard the soundtrack from Mulan blasting in the house, it meant that my sister was practicing karate. :-)