In Eduardo Bonilla-Silva’s book “Racism without Racists,” the author raises an interesting point about visibility of certain minority groups. Regarding Asian Americans, Bonilla states that in addition to doing well economically and educationally, they are still viewed as the “rising powers of East Asia,” a stereotype formed in the 1990s. Bonilla cites the 1998 Disney animated movie Mulan as an example of the general negative sentiment towards East Asia.
As someone who has seen this film multiple times before the age of 10, I do not see any political propaganda in the film. When I think about it now, however, it makes sense. First of all, the movie plot varies significantly from the original story/poem I was taught in school. The moral of the original story was not female empowerment as Disney made it out to be, it is a story glorifying filial piety and determination. Compared to the 2009 Chinese adaptation of the film, more emphasis is placed on the Chinese ideals of masculinity and military in the Disney version. One of the most popular songs from the film, “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” describes in great detail some very machismo thoughts. To be a man, one must “have all the strength of a great typhoon/raging fire.” Since Asian representation is so inadequate in American media, for a child watching this animated film might think of this movie as a realistic representation of military power in China, which would in turn subconsciously cause some type of fear. This might be where the stereotype “all Asians know kung fu” came from. No other Disney princess movie focuses so much on battle scenes and military training.
Bonilla categorizes modern day Asian Americans as “honorary whites.” Because of the recent gaining of status and population, Asian Americans might face more racism as a result. The middle class exists as a buffer between those on top and on bottom, but it also receives the most amount of attack. Even today, Asians are not widely known and understood by most other minorities groups or Caucasians. This causes many problems for the future of this minority group.
