Comparative Essay: The Parents-Children Relationship Breaking the Patriarchal Family in Disney’s Mulan and Beauty and the Beast

            As a human, child usually is charged to be a good person. This become a couple of parents to have the responsibility to guide their children to be a good person. Here, parenting was questioned. How someone’s parents lead the parenting over their child. So, it brings how their relationship as parents and children. Disney as a show that targeted its work for children often depicted how the relationship between parents and children should be. For example, in the Disney’s Mulan and Beauty and the Beast, they depicted how a relationship between parents and children should be. Even though there are also some scene that shown a rebellion in the children character. Then this rebellion can breaking the patriarchy at that time. Both two films have the depiction of how good relationship as parent-child should be and the rebellion itself that breaking the patriarchy. Therefore, this essay will discuss how a parents-children relationship, especially between father and daughter, and how it can breaks the patriarchy at that time in the two Disney movie, Mulan and Beauty and the Beast.

            First of all, this essay will go to how the relationship between daughter and father in the Disney’s Mulan Movie. The relationship of daughter and parent can be seen in the scene of the dialogue between Fa Mulan as a daughter and Fa Zhou as a father below,

Mulan              : “Father, I brought you some ... Whoop!” [Bangs into Fa Zhou, he catches the tea pot on his cane while the cups hit the ground and shatter]

 Fa Zhou          : “Mulan ...”

Mulan              : “I brought a spare!”

Fa Zhou           : “Mulan ...”

Mulan              : “Remember, the doctor said three cups of tea in the morning ...”

Fa Zhou           : “Mulan.”

Mulan              : “... and three at night.”

Fa Zhou           : “Mulan. You should already be in town. We're counting on you to…”

Mulan              : “Uphold the family honor. Don't worry, Father. I won't let you down. Wish me luck!”

In the Disney's Mulan 1998, a relationship between Fa Zhou as a father and Fa Mulan as a daughter was obviously shown as a good relationship and how a relationship between parent-child should be. In the scene above, when Fa Zhou go praying for her daughter who will be go to the matchmaker. He wished that Mulan will be successful. It showed that Fa Zhou as a father wanted her daughter, Mulan got the success in her life. While Mulan as daughter was so care of her father, and so Fa Zhou as a father was so care too to his daughter, Mulan. While her father was praying for her, Mulan came and brought a tea for her and did not forget to remind him about what the doctor said that he had to consume three cups of tea in morning and night. So, here is Disney depicted how a relation between father and daughter should be.

            In other side in the Beauty and the Beast, the relationship between father and child was depicted in Belle as a daughter and Maurice as a father in the scene of the dialogue between Belle, Lefou and Gaston below,

BELLE           : (Pulling away from Gaston) Please, Gaston, I can't.  I have to get home to help my father. Goodbye.

LEFOU           :  Ha ha ha!  That crazy old loon, he needs all the help he can get!

(GASTON and LEFOU start laughing heartily.)

BELLE           :  Don't talk about my father that way!

GASTON        :  Yeah, don't talk about her father that way!  (He conks LEFOU on the head.)

BELLE           :  My father is not crazy!  He's a genius!  (An explosion comes from the direction of BELLE's cottage.  BELLE hurries off, leaving GASTON and LEFOU to continue laughing.  BELLE, once she gets home, opens the basement door, is momentarily startled by the smoke issuing from it, then descends into the basement, waving away the smoke, where she finds MAURICE upside-down in a barrel.  He bounces a few of times, breaks the barrel and ends up wearing it.)

            In other side, in the Disney's Beauty and the Beast also showed how relationship between daughter and father should be. For in the scene when Lefou said something bad and laughed for Belle's father, Belle directly mad and defend her father that her father was not crazy but he was genius. It showed how a relationship between father and daughter should be, that as children don’t have to mock their parents or even let others mock their own parents. As a child who was born and taken care by parents, a daughter can't mock her father and her mother, even though parents are not a perfect parents. Because there is no perfect parents in this world, but their love to their child are perfect.

Next, this essay will go to the definition of patriarchy that will be discuss here due to the relationship of father-daughter in the Disney’s Mulan and Beauty and the Beast. According to Lerner states, “Patriarchy refers to the system historically derived from Greek and Roman law, in which the male head of household had absolute legal and economic power over his dependent female and male family members” (Lerner, 1986: 217 quoted in Akgul, 2016).

First, in the Disney’s Mulan, there is a scene that showed relationship between father and daughter can cause the breaking of patriarchy at that time. That scene showed below,

Mulan stares at her father for a moment, then runs outside crying.

Mulan is sitting in a statue of a dragon, crying. It is raining. Through the window of her house, she can see her mother and father talking. Fa Zhou picks up the candle and blows it out. Mulan thinks for a minute, then makes her decision.

Mulan walks into the Family Temple and lights a stick, placing it in a hanging statue of a small dragon. She runs into her parent's room, taking the scroll and leaving her hair comb. Taking her father's sword, she cuts her hair short and puts on her father's armor. Going out to the stable, she mounts Khan and sets off for the army. The eyes of a statue in the temple flash, and Granny Fa wakes up.

Granny Fa       : “Mulan is gone!”

Fa Zhou           :”What? It can't be ... [He runs outside] Mulan! No ...”

Fa Li                :”You must go after her. She could be killed.”

Fa Zhou           : “If I reveal her, she will be.”

          In the Disney's Mulan 1998, there is a scene where Fa Mulan as a female character in a patriarchal family who broke the patriarchy itself. Patriarchy itself is a system that believe male as the head of family control and has absolute power in the family. Fa Zhou as a father who should be go as a fighter to fulfill the emperor's duty was replaced by his daughter, Fa Mulan. Fa Mulan broke the patriarchy through her own decision to replace her father. Even though her father, Fa Zhou did not allow her to go, but at the end she still go by her own decision, without telling anyone at home. Fa Li as a Mulan's mother asked to Fa Zhou to go after Mulan, but instead of running after her, Fa Zhou let her go and pray for her with the risk that Mulan's original identity will be reveal. Even though after the rebellion of Mulan to her father, Fa Zhou still thinking and praying for his daughter. So, this showed the relationship between father and daughter as the parent and child breaking the patriarchy in Disney's Mulan.

            Second, in the Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, there is a scene that showed relationship between father and daughter can cause the breaking of patriarchy at that time. That scene showed below,

                        Beast               : “What are you doing here?”

Maurice           : “Run, Belle!”

Belle                : “Who's there? Who are you?”

Beast               : “The master of this castle.”

Belle                :  “I've come for my father.  Please, let him out!  Can't you see he's sick?”

Beast               : “Then he shouldn't have trespassed here!”

Belle                : “But he could die!  Please, I'll do anything!”

Beast               : “There's nothing you can do.  He's my prisoner.”

Belle                : “Oh, there must be some way I can ... wait!  Take me instead.”

Beast               : “You! (His voice softens)  You would take his place?”

Maurice           : “Belle!  No!  You don't know what you're doing!”

Belle                : “If I did ... would you let him go?”

Beast               : “Yes.  But ... you must promise to stay here forever.” (Belle ponders her situation, until she realizes she can't see the captor.)

Belle                : “Come into the light.” (Beast drags his legs, then his whole body into the beam of light. Belle watches, her eyes growing wider and wider until she can stand it no longer and falls back to Maurice)

Maurice           : “No, Belle!  I won't let you do this!”

(Belle regains her composure and steps into the beam of light.)

Belle                : “You have my word.”

Beast               : “Done!”

Also, in the Beauty and the Beast showed how patriarchy has been broken by Belle as daughter. In the scene when Belle left home to find her father who had been left and not came back with his horse. Belle arrived in the castle with the companion of the horse, she looked for her father in the Castle. After walking around the castle, she finally found her father was trapped in a prison. She was worry and wanted to set her father free, so, she had an intention to replace her father as a prisoner. But her father, Maurice didn't allow Belle to do this. Even though Belle's father did not allow her, but Belle still insisted to replace her father until the Beast agreed. Therefore. This showed that Belle as the daughter also broke the patriarchy which man has the rule and power as a father, and woman as an inferior who has to follow the man's rule and decision. Belle came with her own decision and also replace her father as a prisoner with her own decision. This showed the relationship between father and daughter as the parent and child breaking the patriarchy in Disney's Beauty and the Beast.

            In conclusion, Disney’s Mulan and Beauty and the Beast, Both movie have the similarities. First, both these movie are depicted how a good relationship of father-daughter should be. A father and a daughter should be respect, care, and support each other. Second, these movie have how their relationship of daughter and father can breaks the patriarchy. Both break the patriarchy because Mulan and Belle love their father then they want to save her father. Mulan save her father from death in war, and Belle save her father from the beast. In limitation of the relationship between father-daughter, both movie have no different. Both Mulan and Belle is depicted as a good daughter at all. This essay hopes that as a child never forget what parents did for us and always love them as they are.

Reference

“Mulan.” Transcribed by Ash Ketchem. The Complete Script. http://www.fpx.de/fp/Disney/Scripts/Mulan.html.

“Beauty and the Beast -- The Complete Script.” Compiled by Ruth. http://www.ruths-study.com/disney/scripts/beauty-script.txt.

Akgul, Filiz. “Understanding Patriarchy”. Oct 1007. 978-3-319-49766-2_3. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317172214_Understanding_Patriarchy

Rosenfeld, Lawrence B. “Father‐daughter relationships in Disney's animated films.” Southern Communication Journal, March 2003. DOI: 10.1080/10417940309373253.

Balraj, Belinda Marie, and Gopal, Kupusamy. “The Construction of Family in Selected Disney Animated Films.” 3, 1, International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, June 2013