PLOT POINT 1:

Fa Mulan Hook

 

WARNING: Spoilers Below

Fa Mulan

 

Opening Scene(s) Refresher: Mulan completes her chores, prepares for the Matchmaker, and has her interview with said Matchmaker (which is a disaster).

But how does her introduction accomplish the 8 important elements? Click on each of them below to find out!

Want

Mulan wants to honor (and protect) her family.

Normal World

Mulan starts her journey at her family home in China. She is studying for an interview with the Matchmaker.

  • What makes this unique to Mulan? An interview with a Matchmaker at the request of cultural family expectations is fairly unique to Mulan. If we pulled someone off the street, they likely would not ever be in this situation. But more importantly, Mulan's Normal World is unique because of who she is and how her character is at odds with the normal world around her (Imperial China).

Ghost

Mulan's Ghost is similar to Jo's. As a woman in rural China, she has certain expectations placed upon her. She loves her family and wants to honor them by conforming to these expectations, even though they do not embody who she is.

Internal Conflict

Mulan wants to please her family. Unfortunately, what is being asked of her goes against who she is and what she wants. This dissonance creates internal conflict.

External Conflict

Passing the Matchmaker's test. This results in quite a bit of external conflict as.

  • How does this introduce the Ghost? The Matchmaker highlights all of Mulan's shortcomings when it comes to cultural, societal, and even familial expectations. "You may look like a bride, but you will never bring your family honor."

Character Traits

  1. Dedicated - RELATABLE - Mulan tries hard to fit into the expectations placed upon her - we've all wanted to please people we care about and have therefore tried hard to do so.

  2. Clever - ADMIRABLE - Mulan gets her dog, Little Brother, to do her chores for her by attaching a bone and chicken feed to him. We look up to people who are clever.

  3. Fair-minded - LIKABLE - Mulan displays her sense of justice and equality by giving the little girl back her toy when boys take it from her. This is a very likable thing to do!

Theme

The Themes of family and of staying true to yourself are introduced in this scene.

Stakes

Mulan wants to honor and protect her family. The opening scene threatens this when she fails so miserably at the Matchmaker (bringing embarrassent to her family).