How I Finally Saw Myself Reflected in the Original ‘Mulan’ (Guest Column)

variety.com:

Traci G. Lee There’s a moment 19 minutes into Disney’s 1998 film “Mulan” where the heroine takes a sword to her long black hair, cutting it short in one fluid motion without hesitation.

It’s part of a montage where Mulan, spurred by her father’s decision to fight for China despite old war injuries, quickly decides on her own that she will dress as a man and take her father’s place in the army.

She prays, steals her father’s armor and rides off in the rain. Only once does she pause to gaze wistfully at her sleeping parents.Seeing this montage in the theaters, at 9 years old, was the first moment I remembered feeling inspired by a film.