Editing Mulan (Disney character) (section)

==== Relationship with Shang ====
Unlike the generally positive reviews received by Mulan, critical reception towards the character's romantic relationship with [[Li Shang (Mulan character)|Li Shang]] has been largely negative, drawing much speculation from critics who accused ''Mulan'' of having "a typical girl-hooks-up-with-boy ending."<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.ram.org/ramblings/movies/mulan.html|title = Mulan|access-date = March 9, 2014|last = Samudrala|first = Ram|year = 1998|archive-date = March 9, 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140309113819/http://www.ram.org/ramblings/movies/mulan.html|url-status = live}}</ref> [[Roger Ebert]] of the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' observed, "The message here is standard feminist empowerment: Defy the matchmaker, dress as a boy, and choose your own career. But ''Mulan'' has it both ways, since inevitably Mulan's heart goes pitty-pat over Shang, the handsome young captain she's assigned to serve under. The movie breaks with the tradition in which the male hero rescues the heroine, but is still totally sold on the Western idea of romantic love."<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mulan-1998|title = Mulan|work = RogerEbert.com|access-date = February 25, 2014|publisher = Ebert Digital LLC|last = Ebert|first = Roger|year = 1998|archive-date = March 5, 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140305100421/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mulan-1998|url-status = live}}</ref> ''[[The New York Times]]''' [[Janet Maslin]] negatively opined, "For all of Mulan's courage and independence in rebelling against the matchmakers, this is still enough of a fairy tale to need Mr. Right."<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C00E3D91E3DF93AA25755C0A96E958260&partner=Rotten%2520Tomatoes|title = Mulan (1998) FILM REVIEW; A Warrior, She Takes on Huns and Stereotypes|website = The New York Times|date = June 19, 1998|access-date = February 25, 2014|last = Maslin|first = Janet|archive-date = July 8, 2018|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180708194608/https://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/19/movies/film-review-a-warrior-she-takes-on-huns-and-stereotypes.html|url-status = live}}</ref>

Citing Mulan's relationship with Shang as an example of [[sexism]], a film critic writing for ''[[Teen Ink]]'' wrote:

{{Blockquote|text = "Mulan has been hailed as a feminist Disney movie because it showcases a young woman who leads China to victory using her quick wit, pride, and a strong sense of family honor—all while masquerading as a man named Ping. Even though Mulan (as Ping) gains the respect of the army commander and her comrades, once they discover that she is a woman, her army commander and potential love-interest, Shang, loses respect for her and even hates her. "Ping" had been doing an even better job than Shang, but when Shang finds out Ping is a woman, his stupid male ego breaks on impact. Mulan is sentenced to death, and Shang, the macho man of the film, ultimately gets to decide her fate. The only reason she survives is because Shang decides he'd rather just send her home. Wow. To add insult to injury, at the end of the film, Shang fixes up his shattered ego by claiming Mulan as a suitor. Even as Mulan is being praised and cheered in the Forbidden City after she almost single-handedly saves China (this time, as a woman), at the end of the film, the audience is reminded that Mulan is really just another woman looking for a man. Mulan's real victory isn't saving her country from invasion. No, it's marrying Shang."|sign = ''[[Teen Ink]]''<ref>{{cite web|title=Mulan: Just Another Princess|url=http://www.teenink.com/hot_topics/pride_prejudice/article/289610/Mulan-Just-Another-Princess/|work=Teen Ink|access-date=March 9, 2014|archive-date=March 10, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140310072032/http://www.teenink.com/hot_topics/pride_prejudice/article/289610/Mulan-Just-Another-Princess/|url-status=live}}</ref> }}

Betsy Wallace of [[Common Sense Media]] observed that Mulan "doesn't fit the princess mold, and most moviegoers had never heard of her." Conclusively, Wallace wrote, "it's too bad that in the end she still needs to be married off to a 'Prince Charming' who saves the day."<ref name=":10">{{Cite web|url = http://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/mulan|title = Mulan|date = August 1, 2005|access-date = March 9, 2014|publisher = Common Sense Media Inc|last = Wallace|first = Betsy|archive-date = September 17, 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200917215703/https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/mulan|url-status = live}}</ref> In contribution to the book ''Beyond Adaptation: Essays on Radical Transformations of Original Works'', Lan Dong wrote, "Even though Mulan achieves success after she resumes her female self&nbsp;... it is compromised by Mulan and Li Shang's potential engagement at the end of the film."<ref name=":15">{{Cite book|title = Beyond Adaptation: Essays on Radical Transformations of Original Works|last = Dong|first = Lan|publisher = McFarland & Company|isbn = 978-0-7864-4223-2|location = United States|chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ii6IPUuHThYC&q=the+making+of+mulan+interview&pg=PA159|editor-last = Frus|editor-first = Phyllis|access-date = March 1, 2014|page = 165|publication-date = March 2, 2010|chapter = Mulan: Disney's Hybrid Heroine|date = 2010-03-01|archive-date = March 31, 2024|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240331212708/https://books.google.com/books?id=ii6IPUuHThYC&q=the+making+of+mulan+interview&pg=PA159#v=snippet&q=the%20making%20of%20mulan%20interview&f=false|url-status = live}}</ref>