I thought it wasn’t possible to like my favorite Disney movie more, then the star did this
I’m Gen Z, part Chinese, and transmasculine: of course I'm talking about Mulan. That was my favorite movie growing up, and still is my favorite Disney movie. I’ve seen it dozens of times. It’s funny, epic, well animated, has good music, and it’s almost a demographic prerogative to have related to the gender themes as a child. At the beginning of the movie Mulan sings:
“Look at me
I will never pass for a perfect bride
Or a perfect daughter
Can it be
I'm not meant to play this part?
Now I see
That if I were truly to be myself
I would break my family's heart
Who is that girl I see
Staring straight back at me?
Why is my reflection someone I don't know?
Somehow I cannot hide who I am, though I've tried
When will my reflection show who I am inside?
When will my reflection show who I am inside?”
Now imagine you’re Gen Z, part Chinese, and transmasculine, and oh yeah also your mom voiced Mulan.
I just found out that Lea Salonga (the singing voice of Mulan) has an 18 year old trans son, Nic Chien, who is also an actor. And I’m so, so glad that she’s an ally! I’m not saying it would completely ruin the movie if she turned out transphobic, but it just makes me an even bigger fan to know she cares deeply about the trans community and fully supports her son's transition. The two of them are in a production of the musical Into the Woods together, which I would love to go see if it weren’t in the Philippines (and was also a show I like more).
Even with supportive family, it’s tough to come out, to tell your parents that all the dreams they once had for you are wrong. What must it be like for Nic Chien to listen to “Reflection”? To hear his own mother’s voice, voicing those thoughts so many trans boys have had? I think that song belongs to him now, if he wants it. I don’t need it anymore. My reflection does show who I am inside, and I’ll never stop being grateful.