After being told that we were moving to China (see my last blog post on how that happened!), my dad decided to take me to see Mulan. His thought process was that if he showed me a movie about China, I might be more excited about it. He treated me to popcorn and a drink in the cinema so I was a happy child, until the movie started.
I don't know if you have even seen Mulan, but it is not a sweet, happy film all the way through. Sure, Mushu is adorable and funny, and Yao, Ling and Chien Po can make anyone crack up. The film is however largely taken up by a battle, mainly the preparations for it. Now, there aren't a whole lot of scenes that have fighting in them, but Shan Yu (the guy leading the Hun army) freaked me out. With his yellow/green eyes, very harsh shaped eyebrows and his creepy grin, he gave me the shivers. Plus, his bird only made it worse. Keep in mind, I was seven years old at this point, so my thought process went something like this; this creepy man is Chinese, so all Chinese people are like this, I am going to live in China, it is going to be horrible. It's safe to say that by the end of the film, I was more opposed to moving then I was before.
So, what was meant to be a positive step towards becoming used to the idea of moving to China, turned into a scared seven year old. Why would I want to move to a country that was being attacked by a scary man with his bird and his huge army? My dad explained to me numerous times how the movie was not real, and that the people in China are not like that. To redeem his first attempt, he bought me a children's book about China. It was filled with pictures of the cities, the people, the food, the scenery. I loved that book, and it overshadowed my nightmares of Shan Yu. It took some convincing, but slowly I opened up to the idea of moving again.
So a note to any parents reading this that are in a similar position my dad was in; watch the movie before showing it to your child. I love my dad and I know he tried his very best to make the move easiest for me, and I look back at this now and laugh. Although Shan Yu still haunts my dreams sometimes.
I don't know if you have even seen Mulan, but it is not a sweet, happy film all the way through. Sure, Mushu is adorable and funny, and Yao, Ling and Chien Po can make anyone crack up. The film is however largely taken up by a battle, mainly the preparations for it. Now, there aren't a whole lot of scenes that have fighting in them, but Shan Yu (the guy leading the Hun army) freaked me out. With his yellow/green eyes, very harsh shaped eyebrows and his creepy grin, he gave me the shivers. Plus, his bird only made it worse. Keep in mind, I was seven years old at this point, so my thought process went something like this; this creepy man is Chinese, so all Chinese people are like this, I am going to live in China, it is going to be horrible. It's safe to say that by the end of the film, I was more opposed to moving then I was before.
So, what was meant to be a positive step towards becoming used to the idea of moving to China, turned into a scared seven year old. Why would I want to move to a country that was being attacked by a scary man with his bird and his huge army? My dad explained to me numerous times how the movie was not real, and that the people in China are not like that. To redeem his first attempt, he bought me a children's book about China. It was filled with pictures of the cities, the people, the food, the scenery. I loved that book, and it overshadowed my nightmares of Shan Yu. It took some convincing, but slowly I opened up to the idea of moving again.
So a note to any parents reading this that are in a similar position my dad was in; watch the movie before showing it to your child. I love my dad and I know he tried his very best to make the move easiest for me, and I look back at this now and laugh. Although Shan Yu still haunts my dreams sometimes.
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