9 More Films "Based On True Stories" That Missed Out The Best Part

3. General Mulan - Mulan

In Disney's Mulan, the drama of the titular character's deceptive infiltration of the army in place of her father is amped up thanks to an undercurrent of sexism that oppressed women as secondary citizens. That's why it's such a disgrace when her deception is discovered and why it's absolutely fine for her to be left to die of her injuries as a traitor on a mountainside.

Eventually, she's accepted when she thwarts the evil Shan Yu's plan to assassinate the Emperor and defeats him in single combat and the city's inhabitants bow to her, breaking the patriarchy for a moment.

The reality is that Chinese society was not as oppressive of women at the time and there was no law calling for execution of any woman impersonating a man to serve in the military. The real legend of Mulan actually painted her as much more of a bad-ass, whose discovery was met with a cool response from the army.

In fact, Mulan had risen to the rank of general by that point and saved the empire already before she VOLUNTARILY revealed herself, which is definitely a better story.