Remarks:
This was the “I Want” song in “Mulan” (1998). Long standard in Broadway musicals, “I Want” songs became a standard part of Disney Princess films too with “Part of Your World” in “The Little Mermaid” (1989). It is the song near the beginning where the main character tells us what she wants, setting up the main conflict in the story.
Although the song was sung for an Asian character (Mulan, Chinese) by an Asian singer (Lea Salonga, Filipina), it was written by a gay Jewish American man, David Zippel. And, in fact, it does seem to have a queer subtext:
Now I see, that if I were truly to be myself
I would break my family’s heart
That comes from Zippel, not the Chinese story the film was based on.
And Mulan herself is not a queer character: her gender identity is female throughout even when her gender expression is not (she crossdresses to join the army to save her father). Nor is she lesbian.
See also:
- Mulan (花木兰)
- songs: the 1990s
- Disney Princess songs:
- mukokuseki
- voice of colour
- gender identity
Lyrics:
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
How I pray, that a time will come
I can free myself and meet their expectations
On that day, I’ll discover someway to be myself
And to make my family proud
They want a docile lamb
No-one knows who I am
Must there be a secret me
I’m forced to hide
Must I pretend that I am someone else for all time
When will my reflection show, who I am inside
When will my reflection show, who I am inside
Source: AZ Lyrics.
Abagond 
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