Before Mike Pence was the governor of Indiana and Donald Trump’s running mate heading into the Republican National Convention, he was apparently a part-time film critic.
In an op-ed piece unearthed by BuzzFeed, Pence wrote that the 1998 Disney animated movie “Mulan” was the work of a “mischievous liberal” trying to groom kids to support women in combat.
“Mulan” is based on a centuries-old Chinese poem and features a young woman who disguises herself to fight in the army to spare her feeble father from military service against the Huns. The film took in more than $300 million at the box office worldwide and earned many solid reviews.
But not from Pence, who wrote the op-ed for his radio talk show’s website back in the ‘90s:
“Despite her delicate features and voice, Disney expects us to believe that Mulan’s ingenuity and courage were enough to carry her to military success on an equal basis with her cloddish cohorts,” he wrote. “Obviously, this is Walt Disney’s attempt to add childhood expectation to the cultural debate over the role of women in the military.”
“I suspect that some mischievous liberal at Disney assumes that Mulan’s story will cause a quiet change in the next generation’s attitude about women in combat and they just might be right,” Pence continued. “(Just think about how often we think of Bambi every time the subject of deer hunting comes into the mainstream media debate.)”
He also referenced the Tailhook scandal ― in which Navy aviators sexually assaulted scores of women, as well as some men, at a Las Vegas hotel in 1991 ― as an example of how integrating the military can’t work.
Finally, Pence added, the fact that Mulan falls in love with a superior officer sabotages the Mouse Factory’s supposed propaganda and proves that the sexes can’t fight together.
“Many young women find many young men to be attractive sexually,” he wrote. “Put them together, in close quarters, for long periods of time, and things will get interesting. Just like they eventually did for young Mulan. Moral of story: women in military, bad idea.”
Disney reportedly has a live-action version of “Mulan” in the works, so Pence will get another chance for a critique.
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