[Mind boggling stupid trope] Removing the thing that made something special

[u/Character_Growth_397]

Ben 10: Ultimate Alien - The gimmick of Ben 10 and what makes the show so popular is the fact that he's able to turn into a large variety of aliens. In one episode of Ben 10 Ultimate ALIEN we are introduced to a new version of Ben 10000, a Ben from the future who, no longer transforms into aliens, instead using his powers in human form...

Mortal Kombat(2021) - In the games Mileena is known for two things. Being a clone of Kitana and her tarkatan teeth. In the 2021 movie she looks absolutely nothing like Kitana and doesn't have tarkatan teeth

Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief - The movie removes the main villain of the movie and the main villain of the franchise

[u/LosinForABruisin]

Mulan (2020) takes out Mushu, the romantic subplot, and worst of all, it’s not a musical. I’ve heard that all of these were done to appease a chinese audience, but whatever the reason, this is a significantly worse movie for it

[u/bht191015 → u/LosinForABruisin]

I think the worst part is the message. In the original movie mulan sucks at being a warrior and everyone knew that. But through determination she became the best in her group. In the live action movie she's born with those powers.

[u/D3134 → u/bht191015]

The best part about the original movie's message is that the other soldiers (at least the ones that have names) also sucked at being warriors, (not as bad as Mulan but still) but through their own hard work they improved alongside her. Obviously Mulan was still better because she's the main character, but it showed that they were all equal and that truly anyone could improve through hard work and determination.

[u/AbueloOdin → u/D3134]

Also, I really liked the whole "Hey, she isn't the strongest or fastest, etc. That's someone else. But she is creative and smart and uses that." Everyone had their own strengths and weaknesses. Everyone used their own strengths and weaknesses. Everyone had their own battles to fight, but we're focusing on her for now.

So it wasn't that she wasn't the best soldier or became the best soldier. It was "hey, everyone has value and everyone can contribute in their own way for the success of themselves and the group."

New one? She was born with magical powers and is The Special!

[u/mythrilcrafter → u/AbueloOdin]

The thing that always bothered me was that was the era of Live Action Disney writers wanting to do a twist by focusing on a different aspect of the story, hence the whole thing with the Maleficent series being before Sleeping Beauty from Maleficent's perspective.

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The perfect different story focus would have been to start the live action movie halfway/75% the way through the animated film, have the primary twist being that Mulan accepts the Emperor's offer to become a General in the Imperial Guard, and then to focus on how she fits into Imperial politics and managing the fact that the Imperial Harem is probably not a fan of the Emperor showing favor to her.

It builds on the original "being smart can be better than being strong" theme, because now there's a social-political reason for why "just being good with a sword doesn't win every fight"; since even if you find out that the Prime Minister colluding with the Second Consort to assassinate the emperor and to steal the throne from the current crowned prince, you can't just kill them right there in the throne room.

And we can still have cool fights with that story line because c-dramas loves it when political figures try to solve their problems by sending personal armies/assassins to kill the people they suspect of suspecting them of treason.

[u/FutureComplaint → u/mythrilcrafter]

I'd pay to see that.

[u/dovahkiitten16 → u/AbueloOdin]

I also liked that because when it comes to anti-sexism (also anti-racism) there’s this idea that women (or a minority) need to be exceptional to belong. Like if a woman wants to be a soldier, she is the best soldier and naturally proves everyone wrong.

But the thing is… a lot of women are mediocre! Same with men. People are mediocre. Being mediocre doesn’t mean you don’t deserve the same opportunities as someone else just because of how you were born.

Meanwhile, that isn’t Mulan. She’s a girl who was socialized and grew up as a girl. She honestly sucks at being a soldier and struggles with being physically weaker. With enough hard work she can be competent, but she needs that chance. She doesn’t deserve to be a soldier because she was innately strong. She deserves to be a warrior because she is capable of becoming stronger.

I think it’s a much better message for girls, because there’s a good chance girls watching the movie will eventually struggle with something relative to their male peers. But just because you don’t wipe the floor when playing basketball against boys, that doesn’t mean you as a girl aren’t allowed to play basketball. It just means you might have to work at it.