How old is Shang?

[levy120]

Because... I think the though of it is slighly disturbing.
Mulan is supposed to be 16 in this movie.

But how old is Shang? I mean... take a look at his body, he's the Captain and even promoted to be General. I just can't believe that he's supposed to be younger than 20, he must be AT LEAST 23 or so.
And that alone is a huge age difference already oO"

(Alright it is NOTHING compared to Mushu/Mulan, but I think you get my point xD)

[ckatmyla]

Only seven years, and you know my opinion on older boy/younger girl

That's pretty much how things went back then too. So *I* have no problems with it, but some people might.

[levy120]

Stuff like that makes me so glad we're living in the gold old future xD

Although - 2012 xD
*shot*

[porcelainwarrior]

Wasn't Mulan 18?...lol...that's what they said in the comments of the DVD.
Lol.
I always thought he'd be 22, 25 tops.

[levy120]

- I prefer woman btw, the "woman Mulan"
- She's a girl, pal. She's 16 in the movie.
- She's 16, she's not a woman yet. In the end she's a woman, but she starts as a girl.

Minute 26 in the Audio commentary when she meets Mushu


That's one of the things that I remembered from the audio commentary next to all the guardian-important stuff, because I thought as well that she would at least have to be of age, but NO she was underage. What a bumer. And just to think that she's (max) 17 in the sequel (to top it, counting in all the months of training and the little timespan that's put in the movie) and... uh... no that doesn't fit.
In the sequel Mulan is treated as though she's a full grownup already - and I don't mean the "Wheee you're gonna marry!" kind of thing.

[araeph]

Feb 2, 2010 1:08:35 GMT -5 levy120 said:

- I prefer woman btw, the "woman Mulan"
- She's a girl, pal. She's 16 in the movie.
- She's 16, she's not a woman yet. In the end she's a woman, but she starts as a girl.

Minute 26 in the Audio commentary when she meets Mushu


That's one of the things that I remembered from the audio commentary next to all the guardian-important stuff, because I thought as well that she would at least have to be of age, but NO she was underage. What a bumer. And just to think that she's (max) 17 in the sequel (to top it, counting in all the months of training and the little timespan that's put in the movie) and... uh... no that doesn't fit.
In the sequel Mulan is treated as though she's a full grownup already - and I don't mean the "Wheee you're gonna marry!" kind of thing.

She is not "underage" for two reasons:

1) In the time Mulan lived, girls were most commonly married at 13. So, the time of Mulan's marriage is actually much healthier than the normal way of doing things back then.

2) We modern people baby our young. Our children stay kids well into their twenties...because we let them. So it's hard to imagine a 16-year-old as anything but a child, because of course our 16-year-olds aren't exactly independent. But a 16-year-old back then would have been treated like an adult much earlier, taken on responsibilities much earlier, made his/her own way in the world much earlier--s/he would have been much more mature for that age than someone from our century. S/he would have been an adult.

-Alexander the Great had conquered much of the known world before most young people today even think about leaving Mommy and Daddy's house.

-Queen Elizabeth was the ruler of two countries, England and Ireland, by the age of 25. (Can you imagine England's prime minister today being that age? No...but her youth didn't impair her ability to lead.)

-Joan of Arc was Mulan's age when she was placed in command of the entire French army. And it turned out pretty well for France, too!

People lived and died young then. And in that era, at the age of 16, Mulan would have had all of the physical, emotional, and mental wherewithal to marry and start a family of her own.

[As for Shang's age, I'd personally say he's 20. Remember, graduating from the Academy isn't the same as college. Men were trained in combat when they were very young, too.]

[castledown13]

I'm guessing Shang is around 18-19.

[eline]

Idk... A captain at eighteen? I think that's really young,even for the chinese...

[castledown13]

I always thought of that whenever I see the movie. *shrugs*

[Mushufanforever]

Hmm I've been wondering about Shang's real age too, but it had never occur to me. But you know how Disney is; a lot of their princesses are young but they wed to older men!

Mulan still look like she was underage to me when she got married a month after saving China. Then again, she really doesn't look like a 16 year old.

[castledown13]

Well Snow White falls in love with that no-talking Prince of what?.....19? Snow White is said to be 18 but to me she's 14.

[levy120]

Who ever said that she was 18? The last that I heard was that she WAS actually 14 oo"

[Mushufanforever]

Snow White was 14? Yikes that's young! But she can't be 18 because Rapunzel and Tiana are the only eldest princesses we have that are still recent!

[castledown13]

I heard in a Snow White commentary that she was 18 when awoke from that kiss. But that would be impossible since she was in a deep sleep and she couldn't have grown up. Anyway....

[xingliyang]

But in Mulan 2 that Prince Jeeki said Mulan was old. Why would he say she's old if she's only 17? The princesses can't be much younger than Mulan. They like Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po who are kinda old.