I don't know if you noticed, but last winter a struggling studio
named the Walt Disney Company put out a small independent film called Frozen.
It's about the life of a magical, talking snowman and how he shows two
sisters, one who has winter-based powers and one who doesn't, the
meaning of true love. Oops...
SPOILERS
It's about the life of a magical, talking snowman and how he shows two
sisters, one who has winter-based powers and one who doesn't, the
meaning of true love.
SPOILERS OVER
The
movie seemed to make a buck or two and gained a lot of praise for how
Disney bucked it's "helpless little princess" ways of past movies.
Newspapers and feminist blogs everywhere raved how Anna is saved by an
act of sisterly love, and not by any man! In fact the usual tropes of
love at first sight or openly mocked by having the initial love interest
becoming a right bastard. Disney has finally found a progressive
princess to be proud of -- unlike those meek and boy-crazy monarchs of
the past. Oops...
SPOILERS
There are still newspapers.
SPOILERS OVER
On the surface this feminist proposition sounds justified. From Snow
White to Rapunzel, Disney "princess" heroines mostly concern themselves
with men. By reading the back of the box of these films, these girls
can exude the appearance of ditzy, meek little things that need to be saved rather
than role models that modern girls should emulate. Even the Disney
Princess line of toys perpetuates that stereotype, by covering all toys
in pink, purple and other pastels and keeping themes to salons, kitchens
and dress shops. On the surface, these past princesses are only about
the tiara.
But I object the premise of the argument.
In fact most Disney movies show young women that I would be happy for my
own Princess to mimic. Most of these heorines are everything I strive
to teach my daughter about being kind, strong, true to beliefs and
taking risks. In what I will dub the Princess Conspiracy, I will show
you how strong these women are princess by princess using Disney's own
princess collection.
Lets start in order, shall we:
Snow White:
Sure, she's demonized for her looks by a vain step-mother, and banished
to die, but she convinces her executioner not to do it. Then she breaks
into a house and pretty much takes over. Sure she cooks and cleans,
but it's the 1930's. Name another 1930's film that features women in
both the heroine and villain roles.
Cinderella: Here's
a girl who is stripped of her title and acts as a defacto slave to her
step-family. Does she wilt or whine in her situation? No! She
performs her tasks dutifully and trains mice in her spare time. When
she wants something she goes after it, creating a dress from scraps to
attend the only thing that could distract her from her miserable
existence. And when she is thwarted, who comes to her rescue -- another
woman! Then at the end when the palace lackey comes around with the
glass slipper, she defies her oppressors and was like, "Yeah, that's my
slipper bi-otch. I'll see you losers later." I'm pretty sure if the
prince didn't come a-calling, she would have led the mice on an all-out
revolution.
Aurora: OK, this gal is pretty
damsel in distressy, but in her defense, she had no idea what was going
on. Her parents hid her a forest with three old ladies for 16 years.
Then she sleeps for the other half of the movie. It's hard to play a
liberated sleeping woman.
Ariel: This
sixteen
year old may fall in love a bit quick, but her determination and
risk-taking shows that she will not bow to any man. Her quest actually
has
to do more with the human world, and the man is just the cherry on top.
And when her dad throws a hissy fit, does she give up and cower to a
man's whims? Hell no. She trades a part of herself to get what she
wants. A less progressive women would have sought out the nearest
merman and popped out a litter of
merpeople while being trapped in a loveless mermarriage.
Belle:
She's incredibly intelligent and reads during a time when women -- or
most people -- were not literate. When people allude to the idea of
taking a man, she's like "screw you, a-hole," and rebukes Gaston's
manliness. She sacrifices herself to protect the elderly, and t
naturally becomes the leader of a bunch of talking household items.
Then she forces the man to submit to her preferences before she will even
consider loving him, and not the other way around. It's also
interesting to note that the villain is the stereotypical image of
masculinity.
Jasmine: Consider for a moment
that in many countries of the modern-era Middle East women cannot drive
or travel without permission from a man. Then look at Jasmine who
freely speaks her mind to the Sultan. Thieves get their hands cut off
for stealing a crust of bread, what do you think would happen to a woman
who back-talked their father? And she owned a tiger!
Pocahontas: I have actually never seen Pocahontas all the way through. The talking tree threw me for a loop and I never finished the movie. I hear she's a bad-ass that saves John Smith and then stays with her people instead of following him back to England.
Mulan: She saves China from the freakin' Huns. The. Freakin'. Huns.
Tiana: Hard working, independent thinker, and a thirst to be a small business owner. That's a pretty large, non-stereotypical role for a black woman in the 1920's. In fact it is the prejudice of the white, male bankers that deny her ambition. But she displays tenacity and grace as she keeps pursuing her dream. She doesn't even let getting turned into a frog get in her way. She makes the prince work for her affection as she thinks he's a jerk for most of the movie. And in the end when she could retire to the palace and live the life a leisure, she says "Not in this lifetime! I'm opening my damn restaurant and you, Princy-boy, will be my waiter. I am the wage earner in this family!"
Rapunzel: This is the most intriguing princess, as on the service she seems like the demure cliche of femininity. She bubbly and optimistic and naive and wears pastel purple. What a ditz. Then when the man shows up, she smacks him into submission, forces him to escort her around and do her bidding, rescues him multiple times, and even saves HIS life in the end. By the way she proposed to him. It's clear that its her kingdom and he's merely the arm-candy.
Merida: In every way throughout this film, Merida defies her "womanly" expectations and outshines every single man to the point where they are merely background characters. Not only does she not have a love interest, she humiliates all who even tried.
You may think that Disney movies only show vulnerable, flighty women, and I will respect your decision to be wrong. The princess product line may make this rather strong group of teenagers look like vapid airheads whose only thought is about their perfectly quaffed hair, but I believe that's a horrible disservice to the source material. I, for one, will confidently show these movies to my daughter so she can view a wealth of positive female role models.
Except for Pocahontas. Talking trees freak me out.
Pocahontas: I have actually never seen Pocahontas all the way through. The talking tree threw me for a loop and I never finished the movie. I hear she's a bad-ass that saves John Smith and then stays with her people instead of following him back to England.
Mulan: She saves China from the freakin' Huns. The. Freakin'. Huns.
Tiana: Hard working, independent thinker, and a thirst to be a small business owner. That's a pretty large, non-stereotypical role for a black woman in the 1920's. In fact it is the prejudice of the white, male bankers that deny her ambition. But she displays tenacity and grace as she keeps pursuing her dream. She doesn't even let getting turned into a frog get in her way. She makes the prince work for her affection as she thinks he's a jerk for most of the movie. And in the end when she could retire to the palace and live the life a leisure, she says "Not in this lifetime! I'm opening my damn restaurant and you, Princy-boy, will be my waiter. I am the wage earner in this family!"
Rapunzel: This is the most intriguing princess, as on the service she seems like the demure cliche of femininity. She bubbly and optimistic and naive and wears pastel purple. What a ditz. Then when the man shows up, she smacks him into submission, forces him to escort her around and do her bidding, rescues him multiple times, and even saves HIS life in the end. By the way she proposed to him. It's clear that its her kingdom and he's merely the arm-candy.
Merida: In every way throughout this film, Merida defies her "womanly" expectations and outshines every single man to the point where they are merely background characters. Not only does she not have a love interest, she humiliates all who even tried.
You may think that Disney movies only show vulnerable, flighty women, and I will respect your decision to be wrong. The princess product line may make this rather strong group of teenagers look like vapid airheads whose only thought is about their perfectly quaffed hair, but I believe that's a horrible disservice to the source material. I, for one, will confidently show these movies to my daughter so she can view a wealth of positive female role models.
Except for Pocahontas. Talking trees freak me out.
