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VampireQueenEffeffia — Disney Princess Support
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Published: 2013-11-20 11:35:17 +0000 UTC; Views: 3351; Favourites: 85; Downloads: 0
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So I'm getting really sick of those YouTube videos about "Disney conspiracies" "Disney is perverted and racist" "Princesses have such a bad influence on young girls!" etc. So, I'm deciding to show my support.
Please read before you commentIssue #1: "When You Wish Upon a Star"
Before I get too far, I just want to ask something. Didn't that song come from Pinocchio? If anything, THAT teaches kids that just wishing will make everything better. And that movie was more for boys than girls, so shouldn't we be concerned about our sons, too? That is, if we have anything to be concerned about at all. Some people, including Doug Walker (better known as the Nostalgia Critic) actually think that the wish is MOTIVATION, and that you have to work for it.
Issue #2: Princesses like Cinderella just teach girls to wait around and wish and their prince will come
I think you missed most of the movie. The part with the Fairy Godmother is a very small part. In most of the movie, she's working for her evil step mother and not complaining about it. Don't you think that her hard work means she deserved that wish, that she deserved that bit of magic? If anything, that teaches kids to WORK towards their goals, be good and they'll be rewarded. And Cinderella was kind, which is why her friends helped her get what she wanted. That seems like a good moral.
Issue #3: Princess Ariel is just a whiny teenager
She's a teenager. That makes her more realistic. Plus, she's curious. She's adventurous. She saves a man's life for Pete's sake, how was THAT swept under the rug? True, she did give up her life as a Princess of the Sea for a man she barely knew, but didn't you do something stupid for someone you barely knew to make you love them? She fights, she does all she can to help save her father and Eric. Plus, didn't someone else quite popular do something similar? Give up her life for someone she barely knew? I don't see any of you bashing Juliet Capulet, who was roughly the same age and did the same thing! In fact, people still praise her as being one of the best characters ever. And Ariel is shunned why? True, most people don't let their kids see Romeo and Juliet, but then again, not every kid will see The Little Mermaid, so why would parents still be more concerned about Ariel?
Issue #4: Some just let other people take care of them, like Snow White
And Snow White took care of the dwarves. She was practically their mother, which is why they loved her so much and why her death made it so much harder for them. Snow White does show a bit of a gender role stereotype there, but that's because that's the way it was back in the day. Now Disney can't get away with that seeing as A) females have evolved to be better than that thanks to women's rights and things of that nature and B) THEY ABANDONNED IT YEARS AGO. Seriously, how many princesses in the past few years have had to have someone rescue them because they were totally defenseless? Look at Marida, Tiana, and Rapunzel. Do they look weak and defenseless to you? No, they look like honest-to-God people. Snow White is now a bit of an older issue, but I doubt she'll be that bad to let your kids watch.
Issue #5: They get with men they barely know
Jasmine is probably one of the more infamous ones. Sleeping Beauty, it was arranged at birth, so not much choice there. Snow White, I can see why, but he did kind of save her life and going to old traditions that may have been a way to show gratitude. Ariel, though never speaking to him, did take time to get to know him. It may have been three days, but this takes place in the past when not having kids by age 16 is rare. So Jasmine, I'm going to be honest, can't defend herself much. However, she did take time to spend with Aladdin at several points. Plus, she had to marry, so why not go for someone who she fell in love with? Better than most girls in real life who daydream over boys who pass them in the hallway, which is present in many shows nowadays that most Disney-Princess-bashers claim they'd rather their children watch.
Issue #6: Sleeping Beauty let everyone else save the day for her while she did nothing.
She became comatose after pricking her finger on a spinning wheel, which, as Maleficent said, would put her in a deep sleep until true love's first kiss broke the spell. What was she supposed to do? She shouldn't have touched it! She had never seen one, so she wanted to know what it was. And by the looks of it, she also was somewhat possessed by Maleficent. Not much choice there for her.
Issue #7: Jasmine wasn't happy with what she had! She had it great! So she ran away!
I'm going to go with Ariel again. She's a teenager, and it's common for them to want more. Many do run away from home when they don't get what they want, including members of my own family. And I can see why Jasmine was so unhappy. She wanted to marry for love, but she was being forced to marry a man she didn't know at all because he was a prince. She wasn't allowed to do ANYTHING she wanted EVER because she was a princess. And that's realistic. In fact, most teens are so spoiled that they cry every time they're not allowed to do something, then they say how they never get to do anything, their parents suck, blah blah blah . . . Jasmine is better than that. She's not really much of a habitual runaway, and when she finds someone worth sticking around for, she sticks around so she can be with someone she loves.
Issue #8: Belle shows that you should persist on in an abusive relationship, and that it's important to be beautiful!
. . . Okay, did you even SEE the movie? Like, actually sit down and watch and listen with your actual eyes and ears? She doesn't care one bit about being pretty, she just is, and never does she flaunt it! And abusive relationship? Yeah, he was controlling, but they aren't in a relationship much until the end. In fact, within the last few minutes is when she confesses her love. Most of the time, she's just being his captive, but does find the best in him and bring it out. How is THAT negative at all?
Issue #9: They all teach you that you have to be beautiful, but not too beautiful or people will be jealous.
All of them were just naturally good looking. Is that too wrong to teach? Use your natural beauty? And they NEVER flaunt it. The Queen from Snow White was just crazy, that wasn't Snow White's fault! In Mulan, she disguised herself as a boy and wasn't able to use her beauty. She was all gussied up to see to become a bride, but that's more of a gender role set in the time period than anything else, not her choice. None of them looked to use their appearance. Ariel did change her appearance drastically, but only so she could BE with a man, not so she could PLEASE that man. Was she fine just the way she was? Maybe, but you try having relationships with people who are part-fish! What are you going to do, have a picnic on the beach? If so, better bring plenty of fish food!
And finally, possibly the biggest issues next to doing nothing to get what they want:
Issue #10: They're never punished when they do something wrong.
Yeah, BullCRAP! Cinderella wasn't supposed to go to the ball. What happens when she was? She was locked in her room when the Duke was there, so she couldn't get her happily ever after. Ariel wasn't supposed to ditch her father during the concert, collect information about the humans, nor go on land. What happens when she does this? For the concert she's scolded, and for her collection and falling for a human, her most prized possessions are destroyed. And you thought getting your cell phone taken away for a week was cruel. And she does defy him. Her voice is taken away and her father is nearly killed for it, to which she does take full responsibility. Jasmine may not be punished much for running off (security around her was just doubled around the clock which is still lame), but wasn't she punished enough with having to marry someone she didn't love? Belle would have been punished for leaving the Beast had he not pretty much let her go and had he not been injured. She even helped him! Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) touched something she wasn't supposed to and wound up comatose for it. They ARE punished, maybe not enough for YOU, but they ARE.
Did I miss anything? Have anything to add or argue? Tell me below!
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Comments: 22
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EXACTLY!
Now if you'll excuse me I still have to sing a duet with a giant crab and multiple animals, GO CARPET GO!!!
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OMG, I hate, hate, HAAAAAAAATE the pervert fanbrats of these Disney Princesses.
These fanboys and fangirls are basically lusting after, and having wet dreams about girls in their teen and tween years, while these fans are all middle aged losers.
If that is not sick and disturbing, than what is?
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They never really had a bad influence on me as a kid.
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As far as I'm concerned, Disney princesses are just as likely to turn your little girl into a helpless housewife as painting their room pink- which is to say it is not likely at all.
If it were that easy to mold children, there would be no problem children, because then you could just hand them some rules and they'd never break them- which as anyone can tell you, just does not happen in real life.
What shapes your kid isn't the toys, kids shows or whatever you give them- it's what you do or do not teach them.
Case in point: if you never tell them "no", they grow up to think they can do whatever the heck they want- which might look cute now, but is very NOT cute when they get in a brutal throw down with a classmate as a teen.
You can't use the tv to raise a kid- you don't need a mature adult brain to change the channel to something inappropriate.
And you have to sit down and explain to them why so and so is wrong/not ok for them to watch if they do blunder onto that kind of content.
My father used to read or watch stuff before I did to see if I could handle it- and if he said no, that was that.
But regardless, Disney movies aren't like that- and for those few scary scenes that Disney likes to throw out once and awhile, just comfort the kid and tell them it's just a movie.
And if the kid in question asks why Snow White is very different from Rapunzel, explain to them that times were different back then- because they were, and expecting a movie from the 30's to be just like one from now is silly.
And the same goes for guys- blue and "manly things" won't turn them into a brainless jock- but failing to teach them might.
You just have try and steer them in the right direction, and hope it works.
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Hey sorry it took so long to reply to this comment. I've had my hands full and didn't get a chance to.
I have to agree with you on that. It's not Disney's responsibility to raise kids, and to blame them for a child becoming a helpless housewife is ridiculous. I can see it for some princesses (Aurora from Sleeping Beauty I have a hard time justifying). What is damaging, however, is parents and society, and whoever else may be involved, telling young girls that they HAVE to be this way, that one day a handsome man will sweep her off her feet and take care of her, so she doesn't need any "real world skills".
My parents did the same thing when it comes to the previewing thing. I think that's a fairly good thing to do; yeah some kids will sneak adult shows, but I feel like it can be pretty effective to not scar children.
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I do have this to say in Princess Aurora's defense in regard to her supposed "Blandness" and "Uninteresting" problems. I wager she actually isn't that and wouldn't be labeled that, if not for the three fairies getting a large and I mean LARGE chunk of the screen time in the movie itself than with Aurora herself, we'd have seen more of her and possibly her develop more, ect. But nope, we saw the three old fairies antics a lot more for a bulk of the film and little time with the real star of the movie.
That's less of a character's fault as much as it is a production fault. I.E. I noticed this trend a bit and it shinned most prominently in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films. The older I got the more I realized "Hey, in all honesty, Spider-Man really ISN'T in these movies all that much. When I pay to see a Spider-Man movie, I wanna see Spider-Man!" and that more or less applies here. We technically paid to see Aurora but hardly GOT Aurora. And that's more of a fault of the studio than it is the character's fault of being bland. With what little screen time she got we hardly got to get to know her and really learn about her. Otherwise a bulk of it is left to speculation and imagination.
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I see stuff like this all the time when I look up reviews for movies. For instance, Into the Woods. I saw where one guy took his two daughters to see it and was mad about the line "You decide what's good, you decide what's right," and what that was teaching kids. It's a MOVIE, for God's sake. Children don't listen to that and think much of it if you teach them right [kinda weird, since I'm only a teenager myself, but...]. Not to mention, there are so many more "problematic" [?] movies out there than Disney movies, video games, too, that are violent and have maybe not the best material or whatever for kids. It's just annoying to see so many people bashing Disney for stupid stuff without actually thinking.
I think you made some really good points here as well. I do a lot of "research" [XD] on Disney, and have not thought of most of these points before. I think from now on I will be reading more into Disney movies than I already am. XD
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I'll admit some Disney girls made better role models than others. Mulan and Rapunzel, for instance. Still, if I ever had a daughter there's a lot of Disney movies I wouldn't want her to see.
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I agree. Sure, Disney isn't perfect with their princesses, but I do find good morals in many of the princesses. In fact, did you know that Walt Disney himself relates to Cinderella, because many times he wishes he could be rewarded for all the hard work he puts into what he does?
Now, there are certain princesses I don't like, but they're only a few of them and there are other disney characters I don't like that aren't princesses like Peter Pan or Tinker Bell. Though, I love many of the disney characters. They're part of my childhood and always will be.
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These are all excellent points. However, here's something I'd like to add. The only reason Aurora touched the spinning wheel is because she was under the power of Maleficient's spell, so it's not like she could have said no.
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That's a very good point. I'm surprised I forgot to mention that!
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I don't think movies are there to "teach children" they are there for entertainment, not to give us a life lessons. I think it's silly when people complain about the princesses "teaching girls" about being beautiful, needing a man, etc, girls should get their life lessons from things they are apart of, and what they experience as an individual, and I think ANY sane parent would agree with me on that.
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Movies may not exist for the sole purpose of teaching a moral, but whether they flat out have that as their main intention, or it's done sub-consciously, these movies can teach lessons to children. A child's mind is young and fresh, eager to learn and devour all that is in front of it. At a young age, there is nothing that is too unpleasant for a child. Many parents show Disney movies to children at a young age, and if the parent doesn't say, "Now, what she's doing is something I'd rather you not do", the child may accept it. When I was really little, I saw Mulan. Ever since then, I wanted to be like her: tough, smart, brave, not afraid to stand up for what she believes in. My parents never told me I couldn't, so I thought that's how I should be. And here's the thing: there are, unfortunately, many bad parents in the world who will let the TV raise their kids. If the child develops a trait the parents dislike, they will say, "Well it's Disney's fault! They taught my daughter to be beautiful and man-needing!" Sometimes, there will be something a kid saw on TV, they were never told, "That's wrong", and they wind up accepting that. Children are curious creatures; they learn from anything they can.
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I guess so, but I don't think their sole purpose is to give life lessons, they are there for entertainment, but parents should be teaching their kids what's right and what's wrong, that' their job.
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Let's see how I respond to these.
#1 While you are correct, "When You wish upon a Star" has become connected to the Disney mythos in general.
#2 I think Cinderella is a good role model. By good, I mean "alright" and "nothing special". Sure, she's a hard worker and an optimist, but it felt like others did the heavy lifting when it came to her happy ending (specifically, the mice, the Fairy Godmother, and Prince Charming which is his actual name). True, meeting the right people is an often forgotten key to success, but I got the feeling that her hard work didn't really have to do with her happy ending.
#3 If I had seen The Little Mermaid in 1989, I would've been thunderstruck. Here is a princess who is not only a mermaid (which I love) but is also proactive and saves her man twice. From today's point of view, with many other great Disney Princess role models (e.g. Belle, Pocahontas, Mulan, Tiana) Ariel made a risky stupid move to get her legs from a woman who was obviously evil, but what I'm really mad at is that she didn't learn anything from it. I feel like there should have been a moral here. If I had written The Little Mermaid today, it would have Ariel finding a no strings attached way to become human. Unfortunately, after the initial fun wears off, she realizes that the real reason she collected all of those trinkets was because it made her unique and by making herself human, she's lost that. She goes back to her dad and he forgives her. The only weakness of this story is that it should have something that convinces Triton that not all humans are bad.
#4 I proposed a successor to the Disney Princess franchise called the Disney Heroines franchise because I felt that the title "Heroine" is more relateable than "Princess". I did think Snow White could be far and away the most girly of the bunch, but she did act as a temporary mother figure to the seven dwarfs as well. In terms of mothers, I kinda wish Disney owned the rights to Mrs. Brisby so she could be the scared yet brave mother in this group.
#5 I had this problem with Ariel. See #3. I can certainly say that Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora had this problem too. This is all I'm going to say on the matter.
#6 Yeah, I think Aurora's not only the worst Princess, but one of the blandest main characters I've ever seen. Her entire goal in life is to sing and get married. She's the purest example of what critics of the Disney Princess franchise find so bad about it. Thankfully, Sleeping Beauty does not lack for strong female characters. Maleficent is easily one of Disney's best villains. Prince Phillip never would've beaten her without Flora, Fauna, and Meriwether assisting him.
#7 I don't really know Jasmine well enough. Next point.
#8 That criticism against Belle is unfair because first, she didn't fall in love with the Beast until he stopped being cruel to her and second, when the Beast lets her go, she leaves and probably wouldn't have come back except for, you know, impending doom. For what it's worth, the Belle in "Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas" definitely has Stockholm Syndrome.
You said it all with #9. As for #10, the only princess I think suffered from this problem was Ariel, and you'll see my criticism for her back at #3. I think there are two root causes of princess hate.
1. Even with the stronger princesses of late, Disney seems to be marketing their girly sides above all else.
2. The term "Princess" itself seems to imply that second best is the most girls and women can ever hope to accomplish in life.
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*Sorry if this is really weak but I'm in a small rush at the moment so I'm going to do this quickly.
1. It really has been.
2. While that is a good point, I do feel like the story could still be seen as, "working hard and being kind will come back to help you in the long run" or something along those lines. Granted, there were situations she couldn't get herself out of, and her friends did come out to help frequently (mainly the mice because let's face it, the Fairy Godmother is only seen once, if I can remember correctly). She did get herself into these situations, and she may not be the BEST role model in the Disney Princess universe, but you can see that the creators were at least trying.
3. You raise a very good series of points here. I agree with you on this one, she didn't really learn much at all, she did make stupid choices, and even though bad things happened to her (i.e., nearly having Eric stolen by Ursala, her collection being destroyed, etc.) the movie never makes it clear whether or not she actually learns her lesson. And if any lesson is learned, it's more obvious in the sequel, but let's not deal with those. So I agree, while I will stand by the idea that she has been punished, I will agree that she doesn't really learn from it.
4. A name change could be in order soon, especially with the stronger, no-nonsense princesses in modern Disney history. I unfortunately do not know much about Mrs. Brisby so I don't think I can go into much detail here. And really some of the only support I can give Snow White is how she's a motherly figure to the dwarves and how she was kind of affected, unfortunately, by the time period she lived in. Of course, I will allow some criticism because being affected by the time period isn't always the best excuse.
5. I will accept that.
6. I can agree that she's not a good princess. At all. The only thing that saves her from my bashing is how she was cursed by Maleficent, who I agree, is a really cool villain. Had she not fallen asleep due to said curse, I probably wouldn't have even TRIED to defend her on this list. And the three fairies, while probably not the most exciting on their own, do become a lot more interesting when you evaluate them a little more. Three old ladies who have to do most of the Prince's bidding for him. That possesses a lot of bragging rights. Unfortunately most people probably only saw the prince and not the fairies behind him. If anything this movie just shows that it's okay to need help from others and the prince CAN'T always do things on his own, and the movie doesn't throw this in the audience's face at all. That's really the only thing I can give it at the moment.
7. Yeah I can see why.
8. I agree. And most of it makes sense. For her, I feel like the people criticizing her only either A) watched the beginning and the end of the movie or just blocked the middle out, or B) they were really, really, REALLY trying to find any and all flaws in her. She was pretty close to perfect as far as Disney standards go. She wasn't strong physically, but she was strong-willed. She wasn't always using her looks to get the job done. She was usually just being patient and kind. She may have a few flaws here and there, but overall she's still a good character.
And I do agree. Princess hate seemed to come more from Ariel. Look up Nostalgia Chick's review on the movie, you'll see where most people are coming from. No princess, except for maybe Aurora, is entirely rotten and do have one or two saving values. Had Ariel been made in a more modern day, things would be a lot uglier than they are now.
1. I read an article about the controversy surrounding adding Merida from Brave to the Disney Princess list. Her design there had a dress that showed off her shoulders, removed her weapons, made her wild red hair tame, and added makeup. I think if Disney didn't do that, didn't show off the girly sides, then maybe there would be more Princess support. For now, I think the most we can do is wait and see if they ever catch on.
2. Unfortunately, I have to agree.
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Who says Disney princesses have an influence on little girls?!?!?!
I've never seen my niece having a problem with Disney princesses.
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EVERYONE seems to say that. You can find a hundred of YouTube videos just about that in a matter of minutes. Most of which are the "Be pretty!" and "Let everyone else save the day!" related arguments. I was never influenced to be pretty because of Disney Princesses, but the people telling me to be pretty were in every OTHER movie and TV show. In most, an average or below-average female has to become drop-dead gorgeous to get what they want, and nobody is sitting there complaining about that!
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Plese, i don't like rage.
I ment to say "Which dumbass son of a cock sucking bitch thinks that you should be like the fucking princesses!?!?!?!", but in a more... not swearing way, i understand how you feel, no matter i'm a male and i probably don't understand that much about "beuty", but i like smart girls!
P.S. I'm a boy i think with my balls sometimes, so it could be nice if the girl is samrt and beatiful, but not the outrageous beutifulness that most people want!
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