give me an example of any of the Disney princesses have an unhealthy relationship? I can argue it with you somewhere else (Maybe Via PM)
Cinderella? Snow White?
Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King and Mulan do pretty well with their relationships overall I think. But the earlier Disney films were pretty terrible
Well considering the time period where those two stories are set. (which is something we don't know but I'm excepting for Cinderella, in France someplace pee-revolution -since Disney's one is based on Perrault's Cinderella, and Snow is in a German kingdom province). In those times being a servant was both a good thing and wasn't. Unless your mistress (and/or their kids if they had any) called you, the servants basically needed to be invisible the rest of the time. Both Snow's and Cinderella's stepfamily treated them like lower-class citizens (which techinally being a servant was). But both Snow and Cinderella did want someone to treat them like an equal for the first time in their lives since their dads died. I mean Cinderella didn't have much choice if she tried to run away..
I have to disagree. After Tiana, Rapunzel and Merida, Anna is a Disney Princess let-down.
Don't get me wrong. Anna's not a bad character, and it's not like I hate her unreasonably. It's just that Anna is a bland character. She's got the attitude of a Disney Princess, but she doesn't seem to have much else. Put simply, when Rapunzel felt lonely, she would paint the walls. When Anna is lonely, she talks to paintings on the walls. Rapunzel has passions and vulnerabilities. Anna seems mostly defined by her relationship (or lack thereof) to Elsa. When Rapunzel's in trouble, she finds a way out. Anna can talk about solving problems, and yet only stumble around ineptly until someone points out a better way. Being cute and proactive can only get a character so far; it's like watching a caricature of a Disney Princess who sings about love and friendship but doesn't really have any goals, dreams, passions or skills beyond "I want love, it doesn't matter who loves me (as long as it's not the Duke of Wesselton, he's old and ugly)". Rapunzel was complex and compelling. Anna is... well, hollow. It seems like the most useful thing Anna did in this film was getting frozen; she mostly exists to motivate Elsa. Elsa herself could have been very compelling, but the movie's not about her, it's about her boring (but cute and peppy!) sister.
Regarding "doesn't need a man". Tiana didn't marry Naveen until he proved he was willing to change for her. Rapunzel loved Eugene but didn't marry him until after "years of asking and asking". Merida understood that she wasn't emotionally ready for any kind of relationship at her age despite political pressure. Anna basically abandons the first man just to jump into the arms of the next, even if she doesn't marry him right away. And technically, without Hans as the impetus, Anna's sacrifice would not be an "act of true love", unless it's Elsa's weeping that counted, not Anna becoming a statue.
Well she does want more. She wants to see the world outside for 13 years being trapped in the castle with no one to talk too after the 'incident' that she doesn't remember. Her only hobby was playing with her sister but after that her only companion cut her off/out. She might have read but that's something we don't know and she might not have wanted to read. We do know one thing: She didn't have princess lesson or she failed them. There is stuff we don't see in movies. Like if Belle has a 'job' or Jafar's background since it's not important to plot of the movie.
and also remember not everyone can paint. I mean who wants to read a book or paint something (If she could) when you're older sister has 'mysteriously' cut you off with no explanation?
There is a tiny little problem though: What the movie subverts doesn't even exist!!!! 1. When was the last time a princess was rescued by a "true love kiss"? Yeah, that's right, Sleeping Beauty. Disney has done nothing BUT subvert this trope in the last 25 years, first with Ariel who gets the kiss a second to late, then with the Beast who isn't kissed at all by Belle (instead a declaration of love is enough), and finally with Princess and the Frog in which "true love" doesn't even figure into the kiss at all, as long it's done by a princess. 2. When was the last time a princess married the same day she meet a man? That never happened! Not even with the classic princesses. Snow White didn't just run off with the prince immediately, Aurora was engaged practically from birth - you might be able to make a case for Cinderella, but there it's not the Prince and Cinderella who want the marriage that badly, the king is the one who is pushing it. And in fact, she is one of only three princesses we actually do get married during their movies (the other two are Ariel and Tiana). All the other movies (aside from Pocahontas and Brave) end with a relationship which might lead to marriage, nothing more. And that's exactly the way Frozen ends. 3. And when was the last time a climax actually played out following the plan? Again, Sleeping Beauty.
Truth is Anna is the first princess since Snow White who actually sings elaborately about wanting to marry as soon as possible as her main dream. Wow. Great!
It's actually quite frustrating to watch how Disney after creating so awesome female characters like Mulan and Rapunzel now creates after Pixar's Merida yet another pseudo-feminist lead. It's even worse knowing what a great protagonist the character from the actual Snow Queen story was! But the worst thing is that those characters are actually hailed as something special when every single princess which came before them are way better role models.
It wasn't her main dream, just part of it. Only the second verse is about possibly meeting "the one", which she immediately forgets about for some chocolate. Aurora is also a later example of such a song.
"When was the last time a princess was rescued by a "true love kiss"? "
2007 (princess Giselle) :-)
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/Enchanted?from=Main.Enchanted
Terrible? Snow just wants someone to treat her kindly (and the Prince certainly does, as well as searches for her for an entire year). We don't know much about Charming, but he and Cinderella seemed to truly like each other at the ball as they chatted. Philip is a perfect gentleman. A bit pushy, but he didn't want Aurora to run away before he could even explain himself. He was very respectful of her and her space and gave her plenty of opportunity to run. They both planned to get to know each other further. And you know, loved her so much he was willing to fight a sentient dragon sorceress for her.
Doesn't sound particularly terrible to me, especially next to all these newer couples that lack compability yet apparently fall madly in love after knowing each other a few days on a road trip or something (it's ironic these are called the more healthy/realistic relationships).
I agree with you. Too often do writers mix up "strong female, character" with "strong character, female", and it was nice to see a subversion of one of the most cliché story types ever.
Surbervion? I find it more of deconstruction of Disney princess movie.
I find myself agreeing with swanpride actually. This has an astounding amount of praise for using tropes and conventions that are Older Than They Think.
This movie I meant.
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A subversion of Disney Princess Films
SPOILERS AHOY!
Okay, that sounds pretty pretentious, but let me explain myself, what I loved about this movie is not the story, the visuals or the music, but the Aesop. The film sets itself up as a classic Disney movie, with love at first sight, a fair princess, a charming prince and a jerkass big bad who is blatantly evil. But then it subverts all these tropes masterfully, starting with Elsa disapproving their marriage and going off from there, with Kristoff calling Anna out, the Duke being just a jerk, and the big bad being the prince.
This is isn't the subversion.
The subversion I love comes in the climax, and I think the spoiler warning bears repeating here, but it's about the whole way the damsel in distress and true love kiss tropes are set up quite effectively, Anna is never a true damsell in distress, but she seems to fit the spirit of the trope until the climax, in particular the part where Kristoff runs towards her, Prince Charming-style. Up until this point she needs a man to solve her problems, like a classic Disney princess. But then she makes the heroic sacrifice and saves herself in the process. The point here is, Anna doesn't depend on a prince to save her, she saves herself through sacrifice. She then proceeds to not marry Kristoff, and punch Hans in the face. She becomes a strong female protagonist with a healthy relationship, which Disney princesses have a long history of not having. Therein, for me, lies the true beauty of this movie.