It’s time once again for Mouse on the Mind- and This Happy Place Blog-sponsored Kill Refurb Marry blog hop fun times. I usually participate if it’s a topic I have a few strong feelings about, and this one’s sure to be a doozy: Disney Princesses.
Now for my standard too-long, unnecessary introduction into my train of thought here: I was never really princess-obsessed as a child. (Or, for that matter, as a teenager or adult.) To be fair, the Disney Princess Brand™ kind of became a thing after I was no longer a wee one, so maybe if I had had the exposure to the merch and the lifestyle, I would’ve happily hopped on board.
That’s not to say I wasn’t a Disney-lovin’ kid. My parents started taking me to WDW long before I have any memories of it. I was obsessed with Mickey Mouse. Then “The Little Mermaid” hit theaters when I was four-ish, and IT WAS MY EVERYTHING. Every trip to the YMCA pool was a chance to “play Ariel,” and I walked around my babysitters’ homes trying to get them to play Ursula so I could throw sticks at their chests.
Despite my enduring love for a redheaded mermaid, the princess lifestyle never really appealed to me. Flouncy skirts, sparkling tiaras and princes saving me was never really my bag. And while I grew up watching Disney movies over and over until the VHS tapes wore out, most of the leading ladies were never my favorite characters. So maybe this will be hard because of my ambivalence toward a lot of these gals. Or maybe it’ll be easier than I think…
KILL: Snow White
This was hard, and I was leaning toward Aurora for awhile. You know, Aurora who is nice to some forest creatures for five seconds and then sleeps for the rest of the movie. But at least she’s a regulation hottie, whereas Snow White is … well, I’m hard-pressed to believe she’s the fairest of them all. I mean, she’s … fine. She’s fine.
Personal beauty standards aside, I always found “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” kinda creepy. Her high-pitched voice. The dwarfs. God, the dwarfs. CREEPY. And it’s not like she really enriches their lives … they just kinda wait on her, and then she eats an apple from a crazy lady like a doofus.
I appreciate the film for its achievements and its historical significance. But honestly, if I never saw it again … never saw her again … I don’t feel like I’d be missing out on too much.
REFURB: Ariel
Ariel was my first obsession, really. And my love for her endures today. But as someone actively trying to destroy the patriarchy, I have a few issues with her. I mean, sacrificing YOUR VOICE (and all the subtext that goes with that) in an attempt to woo a guy that she saw playing a flute-recorder-thing and dancing a jig on a boat for all of two minutes? I mean, at least Anna talked to Hans all night and sang a duet with him before they got engaged.
Howevs, despite needing that True Love’s Kiss™ to break a spell, at least she actively makes decisions and goes after what she wants. She negotiates with Ursula and pursues Eric against the advice of her father and friends. It takes a strong will and a lot of pluck to know what you want and to go against your parents’ wishes to follow your heart, and that’s admirable. Maybe her next adventures could be less man-centric and will require a little more logical thinking, and she’ll be a heroine for the ages.
MARRY: Elsa
Shut up with your “but Elsa is a queen, not a princess” nonsense because shouldn’t we be celebrating the fact that a Disney movie featured a queen ruling alone who didn’t marry into her position? I mean, if you know me at all, you know that I haven’t been able to stop watching or talking about “Frozen” since early this year, and the more I see it, the more I love Elsa. I know “Frozen” is basically Anna’s movie, and Anna is a great character, don’t get me wrong, but I can’t really relate to her, other than her awkwardness. Optimism is not my forte.
There’s a lot “Frozen” doesn’t divulge about the character of Elsa. We’re not sure of the origin of her powers (other than that she was born with them), we don’t really know what she did when she locked herself away from her family for years, we don’t know what she sat on or slept on in her ice palace (seriously, it had no furniture aside from lots of steps and dangerous-looking chandeliers). She definitely could’ve had a few more character traits.
However, there are a lot of things to love about her. The fact that she cares so deeply for her sister — and, later, her kingdom — that she locks herself up and runs away to keep them safe. The moment when she comes into her own and embraces her powers and begins to realize what she’s capable of, instead of living in fear, and the fact that she sings the best song ever about it. Seriously, an insanely perfect song about self-acceptance and self-empowerment. Plus, she’s pretty great at defending herself.
There are issues with this too — the fact that Elsa has to isolate herself due to fear and lack of acceptance, or fear of the lack of acceptance. “Frozen” isn’t a perfect movie. But I love that there is this strong female ruler in the Disney pantheon who learns so much about herself after struggling for her entire life. What an excellent message.
This was a pretty excellent message too:
LOVE YOU, ELSA.
