Tangled Thoughts

Today I saw Tangled again. Yes, I had already seen it on Thanksgiving. But my mom's work hosts a movie every year for their employees and their families, and since the grandkids are currently partyin' it up in Disneyland, and because honestly I really wanted to see it again, I got to go. I went even though my mom was sick and didn't make it.

It's hard for me to explain why exactly I love this movie so much (my only complaint is that I wish they had kept the title Rapunzel). For one, it brings back that Disney nostalgia from my childhood, when my sister and I would watch The Little Mermaid over and over. I really feel like a kid when I watch it. As I've gotten older, and more cynical, I've had a tendency to deride a lot of the Disney movies and their princesses, who seemed to only want to find their prince. To me, life should be more about discovering yourself and traveling and learning than finding your prince. The Disney Princesses seemed to be the antithesis of feminism.

What I've slowly come to understand, though, is that feminism doesn't mean the opposite of being that girl who only looks for their prince, the girl who wants to be a wife and mother. It's about having the choice to do whatever you want as a female, and to not be judged by other women for your choices. Being a wife, a mother, a working girl, a singleton are all roles we can choose to have, and all are important.

Rapunzel goes on this great journey (albeit in two days) where she fulfills her dream, saves the guy, and handles herself quite well. Does she get the guy in the end? Yes. And there's nothing wrong with that. There's absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to find your prince. I'm 27 and I'm looking for mine and my happily-ever-after. But I'm also traveling, learning, finding myself. These are the things I'm supposed to be doing. I think most people want to find their prince/princess, and we shouldn't have to feel sheepish about it. I love that Rapunzel is daring and optimistic, driven and kind, loving and fearless. She's entirely her own person with dreams and goals, and it's just a bonus that along the way she also met her prince.

In case my words aren't making sense (it's sorta late and I'm possibly tired) here's some dude's thoughts on it that I agree with:

I see what you’re saying about wanting to have the whole idea of Rapunzel finding herself and being a self-sufficient woman. However, her having the happy ending of being with the prince does not negate her realization of her making her own destiny, i.e. upholding the ideology of feminism. I think people get confused in thinking that the girl finding the right guy and getting married = the girl sacrificing her independence and being dominated by patriarchal societal norms. But that is not the case. Feminism isn’t about women dominating men; it’s about women having choices, and if a woman chooses to be with a man, the way Rapunzel chooses to be with Flynn/Eugene, then she is being true to herself and her desire. And her having that happy ending is not an anti-modern notion, the way people seem to see it today.

It's also nice that her prince is funny, and has the voice of Zachary Levi, who totally rocks the beard.