These days, when I get into something, I start Googling it like crazy. So I've been Googling Disney Princesses and reading a lot of different opinions about them from extreme to balanced to perhaps too superficial.
But out of all the opinions I read, one thing stands out: their perceived need to be rescued. This infuriates a lt of people. I wonder if they've ever thought that being rescued isn't as bad as it sounds. During troubled times, people naturally look for someone to rescue them.
Which brings me to this photo.
The whole poster is about how the princesses need or don't need to be rescued. It looks accurate, but it doesn't really explore the complex "rescuing" issues in each film.
The 1937-1959 section is almost spot on. Snow White and Sleeping Beauty are definitely waiting for their prince. But there's nothing wrong with that.
Snow White. Although she was mistreated in it, the castle was her home. And in those days, living at home meant that you couldn't live anywhere else. She couldn't just up and leave her castle. And although she's dressed like a scullery maid at the beginning of the film, when she goes for a walk (outside the forest) she is dressed in a nice dress. Maybe she wore the scullery maid clothes just to clean up unlike Cinderella who was obviously forced to wear them. We'll never know how frustrated she is with the fact that she's treated horribly. But it is obvious that she's choosing not to be miserable. She is choosing to hope that someday someone will fall in love with her. In those days, that was the only way that she could leave her home, but she doesn't seem to want to fall in love because it will mean that she can leave. She just wants love, plain and simple: "I'm wishing for the one I love to find me today. I'm hoping and dreaming of the nice things he'll say." Same kind of goes for "Someday My Prince Will Come." She's waiting for him to come for her when the time is right because she knows that right now she has to stay put with the dwarfs to stay safe from the queen. In a way, she knows that she needs to be rescued. Snow White is waiting for her prince to come, but she has very good reason to. And you have to give her props for the way she waited. Instead of sighing and looking out the window for hours, she kept herself busy. She didn't constantly bring him up, and she maintained a positive attitude. It must've been hard for her to have to leave the castle right after she found her true love, but she never complained and she had faith that he would find her.
Cinderella. As with Snow White, Cinderella is home, and she's not just going to up and leave it. I compare it to the part in Ever After when Danielle says, "This is our home and I will not see if all apart." She loves her home. She was obviously very happy there with her father who loved her very much and gave her "every luxury and comfort." She most likely thought that she would come to love her new stepmother and stepsisters. How was she to know that they would turn on her? And how was she to know that her stepmother would ignore the house and allow it to fall into disrepair? Imagine the shock that Cinderella received when her stepmother showed her true colors and then proceeded to let the house crumble to spend all the money on Anastasia and Drizella. It must've been hard for her to see the home she loved so much become cold and ugly. And yet, "through it all Cinderella remained ever gentle and kind for with each dawn she found new hope and someday her dreams of happiness would come true." She made the best of her situation. Today, she could freely leave and get a job. But although she is abused and humiliated, she knows that she's still got more going for her in her home than anywhere else. And the fact that she remained happy shows that she didn't let the three of them get to her. She had one of the greatest freedoms a human can have: freedom from bitterness and regret. But of course, she would like someone to love her, and she dreams of happiness (presumably happiness with someone she loves although she never explicitly says that). Her main concern for much of the movie is getting to the ball because it's a chance for her get out of the house and experience freedom from her daily drudgery--not because she wants to fall in love. When she falls finds out that the prince is looking for her, she does everything in her power to be with him and aids her own rescue when she tells the animals to get Bruno so he can scare Lucifer. So while she has hope that "her dreams of happiness" will come true, she doesn't just sit around waiting for them. She tries her best to make it to the ball and get her man. She even has the courage to confront her stepmother's anger and tell the Duke that she's the one the prince is looking for. Cinderella isn't waiting for her prince to come: she goes out to get him.
Sleeping Beauty. Aurora is a victim of her a curse placed on her as a baby. Trouble befalls her in her most helpless state. From then on, everyone's objective is saving her from certain death. I'd venture to say that they are the story's heroes because they do whatever they can to make sure that the princess is safe,showing how much they love her. In an attempt to help her, the fairies raise her in solitude and forbid her from speaking to strangers. As a result, Aurora grows to long for someone to love the way the animals have someone to love. This is natural, since her solitude has made her lonely. She wants this so much that she even disobeys her guardians and speaks to Prince Phillip. In her dreams, she imagines a prince, but she doesn't know that the handsome stranger is a prince, and she's still happy with him, showing that she just wants someone to love whether or not he's a prince. She doesn't want rescuing from her circumstances because there is never any indication that she's unhappy with them, but she does want someone to love. What she does need rescuing from is the curse, which inevitably befalls her because Maleficent is such an amazing villain and so good at her job that she puts Aurora in a trance and tricks her into touching the needle. Many people complain that she is asleep for the main part of the story, but I don't think this is wrong since that's what the story is about: rescuing someone because of love and conquering whatever evil gets in your way. She is the most helpless of the princesses, but this is the nature of her story. And there's a subtle hint in the story that Aurora is stronger than she seems at first glance. When the fairies take her to the castle to take her role as princess, she quietly and miserably accepts her fate. Yet, she doesn't attempt to run away. She doesn't rebel against the women who have loved and raised her sixteen years and say, "I don't care what you say. That handsome rogue is coming and if you don't like him, I will run away with him." She remains loyal to them and finds that through her obedience, she was able to find happiness.
Now for the 1989-1992 section.
Ariel. Ariel doesn't need to be rescued, but she does need legs. She takes matters into her own hands and gets the legs she wants at a price. This decision comes back to haunt her (because evil never plays fair). At the end of the movie, she does need rescuing. But she's not the only one: EVERY MERPERSON IN THE KINGDOM needs rescuing. Eric takes the initiative to destroy Ursula because he loves Ariel and he's figured out that her people are in trouble. Plus, he's the only one who can manage a ship. But this doesn't mean that Ariel is completely helpless. She saves Eric from Ursula's death ray, destroying Flotsam and Jetsam in the process. I'm sure the merpeople were grateful to Eric, and it would've been cool to have a scene where King Triton expresses that he was wrong about all humans being dangerous. Ariel doesn't need rescuing; the story is about her love for human things and her desire to become human and her love for Eric.
Belle. Belle doesn't need rescuing. She could've lived the rest of her life in her little provincial town and been bored for the rest of her life and eventually found a nice guy, who probably wouldn't have satisfied her. . That is, if her father's invention didn't take off. If it had, she would've been a lot better off and perhaps she would even have moved. So if needs rescuing from anything, it's boredom. She falls in love and is rescued from boredom and gets a new life with an amazing library. Problem solved. Although she is Beast's prisoner for a while, it's something that she submitted to because she loves her father. The only time she really needs rescuing is when those wolves are attacking her. Even though she fights bravely for her life, she finds that their strength outweighs hers. Thankfully, Adam is still a beast when that happens. If he hadn't been, the wolves would've ripped him to shreds.
Jasmine. Like Belle, Jasmine needs rescuing from boredom and forced marriage. I mean, seriously, she's locked in her palace, frustrated that she's going to be married off to somebody she doesn't love. She rescues herself when she leaves the palace. She rescues herself. But of course, she steals fruit and gets in trouble. Eventually, her position would've saved her. I mean, come on, they wouldn't have cut off the princess's hand. But instead, Aladdin's street smarts save her and that's totally fine. What if Jasmine would have said, "I had the situation under control. I didn't need your help." That would've been pride. Aladdin was being nice and he saw someone who needed help and he offered his help. That's called kindness. In most cases today, one would ask, "Do you need help?" (unless someone's obviously dying). But in think-quick situations, helping before asking is the better option. Later, she needs rescuing from Jafar. But she's not the only helpless one; her father is also in trouble and Genie is forced to be Jafar's slave. And although it's never mentioned, Aladdin also saves Agrabah because Jafar would have become a tyrant and the people would have suffered. And even when Jasmine is helpless, she uses her quick thinking to distract Jafar and allow Aladdin to do what he has to. Aladdin is the hero of this story, so it makes sense that emphasis is on him and that he gets to do all the cool stuff.
Now for the 1995-2009. "We're the heroes of our own story" (and the others weren't because?). This is because of the nature of the stories: two of them are based on legends and the third one takes place in the Jazz Age so it's heroine has more opportunities and freedom than the previous princesses while also having to fight racism. There's a reason that all the princesses' movies are named after them. Except for Aladdin, of course, since he's definitely the diamond in the rough in that story.
Pocahontas is based on a true story but mostly influenced by the legend of Pocahontas. Her dream is to experience what's "just around the river bend." She believes that life has something more for her than marrying Kocoum. She decides to follow the destiny that she believes her dream is leading her to. And although she becomes discouraged, she realizes that she needs what her destiny is and literally runs to it. In the process, she rescues everyone who needed to be rescued from racism and all the other nasty stuff that her people and the
Mulan is also based on a legend, and since it is a Chinese legend, the familiar themes are presented in a different light and culture that we're not used to. She needs rescuing from the oppressive role that society has placed on her. In helping her father, she saves herself from that role and (surprise!) finds true love. She definitely saves herself. And despite the soldiers' not believing her near the film's climax, she keeps fighting for China. At one point in the film, she wonders whether she really went to the army to save her father or for herself. But at the climax, you know that her motives are altruistic. She cares about China and she cares about the other soldiers, and she cares about bringing honor to her family. She knew that she didn't have what it took to honor her family in the traditional way so she went the other route. And by being brave, she comes to discover that just being herself is enough.
Tiana needed rescuing from the lack of money that was stopping her from fulfilling her dream. The movie also makes a passing mention of the fact that she is fighting racism as well though this is never fully developed. Charlotte took care of that (I'd like to think that she did it on purpose) and she thought Naveen was going to take care of it when he turned back into a human (even though he was lying because he was really disinherited). Then she needed rescuing from being a frog. She worked hard to get the first dream and she got it all by herself. The second dream she fulfilled by marrying Naveen whom she realized she couldn't live without. As the theme song says, "You're the best thing I never knew I needed." Tiana realized that even if she did make her dream come true, she wasn't going to be happy and she was never going to be truly complete without love. When she pursued love, she also broke the curse that was keeping her from her dream. On top of all that, she gave Naveen a good purpose for living. Before, he was just living the high life, not caring about how many hearts he broke or the fact that he wasn't really going anywhere. Tiana not only rescued herself but also rescued Naveen from an unfulfilling life.
Rapunzel. Although it's not in the poster, we of course have to talk about Tangled. Rapunzel could have been a more "waiting to be rescued" story had Rapunzel not trapped Flynn and made a deal with him to fulfill her simple dream of seeing the floating lanterns. But she still needed rescuing because although she could have left the tower by herself, she needed Flynn's help to navigate the world and get to the lanterns. And she didn't think she would need anyone else because she thought Mother Gothel would take her. When Gothel told her she couldn't, she obeyed her (as she was used to doing) and took matters into her own hands. Since Flynn's character was changed from prince to thief and was given a prominent role in the story, he needed a motivation too. However, like Naveen, his dream was fruitless. ("Your dream stinks. I was talking to her.") dream too. Falling in love with Rapunzel gave him a new dream and falling in love with Flynn gave Rapunzel something to live for besides the lanterns and Mother Gothel. ("You were my dream." I LOVE that line.) Flynn saved her from the life she would have had with Mother Gothel and Rapunzel saved his life.
The poster isn't terrible and it does have some truth to it, but the main problem I have with it is that it seems to imply that the princesses' needing rescuing isn't a good thing. The truth is, needing to be rescued isn't the worst thing that can happen to you. We all need rescuing at some point in our lives. We are all vulnerable to fears and situations that we need someone to rescue us from because we can get so hung up on our problems that we can be blind to what we can do for ourselves. Ultimately, we all need to be rescued from the curse of sin, and God can rescue us if we accept his help. To pretend that we don't need to be rescued or to refuse help when it is offered is to say that we are dependent on ourselves to the point where we would rather be in danger than accept help. To refuse help is to say that one is so proud that one cannot humble oneself and admit that one cannot know everything or do everything. That's not how life works. Life works with a network of people. Other people are around us so that we can interact with them and help them. To not help another person is to be so involved in our own little world that we cannot give of ourselves to our fellow human beings.
So a princess needs to be rescued. If that's the nature of the story, that's okay. If a prince needs to be rescued, that's okay. If both need to rescued, okay. As long as the story works, that's okay. For Snow White's, Cinderella's, and Sleeping Beauty's stories, their situations are such that they need not only their own strength but also the help of friends (usually animals and fairies and princes) to achieve happiness. It's the way the stories work and the way they worked way before Disney touched them. For Belle's, Ariel's and Jasmine's stories, having strength of character allowed them to get through the touch situations they went through. For Pocahontas's, Mulan's, Tiana's, and Rapunzel's stories, their strength of character gets them through their situations but their problems do not become fully resolved without the ones they love (except for Mulan who arguably would have made it without Shang).
Modern sensibilities allow us to use a variety of women in our stories. These days, women don't always have to be the one who's rescued. We can have stories where women are strong, resilient, resourceful, and brave who rescue others. They don't always have to be docile and passive although if that works for the story, that's perfectly fine. We can also have stories in which docile, passive women discover that they can be heroes too. There is space in the world for every kind of story. As long as it's a good one and it has some kind of moral merit, relatable theme, or universal message, it will work; and someone, somewhere, even if it's just the writer, will like the story.
The ten princesses that make up the Disney Princess lineup have different kinds of personalities. Just as it's unfair to portray every woman as passive, it is unfair to portray every woman as strong and independent. The princesses reflect that there are many different kinds of women and that you are special no matter what kind you are. When the Disney Princess franchise was created in 2000, the lineup was quietly strong and compassionate Snow White, opportunistic and gentle Cinderella, dreamer Aurora, curious and daring Ariel, free-thinking and kind Belle, and fiesty and independent Jasmine. The lineup got even better with Pocahontas and Mulan and has rounded out quite nicely with Tiana and Rapunzel. Though the princesses certainly have their merits, they also have flaws both of which we can learn from. After all, a character without any flaws is boring.
