What is really fascinating about the Princesses is how many people have tried to reimagine them. By that, I suppose I really mean “re-image” them. As in, give them a new image. I have seen the Princesses bald. Fat. Old. Bespectacled. Depicted as suburban moms. Dressed in historically accurate costumes. Placed in dark settings of human suffering.
Why are so many people spending so much time trying to insert the Princesses into so many different contexts?
(lookmatic.com)
(deviantart.com)
(weheartit.com)
(fanpop.com)
(Dina Goldstein)
No wonder it's so hard to get my daughter to think about something else--anything else--besides Princesses. They are no longer one-dimensional, fairy tale characters. Now, they have walked in our shoes. Or at least we like to think so. We like to imagine the Princesses in less-than-perfect situations--maybe because we so desperately want to believe that the perfection they exude in their original context is really unattainable. If we could see from all other angles, maybe we would realize that we don't have to keep hoping to escape into the world of a Disney Princess.
We want them to step into our lives for awhile, if we can't step into theirs.
Are these re-imaginings helpful? I don't think so. I think they only serve to keep us fixated on these "characters". I appreciate the idea behind all these efforts to humanize the Princesses. Just as I appreciate how the latest Princesses have starred in stories which are about more than just love and marriage. Still, these stories and these new images are all pointing to a particular definition of "beauty"--whether by modeling it or depicting its antithesis.
Lately, I have heard some words coming out of my seven-year-old daughter's mouth that disgust me. I'll just be honest. And I have threatened to take Princesses completely out of the picture for her if I feel they are distorting her perception of others around her. I have allowed Princesses to be part of her life to a certain extent, but I'm discovering how quickly they can become an obsession. An obsession promoted and capitalized on by our culture.
Instead of reimagining the Princesses, I would like to refocus the lens on women (men too, but women in particular) who need to feel a little more brave, beautiful, deserving, talented, adventurous, and all the wonderful qualities celebrated in the Princess archetype. Let's get over the Princesses and the efforts to give them more and more "original" or "realistic" looks, and let's focus on actual reality.
I want my daughter to spend her time appreciating what she sees in real people, not surfing the web to see how many different kinds of Princesses she can see.
I want my daughter to see different body shapes, sizes, colors and ages as equally beautiful parts of a spectrum, not as novelty affectations on a Princesses body that make her giggle and/or sneer.
Most of all, I want my daughter to believe that life is valuable because it is given by God, not because the Princesses have endorsed certain aspects of it.
Hi Wendy,
ReplyDeleteI share an aversion to "the princesses." I have two sons, not daughters, so the modern day notion of them hasn't affected me too much yet, but it is clear how pervasive the whole franchise is compared to when we were kids.
It's obvious to state that a big problem with the princesses, and much of our media culture in general, is a fixation with what people look like rather than what they do. Of course this is true to some extent of old Disney movies too (Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, etc.). I think the difference is we really aren't entertained at all nowadays by stories about characters who are overtly virtuous, good, pure, simple and humble(I mean spiritual humility). We do idolize "independence and bravery" as well being inclusive and tolerance of different - but for what purpose? Is "independence" a good in and of itself? What do you use it for?
Anyway, that might not make much sense. My point is I see an impoverishment in the overall themes of a lot of current media, including princesses.
Nice post!