Ever since the “Disney Princess Formula” was coined, I feel as though people have misunderstood what a Disney Princess is. While there are trends in the line-up of Disney Princesses, the criteria are quite strange to me. According to “Wreck-It Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks the Internet,” it’s usually magic, some form of torture, animal sidekicks, parental issues, and the assumption that all of their problems “got solved because a big strong man showed up.” The clip is funny on its own as a critique, but it made me want to look back on classic Disney princess films.
People usually pinpoint the birth of the formula on “Frozen (2013)”, but producers had been calling it out and poking fun long before that movie came around, i.e. “Mulan (1998),” “The Princess and the Frog (2009)” and “Brave (2012).” The shift in consciousness started in 2010 with the release of “Tangled,” starring Rapunzel and company going on a wild adventure just to see the world outside of a tall tower. Not only was it a long step for CG animation in the industry, but also a huge step for female characters in action, specifically for younger audiences. Audiences yearned for more empowering female characters, and if anything, it was something more media needed. With such a feat, however, the older films garnered more criticism for the outdated portrayals. At some point, I wanted to throw in my 2 cents, just for fun. If I was going to do anything first, I was going to start with my mom’s childhood favorite, “Cinderella, " especially because it seemed to be a major target. After a thorough analysis of the movie and retrospect on modern culture though, it woke up a part of my brain that told me that some of the shots fired over the years have been a little misguided.
Released in 1950 by Walt Disney Studios, the feature film “Cinderella" follows a maiden of the same name subjected to abuse and in-house slavery by her stepmother after the death of her father. She dreams to be free and yearns to do more with her life. When the royal ball is announced, she takes off with the help of her magical Fairy Godmother and dances through the night. In her escape, however, she leaves behind a glass slipper and the prince leads an expedition, vowing to marry her when they are reunited; once she is found, they get married and the movie closes off as they pursue their own happily ever after.
On a technical level, the movie is very well-done, really garnering the magical aspect in every flick and frame of hand-drawn animation. Many pleasant scores and little animals, as one would expect from a Disney movie, filling in for a rather simple story to be an enjoyable watch. It’s an admirable fairy-tale and comfortable motion-picture that I’ve grown appreciative of over the years.
On a cultural level, however, “Cinderella” has caught nasty criticisms on the way the protagonist is portrayed and how her story translates to younger audiences. At times, it reads into the idea that women should remain passive until a man swoops them away to lead a fairy-tale life. Even Disney plays into those criticisms, as seen in their record “Cinderella” by The Cheetah Girls. While the movie is not perfect and has had its negative effects on the perception of femininity and what a woman should expect, those notions are often taken out of context and crop the entire picture. While everyone focuses on the aspects of romance and the happily ever after, the abuse endured and metaphorical subtext is often glossed over. People using Cinderella’s story as a scapegoat for the lack of empowering female figures in the media feel dishonest at best and offensive at worst.
Let’s get one thing straight, the story of Cinderella is not a love story, it is an abuse victim’s story. I feel like everyone’s real “bone to pick” with Cinderella doesn’t come from the story itself, only the lens people view it in. I rarely see people discuss Cinderella’s home life or circumstances, only the climax and end of her story.
Additionally, people have taken issue with her character, often finding her to be very boring and relegating her to the bottom of princess tier lists. Her character is not as ambitious as characters like Ariel, Belle, or Tiana, nor is her journey as exciting as, that like Mulan, Rapunzel, or Moana, but in its way, it stands out. Nobody has to like Cinderella’s screenplay or her character, but what people fail to realize is that she was limited, not just in action, but also in opportunities. Unlike her successors– and even her predecessor, Snow White– Cinderella never had the same freedom or choice everyone else had.
As the scenes play out, Ella’s story is never treated as a guide nor a “how-to” on withstanding abuse, it’s only a look at her life. Cinderella never had a master plan to escape nor any outright rebellion, she only took life as it was handed to her. It’s not the most empowering thing to see a woman forced to endure abuse time and time again, but it’s never portrayed as a good thing or something that she internalizes, it’s just something she deals with under the fire of a broken system. Cinderella acknowledges that she is being mistreated and that she does not have the upper hand. She doesn’t accept it, she only does what she can and adjusts to it. Everything she did in her household was not for herself but for her cruel stepfamily. Her rebellion comes from short and private quips, and in the end, she rebels by doing something nice for herself.
I feel as though people underestimate how small those in abusive and toxic situations can feel. Power is limited, and sometimes, abusers revel in the misery they inflict on their victims the same way Cinderella’s stepmother did. By deciding to choose her happiness over the service of others, Cinderella freed and empowered herself. A man was only a bonus to a night at the ball.
At times, Cinderella is boxed into the role of “damsel in distress," but I don’t believe she fits the shoe people are trying to put her in. The trope often places a woman as an objective or stock character in need of rescuing from danger, usually from a man. Now, let’s look at Cinderella in two parts: the beginning and the end. The story starts with Cinderella being subjected to abuse and humiliation since youth at the hands of her evil stepmother; the story ends with Cinderella marrying Prince Charming and living happily ever after, essentially “being saved.” While it fits on paper, there’s so much more to the story that makes Cinderella an outlier to this trope. The notion that “a Prince Charming will save you” is a misconstrued interpretation of the protagonist’s motives. She was not necessarily looking for “true love,” as stated by Disney’s pseudo-formula, she was only looking for a night out, a little fun for herself away from home. If anything, it’s only natural that she clung to the prince after years of being starved of any kindness from another human being. Not to mention the fact that her little animal support friends often had limited contact with her due to the constrictions on Ella’s life as well as her place in her household. Even through all of those years though, Cinderella remained everkind, and (though subservient) worked through that grief in hopes of a better life.
The movie puts a lot of showcase on women doing housework with Ella herself and the little critters she keeps in touch with, especially the female mice. Chores become a controversial subject when gender comes into play. Over the years, there has been a major gap in the distribution of housework between men and women, especially when used by men as a way to demean women’s capabilities and their roles in a household.
I always think about “The Mouse Song,” a minor musical ditty where the mice work on a dress for their dear old "Cinderelly" so she can get out and go to the ball. With the issuing of the royal ball, Cinderella wishes to attend. Her cruel stepmother relents, though on an ultimatum that Cinderella finishes every chore in the house and fixes herself up well enough. As the clock ticks and the goal shifts, Ella just can’t find the time to work on a dress and considers abstaining from the ball altogether. At the sight of Cinderella looking so down, her animal friends chime in to do her dress while she’s busy with chores as a surprise. At one point, there is a little bit of dialogue between a male mouse and a female mouse:
(F) "I'll cut with these scissors!"
(M) "And I can do the sewing!"
(F) "Leave the sewing to the women
You go get some trimmin'"
Considering the time that this was made, there’s no doubt that it leaves a funny taste in your mouth from a modern perspective. At the time, I looked at this interjection strangely. Out of context, there are bad implications for women and their roles. With the 1950s in mind though, I thought a little harder about the actual buildup to this line.
The female mice were the ones who volunteered first. These were not women being forced to play roles they did not enjoy, these were women who decided to play on their strengths. The installation of cleaning and sewing are strange as “inherently feminine” work, but the movie never highlights it as a negative trait. As a matter of fact, the movie really embraces femininity and celebrates it in its own way.
Though Cinderella is not everyone’s idea of empowering women in the media, to say she isn’t an empowering figure at all would be wrong. It’s about time we call out tired tropes and harmful ideals placed on women without cracking down on the women who empower themselves in unconventional ways. Everyone has their ideas of empowerment and femininity, and that is okay, not all shoes will fit. Sometimes, certain narratives go beyond the surface, they’ll always be geared for another purpose. Until then, though, don’t judge another person by the steps they take.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Comments