Tuesday, 03 November 2009
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Psychoanalyzing the Disney Princesses
So recently I've seen these psychological breakdowns of Disney Princes and Princesses (above), and I feel like they're such a cursory coverage of the real stories.
Snow White: The Prince fell in love with her when she was - for all appearance sake - just a servant. He loved her before he saw her when he heard her song. Remember how he climbed the wall to find her??
Aurora: So against being married for politics, she wants to marry for love. Again, Philip falls in love with her before he sees her, and her being beautiful is just an added bonus. Also, if Philip only liked her for her looks, it wouldn't be true love, so his kiss would not break the spell. And really, how many boys would be willing to take on a temperamental dragon. If he only wanted a beautiful girl, I'm sure it would have been much easier to give up on Aurora and find someone he didn't have to work for.
Jasmine: Isn't the entire point of this story that love can't be arranged? Yes, her culture dictated a marriage to royalty, but the entire point is that she fell in love with someone because of who they were, not what they had, so so of course Aladin's quick wit helped save her in the end. Also her father really does want her to be happy, which is why he didn't force her to marry one of the other unsuitable suitors.
Ariel: I don't think she changed her appearance so much to be attractive to Eric, but so that she coud physically be with Eric. She agreed to sacrifice her voice because he was more important to her than anything else, because of love.
Belle: Belle was not sexually attracted to the beast. Did you not listen to the introduction?? The Beast's curse said that someone had to love him for who he was, in spite of his appearance. Belle saw past his rough exterior and fell in love with who he was underneath. That is not her blatant sexuality, it is all about seeing past who people pretend to be into who they actually are.
Cinderella: The prince wants to meet all the women in the kingdom, not just the rich or the beautiful, ALL OF THEM. Because he's not looking for just a pretty face, he wants someone he can see himself spending his life with. The fact that Cinderella is beautiful is again, an added bonus, but it was not his driving motivation to find her. She was mysterious, sweet, gentle, well managered, exciting to be around, etc... All the things he was looking for in a bride.
What do you think? Am I the only one that feels like these 'breakdowns' aren't doing the princesses justice!!??
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About the Author
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- From: just_to_saay@xanga
- Name: em
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Comments (254)
weird that i saw this post-my mom just showed me in the newspaper that a new black princess is being released soon.
Hmm.. I really liked it when they weren't analyzed. They're just Disney characters for children.
We don't know much about the prince, so both the princess and the prince are guilty for falling in love for superficial reasons.
this could apply for all of them
the comparision between your views and the breakdowns is so interesting. You are nice to say some kind words for the princesses. I like them, I like their beautiful face, I also like their story.
You are so right. Did a man write what was on the picture?
haha, this is well thought-out, a nice read.
However, I'm not for a deep analysis of disney characters, because these are ultimately simplistic stories aimed at keeping kids entertained..trying to read between the lines, and to see the bad everywhere is unnecessary imo.
disney depictions of these princesses are sexist.
While I understand we just want to enjoy the stories and nothing else.... unfortunately the analysis' seem to be accurate.
Take a look at other tv/movie media from the time periods discussed, and you will see that there are many similarities. MEN write these stories and they want to maintain the patriarchal ideologies.....
i completely agree.
LOL I'm not going to go into this but if you analyze each disney story it's pretty clear it's sexist and is FILLED with bad messages
However most people (including me) don't want to see them because it's my childhood
but we analyze them in some of my literature classes, there aren't that many good things to say about it when you get down to the nitty gritty
These aren't really psychoanalyses, more like a brief synopsis of each. It's a good idea though to point out their distinctions.
thank you for defending my dear disney princesses. i felt offended when i saw that picture.
I agree with you the picture is bogus!
i'm going to agree with the original analyses.
I don't agree with these analyses at all, and furthermore I'm pretty sure anyone who does is more interested in tearing into Disney than actually looking at the stories and the roles of the characters within them.
I'd say the princes in these tales are the ones that are grossly inaccurate.
I dont like the picture, i think of it as sort of an insult to them. I like your point of view.
@Parsimony@xanga - Agreed...
I think the analysis is crap, it really ignores some basic parts of their stories. Especially with Ariel she wanted to be human and explore the world even before she saw Eric, he just another driving force. I agree with this post and @untainted_love_for_her@xanga - your point.
They're only characters, why the hell is everyone analyzing their sexuality and such? I used to watch those movies when I was little and I loved them! I never analyzed them.
@PerpetuaLMondaY@xanga - Spot on. When I read this comment, I was like WHO WROTE THIS, I AGREE! Of course it was you ;)
While I still think there are a LOT of sexist elements in these princess stories, Imma say I agree with the poster...those explanations of the princesses being saved by their beauty or sexuality is over simplified.
lol
i just like watching disney tbh hahaha
x
wow, why can't people just leave these stories to their innocence and happy endings? they're for kids. and I looove those movies (:
The analyses in the picture are completely stupid and whoever wrote them seems to have a serious problem with men and how women are supposedly depicted in the media.
I agree more with your analysis of the princesses, though I honestly think its silly to analyze cartoon charactres anyway. That's what I hated about some of my English classes (even though I'm an English major, ha) was that we had to analyze things that really should have been left alone, to be enjoyed for what they are.