This cartoon by vertiklychalingd raises a good point. I recently got around to seeing Disney's Enchanted and yet, it never once occured to me whilst watching it that, despite being referred to as such multiple times even within the text of the film itself, "Princess" Giselle is at no point technically a princess at all. It is Nancy (played by the wonderful Idina Menzel from Wicked) who ends up marrying the film's prince. Ultimately, it all comes down to the fact that the notion of "princessness" has transcended any actual reality attached to the term. Instead, "princess", and in particular the "Disney princess" brand, has become a sort of hyper-real notion that describes a set of behaviours, attitudes and appearances, regardless of whether one is actually a legitimate princess or not.
2 comments:
I couldn't agree more. I like the movie, but the one who really comes out on top is Nancy. Throughout the movie, she's always wanting a true love, and finally finds not only that but a whole fairytale kingdom as well. Meanwhile, Giselle ends up as a stepmother, married to a divorce lawyer. Not that I have anything against stepmothers, it's just that in storyland where Giselle comes from, they're almost always evil. In fact, I'd love to see an Enchanted sequel where Giselle turns evil because she is a fairyland character who made the mistake of becoming a stepmother.
An evil Amy Adams would be something to see. An Enchanted sequel would be interesting though, as it would further challenge fairytale tropes by rebuking the 'happily ever after' ending from the first film, no?
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