Moana and The Rock

I read an interesting article by Forbes today. It spoke about how the casting of such high profile actors as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson improves sales and hype. Forbes claimed that the casting of Robin Williams as the Genie in Aladdin increased audience turnout by a lot, so doing the same with The Rock will help Moana's revenue. What an interesting thought...I guess it's a clever move for Disney from a business standpoint.

Either way, let's enjoy the newest Moana clip, a short snippet of one of the original songs in the film!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Third-Wave

For a lack of a better analogy for my hook, we’re going to start with some math. Imagine we start with the first-wave princesses at a value of 100, representing 100% of the films depicting traditional gender roles. Now, take that and divide it in half. You get 50. This represents an improvement in gender depiction in the second-wave princesses, but we’re only half way there. Now, divide by two again. You get 25. This represents where the third-wave princesses stand on gender—still an improvement, but not as drastic as the improvement from first to second-wave. In other words, I believe third-wave princesses—Tiana, Rapunzel, Merida, and Anna—improve in some aspects compared to second-wave princesses, but not as much in others.

(Wow, wasn’t that fun? That is how a nerd, aka me, thinks)

A hallmark of the “new wave” princesses is that they are born into very restrictive circumstances, but vehemently fight against it.



They all break free, but what happens after that is what sets second-wave apart from third-wave princesses. Sadly, for the second-wave princesses, they fall back into domestic life in the end, once again imprisoned by the patriarchy. They marry their man and receive approval from their fathers in doing so.


Ariel receives a nod from Triton, the Emperor approves of Aladdin, Mulan’s father blesses her marriage to Shang… However, third-wave princesses achieve their dreams and keep them. Although Tiana gets married, she runs her own restaurant; Rapunzel gets married, but on her own accord; Merida changes tradition to remain free from being betrothed. Mind you, neither Merida nor Anna get married in their respective films. This is the third-wave princesses’ biggest improvement from second-wave princesses. Their female freedom is not compromised by the need of male approval.

Some aspects that did not change much were the characteristics of the princesses themselves, and their relationships with their mothers and other female characters. The second-wave and third-wave princesses are all curious, headstrong, and to some extent, brave. For the most part, they actively make sacrifices to get what they want. Ariel decides on her own to consult Ursula; Mulan takes her father’s place and leads the defense of the Forbidden Palace from the Huns; Belle actively refuses Gaston’s advances and stays free of his misogyny. Second-wave princesses already have these characteristics, so it is not a bad thing that the third-wave princesses do not differ much.

Rapunzel defends herself using her hair and frying pan as a weapon;

Tiana works hard to make her dream of opening a restaurant come true;

Merida acts against her mother’s will to keep from being married off to a suitor.

However, the continued exclusion of good and meaningful female relationships is an area that needs improvement. None of the second-wave princesses have female friends, or interact with “good” female characters. Pocahontas has a female friend, but she is inconsequential to the plot. Even Ariel’s undersea animal friends are male. Even though third-wave princesses have better mother-daughter relationships, there is often something off-putting about them. Tiana is very close to her mother, but her mother doesn’t play a crucial role in the film and neither does Rapunzel’s mother. In fact, in Rapunzel’s case, she even develops a toxic relationship with Mother Gothel, who is an evil stepmother of sorts. Even in Brave and Frozen, where mother-daughter and sister-sister relationships are the focus, they start out rocky and slowly mend.

With these areas of great improvement and others of little improvement, I would place third-wave princesses at a little step above second-wave princesses, but they are on an upward trend. I can’t wait to see what Moana has in store!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

News from a Galaxy Far, Far Away

News has reached my ears that Star Wars (which, again, is a part of Disney, so I can rightfully rant and rave about it here) has released who it casted as Lando Calrissian in the new Han Solo movie (!!!!), and it's a guy named Donald Glover. Mind you, I've never heard of him, but the internet is loving it, so it must have been a good choice!

So @starwars really did get Donald Glover as the new Lando! #yes #yay pic.twitter.com/K8OszvEClQ

— Ben B. Singer (@benbsinger) October 21, 2016

Here is an article about the news, featuring a side by side picture of Billy Dee Williams, who played Lando in the original trilogy, and the newly cast Donald Glover. They do look fairly alike, unlike Alden Ehrenreich as the young Han Solo (I still can't get over how he doesn't look like Harrison Ford at all...he better have some great acting skills or I'm going to be disappointed).

I'm sure this actor will do a great job and will keep the Star Wars empire going strong. May the force be with him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Tangled Mess

Ah, yes, thanks for the applause! I know that was SUCH a clever title. I’m sure you’ve NEVER heard that one before…joking of course!

But it is true. Tangled is a tangled mess of a “third-wave” princess movie. Just as we thought we made some progress in the gender and race department, we return to a variation on the trope of a white damsel in distress…or so some critics say. After watching the film, however, I agree to some extent that Rapunzel is not much better than her second-wave predecessors. Within the wide range of second-wave princesses, Rapunzel falls somewhere in the middle.

In my opinion, the second-wave princesses fall on a spectrum of feminism from Ariel on the most pseudo-feminist side to Belle on the most real feminist side. Rapunzel is in the middle, somewhere better than Ariel but worse than Belle. She is better than Ariel mostly because she can save herself when she is in immediate danger, besides the fact that she needs Flynn, a man, to ultimately save her from her greatest danger…but we’ll talk about that later. Rapunzel actively uses her resources to fend for herself, using her hair as a rope and lasso and her frying pan as a weapon, which is an improvement from Ariel, who needs Eric to defeat Ursula for her. In the end, Rapunzel also has authority over Flynn, chastising him for changing the story when he narrates the end (“Eugene!”). These actions paint a stronger, more self-reliant girl than past princesses.

However, although Rapunzel is a better princess than Ariel, she is not as independent as Belle. First, she still dreams of being with a man. When Flynn is dying, he confesses that “you [Rapunzel] were my next dream,” and Rapunzel replies, heartbroken and with tears in her eyes, “and you were mine.” This shows how even though she dreamed of adventure and breaking out of her prison in the beginning, her dreams changed once a man was introduced into her world, eventually stripping her independence from her, much like Ariel. Furthermore, even though Rapunzel can save herself from smaller dangers with her hair and her frying pan, she cannot ultimately save herself from Mother Gothel. Flynn is the vessel by which Rapunzel leaves her tower in the first place, and in the end, Flynn is the one who cuts her hair, finally breaking her shackles and setting her free from Mother Gothel’s control.

When comparing the male characters in Beauty and the Beast and Tangled, we can also see a step back. Both films have a macho man character; Beauty and the Beast has Gaston, and Tangled has Flynn Rider. They’re both very selfish and boast to be the “ladies’ man,” but Beauty portrays that characteristic as bad because Belle rejects Gaston’s advances on him, eventually making him the bad guy, whereas Tangled portrays it as good because Rapunzel falls in love with Flynn, who becomes a good guy in the end. We can see set-backs in Tangled from Beauty and the Beast on both male and female fronts.

There are areas in which Tangled is better than second-wave princess films, such as The Little Mermaid, but there are also set backs, so overall, ideologically, Rapunzel should be considered a second-wave princess.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rogue One!!!

The new Rogue One trailer just came out, and let me tell you, IT LOOKS SO AMAZING!! Watch it below!

This new installment of the Star Wars story looks more like the traditional action movie and less like the fantasy of the trilogies. It's probably Lucasfilm's, which became a part of Disney as of four years ago (four years ago??? It only seems like one!), attempt at bringing in a wider audience who were put off by the romance in the trilogies. It's all about the money...
Anyway, the Internet is not only buzzing about the trailer, but also a reaction to the trailer, specifically Kylo Ren's. Hollywood Reporter wrote a short article about it, which you can read here, or you can watch the video below.

It's quite funny, especially since Kylo Ren is such an angry, angsty teen-like character. I'm looking forward to seeing Rogue One as a divergence from the trilogies while I wait for Episode VIII...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Beast Proposes to the Beauty

Things like this just warm my fragile little heart! Watch the video below:

Awww...so adorable!! :' )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cinderella Ate My Daughter, Chapter 6

Orenstein is back! This time with a new vengeance on children’s toys, the Grimm’s brothers, and Twilight…

First, Orenstein rants and raves about her personal dilemma about whether or not to buy her daughter a toy gun. She waffles on how it’s not a typical girl toy, but, oh, it might make her child violent. I say why not? It’s just a toy! There is no reason to read into its meaning that much. I can assure her that children do not think deeply into the meaning of their toys when they’re playing with them. I surely didn’t. When I was younger, I didn’t think anything of playing with lightsabers with my brother, or playing with my Barbie dolls when my friend came over. It was just play. We would imagine different scenes for our lightsaber and sword fights, make up new moves, and pretend our Barbie dolls were doing different things, which leads me to Orenstein’s next concern. Orenstein was concerned that buying specific toys would limit her child’s creativity, forcing her to only play with them in certain ways. But really, every toy you buy, no matter what it is, has a “purpose” unless you’re buying your child a plank of wood. A doll could be an inanimate friend for dress-up, a tea set for tea parties, a truck to go vroom-vroom with… So Orenstein, just buy your daughter the darn toy gun already. It matches her cowgirl hat anyway.

Orenstein also comments on Grimm’s versions of the fairy tales Disney remade. She again worries that the goriness of the Brothers’ stories will have a negative impact on her daughter. She says she would rather read Disney stories to her children, saying, “Maybe I had been hasty in dismissing fairy tales as a bastion of passive heroines and Prince Charming hype.” Here, she finally admits the paradox of her motherhood — she wants her daughter to “do and be whatever she dreams of as an adult, but [she also hopes] she will find her Prince (or Princess) Charming and make [her, Orenstein] a grandma.” Well isn’t that so contradictory to all of her previous complaints about princess culture? If she feels this way, why is she so appalled at the Disney Princesses? I think, Orenstein is finally realizing that her ideas about feminism do not match with what she actually feels as a mother. In Chapter 5, she gave an anecdote about an incident at Target, where she vehemently opposed to buying the fairy doll that her daughter wanted, but upon seeing the sad and confused look on her daughter's face, caved in and bought the toy anyway. Maybe her lapse into feeling this way is because she is so ingrained with traditional gender stereotypes from her childhood…or maybe it’s because princesses are not actually all that bad. Children need fantasy in their lives because their imaginations are so much more active than adults, and they need something to feed them. They need to play and pretend to be princesses and monsters because it’s a natural part of childhood. Nobody can take that away.

In my opinion, Orenstein takes her opposition to Disney princesses a little too far. Sometimes, you just have to let a child’s imagination run wild.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

#MakeMulanRight

Alright, I know I've posted a lot about this live-action Mulan, but I need to keep y'all updated on new developments. Aaaand...drumroll please...here is a new development in the film/script! Now that the female lead is confirmed to definitely be Chinese, the Internet has moved on to the male lead. There was a rumor going around that the actor for the male lead (the name Shang was never mentioned in the article, but only "male love interest" or "male lead"...interesting) was going to be of European decent. Well of course, this cannot be, because we all know that white-washing is a real and terrible thing in Hollywood. So the Internet has done its thing, and voila! Disney is now claiming to have an Asian "love interest" (again, interesting choice of words) in its live-action Mulan.

See, even Ming-Na Wen approves:

Thank Buddha!! I applaud @Disney @DisneyStudios for going in the right direction with #Mulan! 👏👏👍👍#staytruetothelegend https://t.co/7IYkcxcn29

— Ming-Na Wen (@MingNa) October 11, 2016

Yay for the Internet! We can always count on you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happily Ever After

Take a look at this Disney-themed wedding that has gone viral! According to ABC, the couple themed their wedding around Up, Beauty and the Beast, The Princess and the Frog, Snow White, Alice in Wonderland, and Tangled. That's a lot of movies. I personally would have chosen less just to keep things simple, but it's their wedding so I'm not judging...except for gushing over their pictures, of course! The pictures are honestly so adorable. Here's one of them!

Awwww look how happy and cute they are! If you want to see more pictures, here is the link. May all their dreams and wishes come true!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Update: Live-Action Mulan Has A Release Date!!!

The live-action Mulan will hit theaters on November 2, 2018!! I'm so excited! I get to see my people on screen!

Read more about it here, or watch the video below!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reflections

Okay so for this assignment, we were to watch a second-wave princess film and blog about differences between (or just feelings about) first and second-wave princesses, so I picked Beauty and the Beast because I have never seen it in full before. But wow let me just tell you…Beauty and the Beast just blew my mind. I figuratively walked into the movie thinking that this was going to be a terrible experience, that Belle was just going to be another one of Disney’s stereotypical princesses because Ariel, a fellow second-wave princess, let me down a little. Usually, I like to play devil’s advocate and make exceptions, but for all the crap that we’ve read about her in our articles for class, I was sure Belle would succumb to a charming prince like Ariel. HOWEVER, my experience was SO DIFFERENT than what I expected it to be. I might even say that this is now my favorite Disney princess movie. It has saved second-wave princesses from being just as limited as their older counterparts.

First, let me just say that this movie made me feel something stir in my chest, something I never felt watching Cinderella, Snow White, or even The Little Mermaid. I actually had feelings for the characters, especially Belle and the Beast (does he even have a real name?). But why? The main characters are actually developed in this movie, and they’re dynamic for a change! We could actually see Belle and the Beast’s love develop, as they actually get to know each other beyond superficial things like looks and a pretty voice. Many critics are harsh on Belle, saying that she is forced to love the Beast because she is in captivity, likening her case to Stockholm Syndrome. I would like to point out, however, that she chose to be imprisoned, to take the place of her father. After she ran away, the Beast saved her from the wolves, so out of gratitude, she stayed a while to care for his wounds. Throughout that time and through learning to care for each other, they began to have feelings for each other. These differences do not fit the definition of Stockholm Syndrome.

Belle’s and Ariel’s actual efforts to get to know their princes draw a distinct contrast to their first-wave counterparts. Cinderella, Snow White, and Aurora fall in love at first sight and after a kiss or a night of dancing, are ready to marry. Sorry to break it to you, but that is not how love works! I’m glad that in the second-wave princess films, love is expanded on as a result of getting to know one another, and that love is not the main plotline of the film. It comes as secondary to caring for each other, as in Beauty and the Beast; fighting alongside one another, as in Mulan; and rebelling against overbearing fathers, as in The Little Mermaid.

But going back to Beauty and the Beast, can I point out how Belle absolutely destroyed Gaston’s advances on her? She doesn’t even say polite things like “I’m sorry but I don’t think we fit together” or “I’m not looking for marriage;” she literally says “I don’t deserve you.” Like YASSS THAT’S RIGHT YOU GO GIRL!!! Filthy, misogynist Gaston doesn’t deserve anybody even 100 times less awesome than Belle. This is definitely the 90’s feminist movement’s influence on Disney princesses. We start to see the beginning of third-wave feminism, and “down with the patriarchy!” that is not present at all in the first-wave Disney princesses. In context with the times and the way Disney as a company works, this makes sense.

Disney is more of a reactive entertainment company rather than a proactive one, so it is a little behind the times as far as progressive social ideologies go. In efforts to protect their profits, they do not pioneer ideas, but rather only follow them when they become more socially acceptable. Therefore, Disney’s first “second-wave” princess, Ariel, was still very much controlled by the patriarchy. Only after the public’s astounding reception of The Little Mermaid did Disney dare to venture into more feminist themes. Enter Beauty and the Beast. Here we see a total renouncement of the super macho-man who oozes patriarchy from every pore. Although Belle ends up with a man, at least the Beast is more considerate of Belle’s thoughts and wellbeing, respecting her love for books like nobody else ever did.

Although the second-wave princesses are called “pseudo-feminists,” I still think they made good progress in the realm of feminism. Aside from The Little Mermaid, which was the guinea pig in Disney’s new era of feminism, all the other films had prominent aspects of female’s free thought and focused less on the idea of superficial love. All in all, they have made good progress.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ariel vs. Cinderella

Disney’s debut three princesses, Snow White, Aurora, and Cinderella, have come under pressure for perpetuating traditional gender roles and being passive. Enter the “second wave” of Disney princesses: Belle, Ariel, Jasmine, Pocahontas, and Mulan. These ladies are supposedly independent and much more modern than their “first wave” counterparts. Let’s see how they compare: Ariel vs. Cinderella.

First, the biggest difference between Ariel and Cinderella is that Ariel is rebellious. Both princesses are stuck in a situation they do not like: Cinderella is forced to be a servant in her own home, and Ariel is trapped under the sea when her heart longs to be on land. However, Ariel actually does something active about her plight. While Cinderella stays in her tower, lamenting her torn dress and dashed wishes, Ariel constantly steals away to the surface to collect human things and ultimately takes matters into her own hands by enlisting Ursula’s help.

And with this rebellion comes a hunger for adventure that Cinderella lacked. Ariel ventures on her own, with a male side kick of course, into the depths of the ocean to pursue her heart’s desire. While she cannot physically be a human, she seeks proximity to her wish by collecting human gadgets, and she bravely explores forbidden places to get them. She even runs across a shark, which gives a high speed chase, much like the cat and mouse scenes in Cinderella; however, Ariel, the main character, is the one being chased, not two side characters.

There is also a lick of the feminism movement in the film. When Ariel sings about her longing to be “where the people are,” she claims they are “bright, young women, ready to stand,” which is a sentiment not expressed in Cinderella. Ariel wants to be a young woman who stands for her own choices, like the people on land, presumably us, the humans.

While Ariel and Cinderella have their differences on the surface, in the depths of their hearts, they are more or less the same. Both of the princesses were instantly charmed by a handsome prince, and both wish to end up falling in love with and marrying him. Although Ariel rebels from her father and wishes to be above the sea, her greatest desire as depicted in the film is to marry Prince Eric. She started out as wanting freedom from her father’s rule under the sea, but once she rescued Prince Eric from drowning, she fell in love, and her wish to become a human suddenly revolved around being with Eric, a powerful man. Similarly, Cinderella’s wish to get out of her tower and to dance at the castle became much more meaningful when she found out there was a possibility that she could marry Prince Charming. It’s love at first sight, and in the end, a marriage into happily ever after.

Now, the fact that Disney made an effort to change tradition is a good start. While watching the movie, I did not feel as confined, as in Ariel did have more space to do her thing, whereas Cinderella was very limited in what she could do all day. There were definitely feminist ideals at work in The Little Mermaid that were not present in Cinderella, which make it a little better. It is also good for girls watching the film to realize that exploring is good, and that you can go actively chase whatever dreams your heart desires.

However, not everything is fine and dandy. One line, unrelated to this topic of gender disparities, that irks me is when Ariel says to Triton, “I’m sixteen years old! I’m not a child anymore!” Ohhh, honey. Sixteen is not old. I remember thinking 16-year-olds were old when I was little. Not anymore. It’s lines like these that make me realize that I have grown, and I won’t be child anymore. *cries*

But anyway, on a more serious topic, I still don’t think Ariel is a solution or a good substitute for Cinderella because she is still very much under the control of men (down with the patriarchy!). She literally gives up her voice, her personal identity, to make her wish come true. She sells her soul to the devil to be a human…so she could be with a man. A man! I mean, if that man really loves her, he wouldn’t care if she were a mermaid. Just saying. Her whole life still revolves around her obsession with Prince Eric. This obsession still teaches girls that marrying a prince is a good reward for being rebellious and whatnot. On second thought, that’s actually a terrible lesson. It teaches girls to run away from home and to run after a guy, all at one time. I don’t think that’s what anybody should be doing, boy or girl.

Final verdict: at the core, Ariel is no better than Cinderella. Disney made a little tiny bit of progress with The Little Mermaid, but not much. Ariel is adventurous, but still confined by the limits of her own heart. But I guess these things take time, or else the conservative world will die of shock because*gasp* women can actually act on their own accord! How scandalous! At least we’ve made some progress.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~