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The good news is that Tangled<\/em> is funny, fast-paced, humorous, and visually stunning.<\/p>\n \nThe bad news is that it re-hashes the same old story \u2013 that as a woman you can either be a princess awaiting her prince or an evil stepmother\/witch, that if you are male, you get all the action (in many senses of the word) and that beauty equals white, blonde, thin, and young.<\/p>\n \n This bad side of the story is ironic considering Disney\u2019s recent announcement they won\u2019t be making any more princess films<\/a>. Instead, what they have done, is made a princess film but not named it after the princess \u2013 how groundbreaking!<\/p>\n \n As Margot Magowan<\/a> notes, Disney\u2019s announcement could<\/em> be a good sign. \u201cGreat! No more damsels in distress who end the movie by landing a man,\u201d she writes. <\/span>Alas, as Magowan and others document, it\u2019s not about ending the helpless princess meme, instead, it\u2019s about making sure the movies have big enough audience appeal (read: appeal to boys and men, not JUST girls and women).<\/p>\n \n Apparently, to appeal to the male demographic, \u201cswashbuckling action\u201d<\/a> is necessary, as are the inclusion of many mega-muscular man characters. In order to make the film \u201cgender neutral\u201d Disney has privileged male characters over females \u2013 to the tune of countless key male figures in the movie and only TWO \u2013 yes TWO <\/span>– key females \u2013 Rapunzel and the evil Mother Gothel.<\/p>\n As it is Disney, media giant, making these representations, they carry inordinate cultural weight. As Magowan writes<\/a>, \u201c because this boys club completely dominates kidworld, their privileging of males over females with no care at all, their disregard for half the population, is really sad.\u201d<\/p>\n This male privileging of the story is apparent from the first image in Tangled<\/em>, which opens zoomed in on a wanted poster of Flynn Rider, as he narrates \u201cThis is a very fun story and the truth is it isn\u2019t even mine.\u201d<\/p>\n \n The \u201cfun\u201d story involves the kidnapping and imprisonment of Rapunzel \u2013 the female protagonist that Disney execs decided didn\u2019t deserve to be front and center. And, even though Flynn admits the story \u201cisn\u2019t even mine,\u201d the story becomes very much about him and less about Rapunzel. While this has been called a \u201cgender neutral makeover,\u201d<\/a> it seems to me it is more of a masculinist makeover.<\/p>\n \n As noted by<\/a> the film\u2019s producer during production, \u201cWe\u2019re having a lot of fun pairing Flynn, who\u2019s seen it all, with Rapunzel, who\u2019s been locked away in a tower for 18 years.\u201d Ah, a man of the world who has \u201cseen it all\u201d with a woman who knows nothing as she has been \u201clocked away\u201d \u2013 how egalitarian and gender neutral!<\/p>\n \n In addition to the male lead Flynn, Rapunzel has the requisite animal sidekick \u2013 a male chameleon named Pascal. And, once she escapes out into the real world \u2013 she encounters a plethora of males \u2013 the horse Maximus (how is that for a testosterone fueled name?!?), the thugs that serve as Flynn\u2019s former thieving buddies, and, finally, the many light-hearted ruffians from the pub, The Snuggly Duckling. Additionally, Rapunzel\u2019s Father (the King) is focussed on in a few scenes meant to emphasize how much he and his wife (the Queen) still miss their daughter. In these scenes, his hulking, bearded figure dominate the screen, his face torn with sadness \u2013 while his diminutive wife (the apparently unimportant queen) stands below and beside him as comforting helpmeet.<\/p>\n \n As for Rapunzel, imprisoned within the tower since a child, she is a waiflike female with big eyes and a teeny tiny waist that sings about doing chores with the refrain \u201cwonder when my life will begin.\u201d To add to her miniscule waist, Rapunzel is stereotypically overly emotional, swinging from one end of a mood swing to another as often as she (and others) swing from her long golden locks.<\/p>\n \n By films end, she has lost these magical locks after Flynn cuts them to save her life \u2013 and her remaining hair \u2013 no longer magical \u2013 turns brown (talk about latent color symbolism!). Her \u201chappy ending\u201d involves being returned to her real parents and marrying Flynn \u2013 who, the movie makes a POINT of emphasizing, proposed to her, not the other way around.<\/p>\n \nAdmittedly, there are moments where Rapunzel is portrayed as brave and heroic, as when she tells Mother Gothel <\/span>\u201cfor every minture for the rest of my life I will fight\u201d or when she heals Flynn, saves them both from drowning, and is instrumental in their escape from the Snuggly Duckling and various other chase scenes. She is, no doubt, an improvement on Snow White, who could only sing to animals and happily clean up after seven dwarves. Yet, as Scott Mendelson indicates, her bravery is framed in a \u201ccondescending ‘girl-power’ punch or two\u201d<\/a> way \u2013 it is the exception to her character, rather than the rule. While Flynn is all masculine adventure, power, and cunning, she is all long blonde locks with a hint of you-go-girl attitude to appease a 21st<\/sup> century audience.<\/p>\n \n Obviously the (male) execs at Diseny wanted to stay true to the fairy tale roots and thus kept Rapunzel white and blonde, kept the evil witch character, and kept the rescuing prince (though admittedly amping up his role) \u2013 but even keeping to this narrow white and male privileged script, could they not have thrown in some female animals and or patrons at the Snuggly Duckling?<\/p>\n \n And what possessed the film-makers to have Flynn immediately call Rapunzel \u201cBlondie\u201d? Yes, it\u2019s so funny when we identify women by their looks and body rather than bothering to learn or remember their names! (Not to mention the cultural associations with being called \u201cBlondie\u201d such as the assumption one is dumb, \u201cover-sexed,\u201d and\/or good for no more than a pretty appearance).<\/p>\n \n Moreover, as Renee of Womanist Musings <\/em>points out<\/a>, the glorifying of blonde hair \u2013 yet again \u2013 is problematic. She writes:<\/p>\n \n \u201cAs a Black woman, I know all to well how complicated the issue of hair can be.\u00a0 Looking at the above image [of Tangled\u2019s<\/em> Rapunzel], I found that I could not see beyond her long blond hair and blue eyes.\u00a0 I believe that this will also become the focal point of many girls of colour.\u00a0 The standard of long flowing blond hair as the epitome of femininity necessarily excludes and challenges the idea that WOC are feminine, desired, and some cases loved and therefore, while Disney is creating an image of Rapunzel that we are accustomed to, her rebirth in a modern day context is problematic, because her body represents the celebration of White femininity.<\/p>\n \u2026<\/p>\n The fact that Tangled<\/em> is coming on the heels of the first African American princess is indeed problematic.\u00a0 It makes Princess Tiana seem like an impotent token, with Rapunzel appearing to reset the standard of what princess means and even more precisely what womanhood means.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \n Notably, Mother Gothel, Rapunzel\u2019s evil abductress, has dark hair and eyes and non-Caucasian features.<\/p>\n \n According to Christian Blaulvelt of Entertainment Weekly<\/a>, <\/em>\u201c<\/strong>Mother Gothel is a dark, dark character. I mean, she\u2019s a baby snatcher.\u201d Ah yes, and she is dark <\/em>in more ways than one – her dark skin, hair, and clothing contrasting with the golden whiteness of Rapunzel.<\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p>\n