Emotional Abuse Kills

Emotional Abuse Kills

The story of Rapunzel has been around since the 1800s and has been passed down from generation to generation in the form of a fairy tale. Like typical fairy tales, most versions of the tale feature an innocent young girl, a villain who plots against her, and a hero. Rapunzel plays the role of the damsel in distress, helplessly trapped in her tower until a prince comes along and they eventually have their “happily ever after.” In tradition classic tales, Rapunzel is never portrayed as being strong enough to stick up for herself as she is being taken advantage of for her inhumane hair. Disney decided to take a different approach with their variation of Rapunzel titled Tangled. Although many of Disney’s fairy tales from the 20th century tended to focus on the beauty of the princess and a man who comes to her rescue for whatever problem she was having, Tangled does not follow these same lines. Rapunzel from Tangled has a sense of self that allows her to stand up to her mother who has emotionally abused her throughout her entire life. Although a male figure does come into the story who helps Rapunzel achieve her goal of leaving her tower, she does not foolishly fall in love with him after one encounter, and she even saves him in the end of the story as opposed to him saving her, like previous versions of the tale. In contrast to other Rapunzels, Tangled’s Rapunzel becomes the hero of her own story because of her independence and determination despite the adversity she was forced to face.

In the Grimms’ version, Rapunzel is disregarded as a human being even before she was conceived, resulting in her inability to grow as a strong-minded woman. Her parents had been wanting a child for a while, but due to their own selfish desires, they lost her to the witch before they even got the chance to get to know her. They lived next to the witch who had a garden, and after the wife saw “the most beautiful rampion” called Rapunzel growing in it, she ordered her husband to get some for her to eat or else she would die (Grimm). Heidi Anne Heiner, the woman analyzing the Grimms’ tale, thinks the woman is selfish for this, because she “cares more about what she cannot have than the well-being of her child” (Heiner). This is the first indication that as much as her parents might have wanted a child, they were more concerned about themselves than her. In an attempt to prevent his wife’s presumed death, the husband went to get the Rapunzel for her, but was soon caught thieving by the witch and was ordered to give her their first child who would soon be born (Grimm). Out of fear, the husband agreed. It is possible that his ability to give up his child so easily is due to the fact that “he has not met the child yet and cannot imagine the child living. He has not created a personal bond with the baby yet” (Heiner). For people who have a difficult time fathoming relationships with others they do not yet know, it is common for them to disregard or forget completely about their lives or emotions. After Rapunzel is born, she is given to the witch who then acts as if she were her biological mother. She “grew into the most beautiful child under the sun” and was known for her “magnificent long hair” that her supposed mother tried to keep away from the outside world by secluding her in a tower (Grimm). The witch shut her away when she was just 12 years old, which is the typical age that puberty begins and “parents start to fear for their daughter’s wellbeing and safety” (Heiner). Rapunzel has entered a phase of her life of rebellion, experimentation, and many emotions, and instead of the witch supporting her, she strips her of this crucial moment in time of her overall growth as a human. The witch selfishly tries to “delay the inevitable life cycle of adulthood and parental separation, the witch locks Rapunzel up in the tower in an attempt to stifle her increasing maturity and protect her from sexual predators” (Grimm). From a young age, although probably subconscious to her, Rapunzel was fixed to believe that her physical attributes would be lusted after so much that she would be taken advantage of in the real world and in turn, she was meant to be hidden. Due to her lack of human interaction, Rapunzel is incapable of thinking logically or having much self-regard when she came into contact with a prince who happened to find her tower. It is not long before the prince asks her to marry him, and she quickly obliged. Her quick agreement to marriage leaves the audience to wonder “‘Is she in love? Does she return the prince’s passion? Or is she just eager to escape her prison by any means possible’” (Grimm). Rapunzel was not raised properly enough to know what true love is beyond what the eye can see, and that ultimately leads to her making the hurried decision to marry that truthfully should require more thought.

Similarly to the Grimm’s Rapunzel, many of Disney’s older movies portrayed obvious sexism that was likely overlooked at the time it was made, but criticized today. The Disney franchise is influential in the lives of millions of children and adults alike. In an essay discussing gender roles within Disney films, McKenzie Barber states that Disney films “present powerful and sustained messages about gender and social relations that are the expected and standard norms of society” (Barber 8). Due to this, it is safe to assume that children typically watch Disney films and base their beliefs about the world off of what they see. They are likely to act according to what they see, and grow up with a mindset similar to characters that they idolize because they are children and don’t know any better.

Disney films have always been very much Westernized and in the 1900s when they were created, there were certain gender roles that society was fixed to expect in the media they were exposed to. Barber believes that there are few types of representations of women seen within Disney’s films, one of which being the “damsel in distress” (Barber 9). In films such as Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, these helpless princesses were typically viewed by the rest of their community as being valuable for nothing more than their appearance. Disney might have chosen to portray the females in his tales this way because that was the norm at the time. Not only in Disney films but films in general, “the roles of men and women pictured in their films have mirrored the cultural perspective and beliefs of social norms and expectations on gender roles and identity” (Barber 8). Males were expected to be overtly masculine: strong, provides, handsome. And of course, in turn, females were expected to be the typical feminine: innocent, beautiful, classy, and sweet. In each of these tales, there is a prince who crosses paths with the female lead of the story, is blown