CROWN=VIRGINITY
So I watched the movie Tangled a few days ago and couldn't help but noticing that the crown is an obvious metaphor for virginity. Flynn wants the crown, but when Rapunzel knocks him unconscious and ties him up (kinky huh), she hides it from him. She then uses the crown as a bargaining chip to get her dream which is seeing the festival of lights, she refused to give him the crown until he brought her to the festival... just like how a woman could use sex as a bargaining chip for various things.
Rapunzel falls in love with Flynn and doesn't want to leave him after the festival is over. The evil witch confronts her and says something to the extent of,
"You know that once you give him the crown he'll just take what he wants and leave!"
TOTALLY a metaphor for sex. Rapunzel denies this and argues that Flynn would never do such a thing! The witch and the twin bandits tie Flynn up to a boat and make it look like he was sailing away... taking what he wanted and leaving. And Rapunzel, upon seeing this, believes it because she knows it was a definite possibility, and is crushed. Just as a girl who is crushed because a guy told her he loved her, had sex with her, and left her for something or someone more shiny in the distance.
If I wanted to over-analyze the movie even further. Even though the crown was Rapunzel's, she didn't realize it was hers because she didn't know she was a princess. She really cared little for the thing- sure, she thought it was pretty, she even wore it on her head for a moment, but other than that, she didn't think much of it. She didn't hold it in complete reverence... it wasn't wrapped up or in a chest, and when she hid it she just dropped it into a pot on the floor and hid it under a dusty loose stair. However, she knew it meant something to everyone else, so she kept it hidden.
If you look at the crown as a metaphor for virginity, the character is enhanced. Rapunzel/the average girl might not care a whole lot about her virginity at first.... not really realizing what it is, not really careing either way. But many girls will feel as Rapunzel does, that virginity is something that she should hold on to until the right moment. Some, do, some don't, and I couldn't really tell you who is better off as a result. But the fact remains that society puts a weird objectivity to a simple primitive act. Honestly- it's an action, like swimming or dancing. Why does society make it seem like it's something tangible that you can tuck away in a drawer next to your vibrator? Actually- I shouldn't ask that question because then it would force me, although willingly to delve into history and origins and such and that's not what we are discussing right now.
Just think of it. It's "losing your virginity". I really hate this phrase because it suggests that you had something and now have one less thing in your life... one less tool in your belt. Or like... you used to have the full 64 pack of crayola crayons with the crayon sharpener in the back, and you lost the flesh colored crayon, which isn't necessarily the prettiest of colors, but when you want to color in Ariel's face in your Little Mermaid coloring book, it's so important; because without the flesh colored crayon, you have to substitute it with a color that makes Ariel look sunburnt, indian, or if you just leave her face white, she looks like a ghost or a geisha!
Ok... going back to Tangled. Honestly, some people would be appalled that I and some other people might have a dirty mind, and scold me for, "dirtying up such an innocent story" But do you remember the original story!?!? Rapunzel's mother and father were not a king and queen but poor peasants who loved each other but could not conceive. They were growing old and the witch told her to plant rapunzel in the garden and eat it and it would help her conceive. She did and had a beautiful baby girl! (SEX) and then fast forward a bit and the prince comes and visits her, why do you think he's visiting her every day? To have SEX! You don't believe me, well when the Witch discovers the boy has been visiting Rapunzel (because Rapunzel is pregnant more or less) she cuts her hair, throws her in the woods, and turns the prince into a bird, Rapunzel then gives birth to twins in the forest. She raises them there for 2 years until she's joined with her love and he turns back into a human etc etc.
So I have no problem with Disney throwing in this sexual inuendo, however I don't feel it stays true to the original message of the Grimms classic... But neither do any of their book-based stories. On that note, what is Disney trying to say with Rapunzel? Is it saying that girls should hold onto their V-card for a while until they know that the con artist isn't conning them for her crown, then give it away? It almost seems like Disney is saying, be cautious, but not TOO cautious.
It seems this topic must be delved into later. But yes, see Tangled. It's enjoyable. Tell me if you agree about the crown/sex metaphor!
this is the dumbest theory I have ever heard. Get your mind out of the gutter
ReplyDeleteYou know what it is not a dumb theory. It is a clever theory that one might not want to hear, but its the truth. There are many things in classic Disney movies or VHS covers that has to do with sex. In the Lion King when the cubs were playing the wind whipped the grass around to spell out sex, on the cover of the Little Mermaid the illustrator had gotten pissed and drawn a guy's dick as a tower on the castle. Granted Disney caught that and recalled all of the movies then released it with a revised cover, but you can still find some of them. I think that knowing exactly what is being subliminally messaged into the minds of children is important to know, and in a way Disney was using that as a subliminal message for many things other than that of sex and virginity.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I'm glad that you wrote this. Now, I love the movie Tangled, but I just couldn't quite get over the origins of this story. Rapunzel is one of my favorite Fairy Tales mainly because it's such a sordid tale! Prince finding Rapunzel in the tower, becomes her lover, gets her knocked up, only to punished by the witch and have to wait two years to find each other again. In fact, when the movie first came out, I had no idea how they were going to do the story. And when I saw the movie, though I liked it, I was a little disappointed at the same time that the original story had been torn down so much.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read this, I thought it was very clever and very true. The crown could totally be seen as a symbolism for virginity! And if Disney really did have that forethought to put that metaphor in Rapunzel, I kind of respect them more for it. It would give homage to the original story line while still being family friendly.
I know, I know, people will probably think I have a sick mind or something, but this story and Princess and the Frog both have a raunchy side to their original Grimms Fairy Tales version (as opposed to the fluffy, tamed Perrault versions). Rapunzel was found out in the Grimm's version because she didn't know why her dresses were getting tighter (indicating pregnancy), and in Princess and the Frog, the Frog turns back into a Prince when the princess throws him against the wall for trying to get into bed with her!
So whenever we get upset that Disney may have cryptically inserted some adult themes into children's stories, remember...the Grimm's Fairy Tale versions were often much more raunchier, and often bloody. Cinderella's stepsisters cutting off their heels and toes to fit into a glass slipper? I think we can stand a little metaphor is we still read Grimm's to our children as is!
It's not the crown, foo, it's da hair!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments... the positive, the negative, and the hilarious!
ReplyDeleteCommenter #1: Get your head out of the clouds.
Commenters #2 and #: I'm with you that the Grimms Fairy Tales are raunchier and bloodier than the Disney versions that children nowadays grow up with. And I like your comment that if the story writers slipped in these alternate messages into the movie, it's paying tribute to the original Grimms Fairy Tales.
I don't find anything wrong with having messages about sex in cartoons. Because the truth is, children are going to have to deal with these issues. They are real issues that exist the same as life and death. If people think that sex should be taken out of cartoons then so should the issue of death. Sex is no more unreal or raunchier than death, but yet our conservative society hides it away as something dirtier and darker, which makes no sense to me.
Also, I didn't know about what you commented about the Princess and the Frog, so that was a cool thing to learn. :)
Commenter #4: haha!
rapunzel sex relationship with Flynn
ReplyDeleteDisney's Rapunzel Teaches Girls about Sex
ReplyDelete