Tangled Stereotypes

While remaining similar in the main plot points of the story, Tangled and “Rapunzel” take very different approaches in many of the story’s details and settings, as well as in the characterization. These differences drastically affect the tone and themes of the two stories. Howard and Greno’s Tangled focuses on a narrative of taking action when opportunity is offered to try to achieve what you want. Through the reoccurring acts of disobedience, the Grimm Brothers’ “Rapunzel” explicates a theme of the dangers of greed. As a result, Tangled tells a more hopeful story, while “Rapunzel” remains more

Walt Disney’s movie was released in 1959 but is still considered a modern version of this fairytale and is watched by many people every year.

Not only do Disney princesses result in bad self esteem, they also encourage passiveness and reliance on others. The feminine and vulnerable side of these princesses, reflect the reliance on their hero and true love. The Disney princess stereotype insinuates that girls should be sweet and submissive, and should fully rely on a male-counterpart. Conversely, new characters, such as Elsa (Frozen), Rapunzel (Tangled), and Merida (Brave), do not express this passive characteristic. At the same time, these princesses continue to need assistance to reach the desired solution. For instance, Princess Rapunzel still needed hero Flynn Rider, in order to navigate her to her parents throughout the movie. None of these princesses independently found a solution to the main conflict in any of these Disney films.

Watch the movie Tangled and you’ll find yourself hooked, desiring the knowledge of what’s next. While watching this movie, two main literary themes became apparent. Disney's Tangled is the story of a stolen girl trapped in a castle with her captor as a mother. Throughout the story, Rapunzel wants nothing more but to leave her . Tangled’s plot employs many gender stereotypes and shows a large socio-economic divide.

Because of Disney’s stereotyping of gender, that little girl grew up wanting to become a perfect princess. Princesses in Disney’s movies and films gives young girls unrealistic ideas of the real word. However, some may believe that Disney princesses are a good influence on young girls and are able to show a them how to act eloquently. Gender roles, eloquence, and the beauty of the princesses are all topics that influence young girls. Even though some might believe that princesses are good role models for their child, princesses show young girls how they should interact around boys and other girls never mind the girls own opinions. An article about Children’s Responses to Gender Roles in Fairy-Tales written by Ella Westland writes, “The girls

Disney princesses are fun for all ages, but their target audience is young children and “as children grow and develop, they can be easily influenced by what they see and hear”. Therefore, what they see and hear in Disney movies leaves an impression on them. The first princess, Snow White, was created in a time where each gender and race had a specific role in society. Recently, many believe that Disney has come a long way in regards to gender and race since Snow White, as several multi-cultural protagonists have been introduced subsequently, and gender roles do not appear to be as stereotypical as they once were. However, many of the apparent innocent messages about race and gender in these movies, can be exposed as otherwise. Despite

Like all fairytales, Rapunzel has a history that extends far earlier than the 1800s when it first transcribed by brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. However, Rapunzel is a tale that continues to be re-written and re-interpreted even today. From the 1970s with the feminist revitalization of fairy tales to the early 2010s with Disney’s Tangled (2010), this timeless tale continues to engage its listeners. In 2015, Katie Kapurch of Texas State University revisited Rapunzel with an eye on its more recent modernizations. By starting with Anne Sexton’s poem “Rapunzel” from her 1971 collection Transformations, Kapurch analyzed the lesbian elements of the tale in order to examine the 21st century Tumblr culture that “ships” Tangled’s Rapunzel with Brave’s (2012) Merida.

“The idea that animation is an innocent medium, ostensibly for children, and largely dismissed in film histories, has done much to inhibit the proper discussion of issues concerning representation.” (Wells 1998: 187) Animated children’s films, especially those created by Disney, have been an important aspect of children’s culture for many decades. When we consider Disney, we consider Princesses and Princes. In any case, it is acknowledged that those Princesses are included in a clothes to the newfound wealth story. Even though female characters may have more screen time, in most Disney movies we don't see the female characters prevailing over the males, regarding their societal position and practices, except in the lion king.

According to Moula, “Analysis of images of women in literature unmasked such stereotypes as the virgin and the whore, angel and the devil, the mother, the submissive wife and the dominant wife the bitch, the seductress, the sex object, the old maid, the bluestocking, the castrating woman, the pioneer woman and the victim” (Moula, 2014). All of these stereotypes around found in almost every Disney fairy tale. These women are portrayed as being weak and poor, but are also beautiful. The Disney fairy tale such as Cinderella shows how she was abused by her stepmother and stepsisters. She is always dressed in rough clothing and is a servant to her family.

The enchantress kept her hidden, kept her as her own little secret. This shows that the enchantress was aware that many people would have enjoyed Rapunzel, so she locked her away in the tower. The story reads, “Rapunzel grew into the most beautiful child under the sun. When she was twelve years old, the enchantress shut her into a tower, which lay in a forest, and had neither stairs nor door, but quite at the top was a little window.” The preceding quotation poses the question of what if Rapunzel did not grow up to be a beautiful child?

The portrayal of women, gender roles and stereotypes in Disney films has long been a controversial topic. Disney’s 1959 animated film, ‘Sleeping Beauty’, and Robert Stromberg’s 2014 live action remake, ‘Maleficent’, each provide a different take of Charles Perrault’s 1697 fairy tale, ‘La Belle au bois Dormant’ (‘The Sleeping Beauty’). The comparison of Aurora, one of the main characters from both films, brings into light the stark contrast in portrayals of gender roles as well as physical ideals and stereotypes in women. Emphasis or lack thereof on physical characteristics and gender representation from both texts challenge and reflect ideals and stereotypes that are impactful to the audience.

In well-known fairy tales the males and females characters are often portrayed in the same light. The male characters are often described as the hero with strong masculine traits while the female characters are portrayed as the damsel in distress. Throughout the years fairytales have been casting the same stereotypes for their characters. In the story Beauty and the Beast the author de beaumont depiction of what an ideal woman is lays in Beauty. She is meant to embody the role of a feminine, humble caretaker, lover, and savior. The author depicts males as provider’s, however, it is clear that the men in the story are dependent on a positive female figure for life. Beauty’s disappearance threatens both her father and beast with death, symbolizing

In Sleeping Beauty, the Prince is portrayed a strong and courageous person, he can be seen as a great character because he overcomes many obstacles to be able to help the Princess survive. Although Sleeping Beauty is a fairy tale and is stereotypically more admired by girls, the masculine tale might be liked by the male population because they aspire to be the male hero. Maleficent shows the feminine tale and warns the girls that not men cannot be trusted in some cases, and that there is no need to have a man by your side. A woman can survive on their own using her own intelligence and courage to overcome any obstacle that she might face. For the female population, this change is very important because this “hero” story helps us relate to the character and our desire to do great and special acts (Seger 387). This film proved that a woman is capable of defeating evil, and brings a new perspective into Disney

Growing up, all I ever did was watch Disney movies and the Disney channel. Now as I’m older, I can’t help but realize that all the movies are exactly the same. The princess is stuck in a dilemma and then a perfect prince comes along and saves her and then they marry in the end. Other than a similar plot, all the movies have very similar character traits. England, Descartes, and Collier-Meek in Gender Role Portrayal and the Disney Princesses explain the characters, “traditionally masculine (e.g., athletic, brave) and traditionally feminine (e.g., helpful, nurturing) characteristics exhibited by the prince and princess characters through

In the 21st centuries take on the fairytale Rapunzel, the movie “Tangled” depicts the troubled life of an adolescent that is raised by a woman whom is not her mother. Rapunzel is abducted from her crib as an infant by an evil witch, Gothel, for the sole purpose of using her magical hair to enhance her beauty to make her young again. As an eager Rapunzel ages, she soon wants to be set free into a world that she has yet to see.