Snow White Was Not an Idiot: In Defense of the Apple

It kills me that Snow White gets so much hatred for her ONE mistake (one made with very good intentions I might add) than any of the other princesses or heroines do. I would say Belle made the biggest two- letting her stalker Gaston into her home while she was alone, and then the infamous "Well, he told me not to go into the West Wing... so I better go do it, YOLO!" scene. Why is Belle seen as so intelligent despite also letting in a possibly dangerous person AND going into a dangerous place alone, but poor Snow is branded a moron for just trying to help what she believed was "a poor old lady"? Or how Jasmine had no hesitation about going into the house of a strange man by herself? Or Rapunzel trusting a thief who broke into her home and deciding to go on a road trip with him? I could go on. Notice how even the "smart princess", as she's universally and unfairly called and stereotyped as, does possibly does the least intelligent things of them all. Why single Snow White out when they all made mistakes and trusted strangers?

credit: waltdisneyconfessions.tumblr.com

Let's look at the movie:

1. Snow White doesn't immediately let her in. The hag takes her by such surprise that, like Aurora, she forgets she isn't supposed to speak to strangers.
2. Snow only lets her in because she thinks the old lady is having a heart attack. What a terrible person, trying to help someone! She isn't the type of person to just let an old person collapse on the ground.
3. Snow is obviously nervous when she starts to offer the apple. She clearly starts trying to stall having to accept it (talking a lot about her wish, and she sounds a little apprehensive). She doesn't immediately gobble it up.

That sounds like how a lot of people normally react when they are surprised, alone, and suddenly have a strange person in their midst, much less when they are a sheltered 14-year-old girl. Was it wrong to do? Of course. When has anyone ever advocated going along with a stranger (except for Sandor lovers/Sansa haters in the A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones fandoms, of course)? But stupid? No, unless you count the other girls doing the same thing stupid too, which most people don't. I think given that she didn't seem to ever be taught not to trust strangers, yet was still hesitating to trust this one, shows she isn't stupid for this.

If you're going to blame one person for a weakness, you need to be fair and blame the others for theirs too, especially if they know better. Don't single one out just because everyone else is!

A Rapunzel Rant (and Unpopular Opinion)

Rapunzel, the iconic fairy tale heroine and one of the most popular Disney Princesses today, beloved by little girls for her brushable silk tresses and older fans for her quirky personality and humorous movie. But some things bother me about this oft-praised heroine.

Hair of gold, heart of gold, right?

It annoys me that people love her for the exact same reasons they hate Snow White (who is my favorite princess ever, next to Aurora, and really doesn't get the credit she deserves). And a lot of them are just hypocritical about them in general. Rapunzel’s mistakes --if you can call them that, because the movie sure thinks they're good-- are excusable; Snow’s are not, despite the fact that one involved a princess rebelling just so she could have her way, and the other was a princess being too kind for her own good. Rapunzel’s bubbly, perky, naive personality is adorable; Snow White’s is annoying. Rapunzel is so proactive despite staying in her tower for 18 years; while Snow White, who actually makes a lot of choices herself and dominates a household full of men, is somehow “passive”, and this is somehow a bad thing. Rapunzel needs rescuing a lot for things she gets herself into but is feminist; Snow White gets put under a spell and she’s a feminist’s worst nightmare. Rapunzel wants to see lanterns and this is an inspiring dream; Snow White simply wants love for once in her life and this is stupid and sexist. This isn’t Rapunzel’s fault at all how her fans treat her and her fellow princess, of course, but it annoys me because most of her fandom is bad about this.

Hmm, a pretty fairy tale girl sitting around talking to cute little critters in a puffy-sleeves dress in the sunshine... who does this remind me of?

 Now, anyway, I disliked her before the film came out (really fair, I know, but in my defense, many radical feminists made her sound like she was their poster girl). Then I saw it and loved her. Then I analyzed it and didn’t like her as much.

Disney really played it safe with her, like, they just took qualities from every past heroine and put them in her. She just overall feels too… carefully constructed, meant to appeal universally to little girls who like pastel dresses, cute animal sidekicks and long blonde hair (granted, that is canon) and and their Disney-apprehensive parents. Everything about her says “Made by Disney Co.!” I like her still, in theory, but feel she’s more of a marketing tool than an original, well-rounded character. Even her hobbies are plentiful, meant to have one for pretty much any kid to see they also like, instead of making a more distinct personality.

As for hidden princesses with blonde hair and a dashing prince with an amusingly stubborn horse, I actually prefer Aurora and think she has a more layered, organic personality in her 23 minutes of screen time. I like that while she has been kept at home all her life, she doesn’t run away even after she meets someone she clicks with, she doesn’t defy her guardians and rationalize her rebellion like Rapunzel, which is the one thing I truly can’t like about Blondie.

Hmm, a barefoot, free-spirited blonde princess hidden away from the world, talks to animals, and falls in love with the first man she meets... Geez, Disney, ever heard of originality?!

OK, I really hope that didn’t make it sound like I despise Rapunzel or anything, because I don’t, but Tangled bothers me for various reasons. I still watch it quite a bit though- love the animation and it’s very entertaining. But the designated heroes aren't very admirable, and the standard "follow your heart not your morals" is one that needs to stop being presented as good by our fictional role models.