Princess movies, and why TV shows need conflict

@sissy15 (12303)
United States
February 9, 2016 1:09am CST
Most little girls love the Disney princess movies, I was never one of those little girls. I was never into makeup and dresses. I hated the color pink. I liked playing outside in the dirt. My used to tell people I was sort of a tom boy, because while I hated dresses and makeup and most things girly, I loved Barbies. I used to make up these elaborate stories and act them out with my dolls. My point is I wasn't a princess movie fan, I liked a couple of princess movies I supposed like "The Little Mermaid" and "Pocahontas", but those were the only ones I liked until recently anyway. I've found princess movies are starting to rely more on the female characters than the male characters. It used to be the princess would wait for the prince to save her, they'd get married and live happily after, and it's not really like that anymore. The reason I have never liked most princess movies is because of the whole "happily ever after" and the relying on a man to make them happy. The truth is there is no happily ever after in life. We have a lot of happy moments in between the bad ones. Nothing is going to be perfect all the time. Life comes with a lot of struggling. There are going to be fights, there's going to be conflict. Some women may never get married, and if they do it may not work out, and I think kids need to learn that sometimes that happens and it's OK. Those stories aren't life. I always found them rather boring. Little girls have these unreal expectations about life after watching those movies, then they grow up and realize that life doesn't really work that way. It's great for little girls to imagine and dream, and those movies aren't bad movies, but they need to have other movies available to them too, like today's princess movies. The characters are much more self reliant, and little girls need those types of movies. There's nothing wrong with little girls playing princess and pretending there's a prince charming, but they also need to realize that that's not reality, I've seen some little girls who take those movies at their every word. I've seen fully grown adults get into their TV shows and yell and scream and want everything to be happy all the time. They're super upset over a couple's break up, and I'll admit I'm not happy when they break up my favorite TV couples, but in a way I'd prefer it as long as they get back together, it's the not knowing if they will that gets to me, but I'd prefer it over them being happy all the time, because I find that that gets boring. Without conflict it's unrealistic and boring. Nothing is happy all the time. There are no real happily ever afters in life, but there are happy moments in life that are worth living, but they're in between the struggles. Life is full of struggle, nothing will ever be happy all the time. Bad things happen, and we have to learn to move on from them to get to those happy moments. Nothing makes me more upset than when they kill off my favorite characters on my TV shows, but my favorite couples breaking up? Yeah I get upset, but as I said as long as they get them back together I'd prefer it than them being together and happy all the time, that's the quickest way to lose my attention. Life has conflict, and that's what TV shows need to keep us interested. Does anyone really want to watch a movie or show where everyone is happy all the time? I don't. Don't get me wrong I get these are just TV shows and movies, and they aren't really meant to fully imitate life, but in order to have real character development there needs to be break ups, and strong lead characters. There needs to be happy moments too, no one wants it to be sad all the time. I could honestly do without lead character deaths, but I guess that's life too, but for me I kind of draw the line there, there's enough death and sadness in real life without killing off favorite characters on TV shows too. Breaking them up is one thing killing them is another, but that's just me lol. I am still sore over one of my favorite TV character's death I think. My point is simply that in life happiness isn't guaranteed, we have to make our own happiness, we have to get through the bad to get to the good, and then go through more bad, so maybe we should show more of that on TV and in movies. I'm all for a happy ending, I love happy endings in movies and shows, but I could do without the "happily ever after" phrase at the ends of Disney movies. Yes I like to see things end happily, but only after all of the difficult stuff, and when they end on a happy note that doesn't mean everything will stay happy, it just leaves it to your imagination. Maybe I'm digging too deep into this, but that's where my thoughts lie currently.
3 people like this
3 responses
@celticeagle (168256)
• Boise, Idaho
16 Feb 16
I started my life out much the way you did. Tom boy, played in the dirt. As I grew older I became very much a romantic. I don't know about earlier in life but now I love the color pink. As far as conflict goes, I think it makes a story move along. It helps bring out characterization and shows the genre of the piece. Adventures and thrillers might have a different type of antagonist as a romance might have. It depends.
@sissy15 (12303)
• United States
16 Feb 16
I love romance movies, but I get bored with them if they're just happy all the time. I am not as much of a tomboy anymore either, although I still hate dresses. People seem to think that everything is going to be this whole happily ever after thing though, and that's not life. I get being happy and I like happy endings, but there's a difference between a happy ending and a happily ever after. Conflict can be about anything, just something that creates character growth.
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (168256)
• Boise, Idaho
16 Feb 16
@sissy15 ....I like the ones where you think things are going to go one way and then they twist and turn awhile before they finally end happily.
@sissy15 (12303)
• United States
16 Feb 16
@celticeagle Me too.
1 person likes this
• Calgary, Alberta
15 Feb 16
AI grew up with dark themed Japanese Animation with violence and explosions. I also grew up with American cartoons of DC and Marvel comics. Though they were fantasy themed, they were very dark in nature that is why I am aware of all the hardships in life and I learned to persevere to get my dreams. Speaking of disney princesses, Queen Elsa have no love interest. She is an anti-hero though she is like the villain of the first half of the film. Also the Princess in Brave, refuses to get married. She is also not conventional as she is chubby.
@sissy15 (12303)
• United States
16 Feb 16
I know, I actually like...well liked Frozen, I've seen it one too many times for my liking. I have yet to actually watch Brave, but have great things about it. Disney is really starting to make strides in that department. As a kid I just didn't care for princess movies. I wasn't a girly girl, and I just couldn't relate to those characters.
@sissy15 (12303)
• United States
16 Feb 16
@CaptAlbertWhisker I actually liked Pocahontas, but they filled it with a bunch of lies, and she isn't technically a princess either by royal standards. Princess is a title. That's pretty horrible about Anne Frank. Mulan wasn't a bad movie, I just saw it for the first time a little over a year ago. I honestly don't think half of the "princess" movies they have are actually princess movies.
• Calgary, Alberta
16 Feb 16
@sissy15 Majority of the classic disney princesses are underage brides. Not really a good role model for little girls. I remember some native Americans being offended by disney trying to make a historical figure like Pocahontas a disney princess. I am not sure if you heard of this but Disney almost made Anne Frank (the Jewish girl who is a victim of the nazis) a disney princess. The project got cancelled because of the uproar. What do you think of Mulan? she is not really a princess but they qualified her as one so they can fill an Asian quota.
• Accord, New York
14 Feb 16
I wholeheartedly agree. I'm appreciative of the progress Disney is making with their princesses, and think they will continue to strive for change as the times continue to do so as well. And as far as conflict, I agree. People need to be shown the reality some times. Not everything has a happy ending, no matter how hard you want it to.
@sissy15 (12303)
• United States
15 Feb 16
I love movies and TV shows with decent plots and where they show character growth. I mean yeah I want some happy endings too, at least eventually, but some people just want it to stay happy, but how boring would that be? Could you imagine a movie or story where everything stays happy the entire time? I'd be done with it. Even most cartoon movies have some sort of conflict. Sometimes some of those shows get a bit too far out though where they've completely ruined the characters, they need an in between, where there's character depth and growth, but they don't entirely change the character. There's this movie I really liked that had Gene Kelly in it, along with Natalie Wood called "Marjorie Morningstar" and it doesn't have the ending some people might like, but I liked the ending. I felt that the ending fit the movie. Sometimes the happy ending isn't quite what we expect it to be, sometimes it's people realizing that their happy ending doesn't have to be set in stone. I just think a happy ending doesn't necessarily mean a happily ever after, it can be characters figuring themselves out and what it is they need, and moving forward.
1 person likes this