‘You are the one you’ve been waiting for’-The new happy ever after!
@swatisubodh on Twitter
A gazillion articles and eye rolls later, the portrayal of girls and women in their own lives is still defined for them! That’s why I am deviating on an impulse from the usual themes I write on to share some recent experiences. Although it’s too early for me to say if I’d be doing this again, but at least let’s go along with this one!
I’ve been perturbed by the portrayal of the female leads, the so called protagonists, in our fairy tales which is fed in scoopfuls to young minds, often as the last thing they hear in their day at bedtime.
It’s exasperating to see the stifling limits in our storytelling for our young girls over the past decades, and centuries! Turning to parents with kids of similar age, I gathered that I am not alone. It is for this that I felt the urge to pick and acknowledge stories that break away from the stereotypical portrayal, with the hope that they tow in more such stories for our impressionable readers.
Show yourself!
Although my mommy hormones may be partially blamed for this but I had a steady steam of tears flowing from behind my 3D glasses sitting amidst 20 hyperactive junior school kids when Elsa discovers that it is ‘She’ that she had been searching for, and that the siren she hears is her mother’s voice from the past that lead her to find this truth about herself! I had goosebumps the moment the mother-daughter bond unfolded. The call to ‘Grow yourself into something new’ transforms her into yet another jaw dropping avatar, this time more translucent and more free!
How far I’ll go!
The three Disney productions, Tangled, Moana and Frozen, unshackled archaic mindsets in many ways.
In all three stories the female protagonist is an independent thinker and a dreamer who answers her calling against all odds. Moana senses the ocean calling her whereas Elsa hears an eerie siren, from the icy glaciers of Ahtohallan. Rupunzel in Tangled, on the other hand is mesmerized by the sky lanterns. All three characters come out of their comfort zones, against all odds, to fulfill their destiny and discover themselves in the process.
In the fulfillment of their set goals, Moana and Rupunzel are supported by strong male characters, Maui and Flynn Rider respectively, who reluctantly agree to be the wind beneath their wings. Whereas in Frozen, Anna, the other female lead is supported by Kristoff. The men, self-assured and achievers in their own right, weren’t threatened by the shared power dynamics. It is refreshing to see that our fairy tales are moving away from the damsels-in-distress syndrome, who were in constant need of a kiss of life to be freed from their miserable lives, to damsels-in-charge, who steer their lives against all odds.
If it’s a million to one, I’m gonna be that one!
The image of the female protagonist in the gentle protective embrace of Prince Charming walking into the sunset in nuptial bliss was the only way to a ‘happy ever after’ ending! However, another movie that challenges this mindset is Sony Pictures’ 2021 musical release, Cinderella, streaming on different OTT platforms during the pandemic. In this re-written and re-imagined classic, the protagonist, Ella, is a fashion designer with dreams of running her own business- an eye-brow raising avant-garde proposition for a woman! But guess who believes in her ‘life outside the basement’?- The Prince! He had already been grappling with his own role as the future monarch, in stark contrast to his less favored sister, who was clearly cut out for the role.
‘I choose me’ says Cinderella! How many women will say that without being smirked at for being ‘too ambitious’ or ‘selfish’! Well our Prince is not inundated by this, nor is he shattered that his proposal was turned down; rather, he is able to see the strength of conviction and her desire to ‘be someone’ rather than shine in reflected glory. In a spiraling effect, his life untangles as well.
The subtle power of suggestion has been an age old arsenal in management and advertisement strategies, to direct the opinion, choices and behavior of people they want to influence. Psychologists have repeatedly shown how suggestions can influence a person’s response, and hence their reality. Without going further into the quagmire of the deep recesses of the mind, it’s easy to understand why protagonists in our fairy tales, to whom kids relate to, need to be role models rather than distressed souls waiting to be rescued! We need to change our narrative to young and impressionable minds rather than find quick fix solutions to an emotionally broken society later. It starts here, it starts now.
Well, none of these stories had the usual happy ending that we’d expected, but maybe it’s time to write a different story! Maybe it’s time to tell our kids that they can write their own stories….and that’s absolutely fine!
