Our class is watching movies because, well, the only kind of work getting done after APs is of the cruel and unusual kind, and we are the "unicorn class" or else known as 8th period AP seniors... which means we're not going to get anything done (that doesn't mean we weren't assigned another novel, The Submission).
So besides gorging ourselves on sweets and prepping for yet another smorgasbord this Friday, we've been watching films with, uh, academic merit, ie. Tangled.
So far, I've really only learned that a frying pan makes for a formidable and versatile weapon.
Oh, and one more little thing I learned:
THIS MOVIE IS ABOUT SEX!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All right, so with stretches of the imagination, anything can be about anything, but I think I'm experienced enough to distinguish between purpose, effect, and unfounded insight. The evidence is blatant, blatant in a way that the writers wanted to eschew subtlety. To deny the true meaning would be doing the writers an incredible disservice. It's insulting to believe they had no idea that their choices created another meaning, especially when the language is so deliberate. Now the only reason why I'm jumping on the opposition so crudely is because no one seems to believe me, and it's baffling.
The first third of the movie, I hadn't made the connection, but after listening to one particularly revealing musical number, the conceit was obvious.
Rapunzel:
I think he likes me.
Mother Gothel:
Likes you? Please, Rapunzel, that's demented.
This is why you never should have left
Dear, this whole romance that you've invented
Just proves you're too naive to be here
Why would he like you? Come on now - really!
Look at you - you think that he's impressed?
Don't be a dummy
Come with mummy
Mother -
Rapunzel:
No!
Mother Gothel:
No?! Oh. I see how it is.
Rapunzel knows best
Rapunzel's so mature now
Such a clever grown-up miss
Rapunzel knows best
Fine, if you're so sure now
Go ahead, then give him this
This is why he's here!
Don't let him deceive you!
Give it to him, watch, you'll see!
Trust me, my dear
That's how fast he'll leave you
I won't say I told you so - no
Rapunzel knows best!
So if he's such a dreamboat
Go and put him to the test
If he's lying
Don't come crying
Mother knows best...
There's no way anyone who isn't a part of Disney's explicitly intended audience could miss that. Anyone mildly versed in cliches could see that. The tiara is symbolic of virginity and innocence, a relic of her childhood. Flynn wants the tiara. Of course, the tiara is really just a token; it's shiny, it's deemed worthy, and these are the profound reasons motivating Flynn. We see other male characters pursuing this tiara, but the two ginger giants eventually realize that the tiara is just a symbol; they want it in the flesh. Further supporting this theory is when Rapunzel's mother warns, "This [tiara] is why he's here! / Don't let him deceive you! / Give it to him, watch, you'll see! / Trust me, my dear / That's how fast he'll leave you... If he's lying / Don't come crying / Mother knows best"; someone please argue with that.
And when Rapunzel gives him the crown? The disappointment she feels when she believes he took it and ran is not accidental or one-dimensional. She returns to the all-knowing mother, convinced she was right all along about men.
See, we've got this impotent mother who's terrified of losing her youthful vitality. She's portrayed as a total vamp (the curvaceous figure, the clothing, the voluminous hair, the pointed, dark, red nails, the ordering around of two hyper-masculine brutes), yet we know that she's actually afraid. She's afraid of her blossoming, young daughter who is just about to turn eighteen. Convenient, huh? The story is worn from overuse. Rapunzel has the sexual power that the mother does not, and in the days before her eighteenth birthday, a dashing young man, the first man she's seen since being kidnapped, shows up on her doorstep.
Flynn is representative of the wild, unbridled world that is... the world. This includes, the opposite gender and, inevitably, sex. Rapunzel is awakened to this world for the first time, and she faces the overwhelming conflict between obeying a parent and becoming her own person, hesitant but curious. It's one of the first scenes. When she first sees Flynn, she is frightened not only by the intrusion, but also by what her mother has told her. In her eyes, she has just happened upon something she doesn't quite understand; she only knows that this person is attractive. Rapunzel is enthralled by freedom, but her mother tries to scare her daughter into obedience by wielding the unknown as a threat, especially the evils of sex. Carrie-esque, non? Disney injects these messages throughout the film, but in a way that only an older audience would recognize.
Rapunzel's hair has never been cut. Her hair is virginal. Maybe I'm the only one who sees it this way because my babysitter once told me that her father wanted her to remain as pure as possible and didn't like it when she got her ears pierced or her hair cut too much. Even without this experience, female hair is considered highly sexual. Rapunzel's hair is another symbol of innocence. Her hair is also representative of the naivety that comes with this innocence. That naivety is enforced by her mother, and Rapunzel is kept under her mother's control by means of manipulation. Her hair is a visual symbol of the cumbersome weight that her mother has cultivated, and it tethers her to her mother.
Expanding the underlying meaning of the film, sex is only one component of the world that Rapunzel is just discovering, and the film is about coming-of-age in general and the liberation that one must find through independence. The reason I mentioned sex specifically is because it is frequently referenced in the film as a way to support the overall theme. It's all weaved into a simple little story with a happy ending. Cute, huh?
I've discussed this with two others and it has resulted in only one person agreeing with me. Myself. I thought it was so obvious that I didn't even have to craft an argument because the film practically threw it at us (this would explain my haphazard organization and brevity).
What do you think? Before you comment, I'd like to be clear that I'm not delusional from being "horny" (Thanks, Sherry).
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