Rapunzel: "Tangled" mess She is not...

"Tangled" is Disney's version of the classic tale Rapunzel. The screenplay is brilliant, it was a traditional fairy tale that could easily sit next to some of Disney's classic films like Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, and Beauty and the Beast; but it was also smart, and witty and just as enjoyable and relatable to the adult audience. Fairy tales should be relatable, they were originally told by parents to children to teach them a lesson, to teach them morals. The Disney version teaches us a different lesson then the traditional tale, it teaches us about self worth, keeping your word, and believing in yourself. it teaches us about trying to achieve something and chasing after your dreams, and your destiny.

Can we be candid here. I hope we can be. I loved this movie. loved. loved. loved. But seriously, this whole movie was a metaphor for losing your virginity; and a brilliant metaphor it was. Mandy Moore's Rapunzel is a perfect picture of adolescent virtue, just on the cusp of being a women and trying to figure out where she belongs in a world she has never seen. When she finally escapes from her prison to see the floating lights up close for the first time, she sings "When Will My Life Begin" and proudly belts

"I could go running and racing and dancing and chasing and leaping and bounding, hair flying, heart pounding, and splashing and reeling and finally feeling now's when my life begins!"

Mandy perfectly captures the young girl taking a chance for the first time, even the slight lisp is perfect, and totally genuine. When Rapunzel explains her feelings to Flynn;

Rapunzel - " I've been looking out my window for eighteen years, dreaming about what it might feel like when the lights rise into the sky, what if it's not everything i dreamed it would be?"

Flynn - "it will be."

Rapunzel - "and what if it is, what do I do then?"

Flynn - "You find a new dream."

There is something so perfect about that moment, and it's because we've all been there. We've all had that chance where we either dive right in, or we hesitate, but is it worth the risk of disappointment? and she's right if it is everything we had imagined, what do we do once it's over. you find a new dream.

Rapunzel's captor is an over bearing Mother Gothel, who tells her the only way she will be safe, is if she stays with her. In the song "Mother Knows Best" she warns Rapunzel

"Mother knows best. take it from mumsy. On your own you wont survive, sloppy immature, under dressed, and clumsy. Please, they'll eat you up alive!"

Yet we, as the audience, know that she is the one Rapunzel has to fear, and she keeps her prisoner not by the tower, not by magic, not by getting rid of all the doors and exits. She keeps her a prisoner through fear, she puts her down, and belittles her, to the point where Rapunzel doesn't believe in herself, or her abilities. Gothel constantly berates Rapunzel, telling her not to mumble and calling her slow and weak and dumb. she even still uses this method to get her to eventually come back to the tower with her, preying on her insecurities she tells her that once she has served her purpose for Flynn, he will leave her; then she goes to great lengths to make her think that that is exactly what happens. What's almost more frightening is that that is what most real kidnappers do, they convince their victims that they are the only ones who love them, and can care for them, and the rest of the world will never understand them. it also makes the moment that Rapunzel stands up to her truly empowering. When she finally realizes that she is a strong independent women and the only thing she has ever needed to fear was Gothel herself it is a beautiful moment.

I am glad that Disney made a film like this. my god-daughter just turned six, and she like most six year olds love princesses and Disney, and I am glad that in a world of Miley Cyrus, Ke$ha, and Rihannas I can still count on Disney to create a role model for her to look up too. I'm glad that Disney isn't trying to compete with the Shrek franchise, by adding fart jokes, and crude humor, and instead sticking to their roots. I hope that this film is successful so that they continue to make quality films that I can show my children, because lets be honest, I was getting worried.