Disney Princesses

So, I have been brainwashed all of my existence to be a Disney fan. Since Disney has been so engrained into my brain, I of course have turned my two year old (two and a half if you ask her) daughter into a Disney nut as well. Like many other little girls, she is in love with the princesses. From Snow White to Rapunzel, she knows them all. As I watch them with her now, I noticed how much the princesses change over time. The older princesses are typical damsels in distress and of course need that great prince to come save their lives so they can live happily ever after and all that greatness. The newer ones, however, are pretty kick-ass. Seeing the differences made me wonder if watching Rapunzel from Tangled or Tiana from Princess and the Frog makes my daughter see that women, even beautiful princesses, can be empowering and achieve their dreams. (Yes, I’m a psych major. I wonder what goes on in that little brain of hers all the time.) I must say, Rapunzel has become my new favorite princess. She actually, in a way, saves Flint Rider (who, I might add, isn’t even a prince!). The only thing I do not like about Tangled is that it has convinced my daughter that she should get a chameleon for her birthday…

 

I thought this was funny.

War Comes to America

 

Before watching Capra’s “War Comes to America,” I expected it to be a film that would rally up the troops or even just any American, to have an immense feeling of patriotism. Even the title is already giving you the idea that war is invading America and the only choice Americans have left is to fight. 
 Capra uses a method that involves historical background. Since he really is presenting the viewer with historical dates, quotes and facts, any other added details or “propaganda-ish” things slipped in are more validated. Its like watching a documentary that includes some facts but mostly plays on the viewers emotions. Even the way the different events build and build until the last scene is of Japan’s trickery and the picture of Pearl Harbor being bombed was set up nicely. I, myself, felt intensely “American,” I can only imagine how anyone viewing this in the 40’s would feel. I also liked that even though the film appears to contain neutral facts, the narrator throws in one-sided comments here and there. Like when he introduces Hitler as a “funny little man” and refers to his idea of taking over the world as just “hot air.” 

Bringing Up Baby (1938)

This past week we watched “Bringing Up Baby.” A screwball comedy starring Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn. Although I found myself laughing throughout both “Duck Soup” and “Bringing Up Baby,” I think I enjoyed the latter more than “Duck Soup.” In “Duck Soup,” the Marx brothers are just all over the place. Even though the situations that Grant and Hepburn find themselves in are ridiculous at times, at least you can become invested in their characters. Another major difference I noticed was that the woman was basically the comedian versus the men in “Duck Soup.”

I found it interesting that through the character of Susan, “Bringing Up Baby” played out different stereotypes about women. David outright says, “Women interfering with affairs is fatal,” in one of the scenes which proves to be right in the case of Susan who does more harm than good in almost every situation. This film also played up the fact that women can be manipulative and use the “damsel in distress” act to trick men into going along with whatever they want.

In class we also discussed how men come back to dominate women in the Post-Code era. I thought that was depicted nicely when David repeatedly tried to get a word in over Susan and her Aunt talking and he literally puts his foot down when he stomps on Susan’s foot.