A Smile a Day...From a Disney Princess!

Sorry, I had to. My life this past week has been partly consumed by the Disney Princess franchise. Even the projects are over, I just can't let go. Since the Disney Princess movies were sadly never a part of my childhood, I was never exposed to their beauty or their romances with perfect princes.

One of the things we realized in our project, though, and one of the most respectable realizations, is that the princesses, no matter what dire situation they're in, see the best in it, and often smile. This almost permanent smile gives viewers (or children) an attitude of optimism that they take around with them after viewing the movie. Maybe this is why I was such an unhappy child compared to my Disney-Princess-Watching friends. Or not. Though I was never exposed to any Disney movie besides Dumbo, The Lion King, and 101 Dalmatians (Yes, I wasn't even allowed to watch Lady and the Tramp), my childhood didn't take a hit from my lack of knowledge of the Disney Princess fairytales. I may have been jealous of my friends at the time, but I found a more realistic happiness in other ways, never expecting a happy ending or that "all of my dreams" would come true. Though the Disney princess isn't the only way to make little children smile, it is probably one of the most common.

Sure, the children may be more excited about witnessing the happily-ever-afters in all the movies, but the positive attitudes of the main characters subconsciously contribute to the optimism the children feel after watching the movies. Perhaps we have identified a brighter side of Disney's portrayal of sexism toward women.