Comments on: Empowering Girls: Princess Culture Examined

By: Tracee

Tracee — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:57:00 +0000

Thanks for your comments – that is a good book.

I also enjoy The Princess Bubble.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 18:59:00 +0000

It was refreshing to read these comments here! I always felt very much the same about these princesses…Teenage marriage? Giving up royal power and immortality to marry some dope who can’t even remember your face? What was that mermaid thinking?
A princess you might enjoy and approve of is the “Paper Bag Princess”, a charming and slightly cookie childrens book in which the princess heads out to rescue her prince from a dragon (after it ate her entire family) but then decides he really isn’t worth the trouble and goes off to lead her own life.

By: Tracee

Tracee — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:38:00 +0000

Here’s a commentary from the LA Times explaining that the princess tales were seemingly innocuous until the year 200 when Disney began marketing them much more aggressively making them Princesses.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-brooks27mar27,1,1615725.column

“As Peggy Orenstein documented in a 2006 New York Times Magazine article, that changed in 2000, when Disney decided that, henceforth, the princesses would collude. They went from princesses to “Princess” — as Disney execs call the fast-growing product line marketed collectively under just that logo. Merged into a sort of uber-princess, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine and the older members of the gang formed a vast global conspiracy to turn a bunch of aging animated films into cold, hard cash — faster than Cinderella’s fairy godmother could turn a pumpkin into a coach. “

It also examines the aspect of Matricide – the killing off of all the mothers and their unDisney influence.

Pause for a moment to consider the fate of the princesses’ mommies in those Disney movies. “Cinderella” and “Snow White”? Mothers killed off by mysterious illnesses. “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Little Mermaid” and “Aladdin”? Mothers all missing; presumed dead.

“Disney really has it in for mommies: Even when you leave princess-land, it’s the same pattern. Bambi’s mom? Shot dead by a hunter. Nemo’s mom? Eaten by a barracuda. Of all the major princesses, only Sleeping Beauty (a.k.a. Aurora; like all criminals, she often goes by an alias) has a nuclear family, not that it does her any good. “

Thanks for the links Violet.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 22:25:00 +0000

Re:How do you think we can most effectively get women's stories told and heard in film?

Make your own film outside of the studio system. Unless you are Spielberg and you have the pull, studios tend to want "yes-men", not artists that have a burning desire to pour their heart on the screen.

Step one. Write your story (google screenwriting, this is a whole other enchilada).

Step two. Find people who share your artisitic vision and will work for free (or at best, "points", points being profit they can share if your film gets sold.

Step three. Find money. Easier said than done. Read "Rebel Without a Crew" written by Robert Rodriguez.

Step four. Make your movie.

Step five. Find a distributor, get it sold, convince someone with your movie that you are "bankable". Once you "are in", you have a better chance of finding better work. Your first film is your resume.

It's not easy, and the chances of failure are great. Nothing risked, nothing gained.

Men and women who want to be filmmakers know this.

By: Tracee

Tracee — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 21:29:00 +0000

Aaron – you’re in the industry. What do you think is the best way to get women involved?

Sounds like you are too Cale. How do you think we can most effectively get women’s stories told and heard in film?