Finally!! A princess I can get behind!

You know originally I was going to speak to mothers of daughters, but now that I think about it, this applies to sons as well. See Disney has finally developed a princess character in the new movie The Princess and the Frog that was more Dame than damsel, and the prince is the one in distress. The beauty of it is, while it takes place in New Orleans and the princess is African American, she’s a character Hispanics can totally connect with. She’s no Snow White, placidly awaiting her prince in her castle while her step-mother plots against her. She’s no Cinderella, cleaning up after her step-sisters, dreaming about her prince in her father’s castle her step-mother commandeered. She’s not even like that listless Sleeping Beauty who slept while her prince came to her. This one works for what she dreams of, and it doesn’t include a prince. They are true goals, not fantasies. And the prince character is a narcissist who never learned to take care of himself. Sounds like a few of my male cousins from South America.

I like this movie because the message isn’t “someday my prince will come”, it’s more “someday I may be lucky enough to find a great princess.” It’s a different spin Disney is taking and I think it’s about time! Princess Tiana is a woman that can stand on her own, and I like that. I want my son to learn the value women bring to the lives of the men they partner with, and my daughters to see that being a princess doesn’t mean just waiting around for your prince. I am fully aware that I have much more to do with their views on this than Disney does, but I’m not going to deny the value of a movie such as this as a tool for me to refer to.

Go see The Princess and the Frog and let me know what you think. I’d be interested to know.

Here are some links for previews:
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3719168537/

http://www.moviefone.com/movie/the-princess-and-the-frog/30244/video/the-princess-and-the-frog-trailer-no-2/40132410001