Everything has a hidden meaning, whether it is books, movies, or cartoons. Yet the audiences only starts to recognize it while they sit back, and reflect on them. Disney studio movies are expressing their thoughts about culture, love, and reality to the audience, by creating their unique characters and presenting them. Taking in the media, people begin to internalize the themes presented. Each character has their own unique way to present their disguised ideas about culture and morals.
Not all audiences have the same impression of one character. Rapunzel, the main character in, “Tangled,” delivers her culture in beauty. Rapunzel is introduced to the reality of adults, is confronted with it’s advantages. If we take a closer look at Rapunzel, her dress is her everyday attire. As we see in the movie, in the scenes in which she was born and placed in her crib, she was already wearing the dress. She continued to wear the dress consistently, even when she was at home, at her palace, and her wedding ceremony.
It is usual to see Rapunzel wearing dresses at all the time. In comparison to modern fashion, dresses are still quite popular among girls. Such trends from the past, have brought this culture and tradition of the way girls should dress, up to the next generation. Subsequently, another significant theme of beauty that she represents, is her shiny blonde golden hair. She has 70 foot long hair, which impresses most of the audience, especially younger audiences. Younger audiences also want to grow their hair long after watching the movie.
The way she introduces her long hair, does not mean that girls must have a 70 foot long hair, instilled with magic, it’s just to recognize it. If she had normal length hair, just like any other Disney princess, then we would not acknowledge her hair. Although each woman has different length of her hair, having her hair to grow long is a signature of a beautiful woman. This beauty ideal hasn’t changed in modern culture either. Another hidden message in her character, is stepping out of your comfort zone as we grow up.
A scene in the beginning of the movie, Rapunzel wanted to leave the tower, to see the light that was always appearing on her birthday. With her curious mind, she asked Mother Gothel to let her go, but her mother did not want her to leave the tower. Instead, she filled Rapunzel’s mind with the false perception of how ugly and cruel the outside world is. Equivalent to real life, I have always lived and surrounded myself with people I knew, and grew up in the same neighborhood my whole life. I used to live in my own confined world, with my family and friends.
However, everything started to change when I entered college. I needed to accept the challenges of getting out of my own little world in high school, and into the brand new world in college. Breaking out of your comfort zone can apply to anyone. More than just about entering college, and moving to the new neighborhood, this concept can also be applied to other actions such as changing jobs, and doing something else that we have never done before. Taking a closer look at the scene where Rapunzel was still inside the tower, she questioned about when will her life begin.
After she reached the ground outside of the tower, she was overjoyed and expressed herself with the song while running around, and she said that is when her life began. As we can see beyond on these two scenes, her life started to change little by little such as found the truth about her identity, and her pure love on Eugene. New life events, help change your ways of thinking, and help you form new perceptions of the world. Everything has its own purpose, and meaning, which is why the maker creates them.
With the intention of making up such affairs, the author wants to present his or her thoughts to the audience. Disney movies also carry the veiled ideas within each character. In, “Tangled,” Rapuzel holds back plenty of thoughts that depend on each individual’s perspective. From these messages the audience learns that beauty culture remains unchanged, and that getting out of your comfort zone is important. We may be living in darkness all our life, until we see the world with new perception; then we will better understand the world around us.
