A clip of the song “Almost There” from Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog”
Over the Christmas holidays, I took my mother and grandmother to go see Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog”. Three generations of black women sat in a movie theater in the middle of the day on a Wednesday to somewhat celebrate Disney’s first black Disney princess.
I won’t give the movie away but it IS a Disney movie afterall. There’s a sweet, smart young woman facing hardships that can only be righted with hard work, magic, music and a man she hates only to eventually love.
Now when the buzz about the movie began a few months ago, I heard critics praise Disney’s move to finally include African-Americans in their special princess clique and others berate Disney for having the first and only black princess only be a human for 1/4 of the movie. (You see Tiana turns into a frog when she kisses the cursed prince…)
You know, I get it. I see both points and why people would be so upset. What other princess is an animal the vast majority of the movie? The closest I can think of is Ariel in The Little Mermaid. But at least she was human-like from the waist up. Is this unfair? Maybe. Would I prefer to see Tiana as the beautiful human rather than the adorable frog? Maybe. But do I (want to) believe Disney was being racist? No, not really.
Of the nine “Disney Princesses“, four of them were already princesses. The other five were peasants, poor, lower class beauties who strived for equality and success and became princesses. Tiana is one of these five. Would it’ve been nice to avoid some of the stereotypes? Sure. Were the accents and assumptions of lower education all that necessary? Probably not. But the fact that Tiana is a poor, black, and from New Orleans isn’t such a bad or surprising thing. Disney (and most entertainment companies) play on stereotypes. While the heroine was poor and black, her rich, spoiled friend was a little round, blond and always in pink. The prince was beautiful and immature. The villain was thin and dark (in fact he looked very much like The Lion King’s Scar). Her friends were bumbling and sweet, parents supportive and wise. And most importantly, Tiana’s success was based (mostly) on her determination, intelligence and big heart.
Growing up, my mother made a conscious effort to surround me with dolls who looked like myself. Why get me a blond Barbie? Beauty was defined as blond, blue-eyed and pale everywhere outside of my home, even on the television and books within it. Why force her daughter to stare at and idolize something she’ll never be? Was giving me all black dolls a little extreme? Yeah, maybe. But you know what? I grew up thinking Christie was just a pretty as Barbie. Barbie just had better outfits. Plus, my grandmother and stepmother added a little diversity to my dolls with Barbies (blond), Midges (red head), Teresas (brunette/Hispanic), Skippers (blond little sister) and Kens (blond boyfriend). And you know, Christie didn’t even need Ken. She had Steven. I played with them all. Barbies, Cabbage Patch dolls, average baby dolls. If I’d had more/any asian dolls, my trunk would’ve looked like Brangelina’s brood.
Conclusion: If I were 7 (shoot, maybe even at 25), I’d want a Tiana Barbie. She was pretty, smart, brave and successful. And it’s finally nice to have a Disney princess who looks like me. And you know what else? After Pocahontas, Tiana’s the 2nd American princess. Fancy that!
Contemplating asking for my first Barbie in 15 years,
Jo’van
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