8. Run Away With The Handsome Man And He Will Solve All Your Problems
There is a certain appeal, I will admit, to the idea of being swept off your feet and whisked away by a romantic stranger from a foreign land and leaving behind the world you've become accustomed to and weary of. Even as a male, I can totally understand that. However, let's take a second to step back and see what happened when, for example, Ariel ran off to join the humans by making a deal with the octo-devil: she lost her voice, nearly got her crab friend cooked, her father's kingdom was overthrown, raging storms likely cost the lives of dozens of sea-faring humans, and oh, yes, the evil witch was run through with a ship. Because violence solves everything, remember? Ultimately, it wasn't even Ariel who saves the day. It was Prince Generic. The theme is fairly common among Disney tales. Cinderella, as another example, wants to get away from her evil stepmother and sisters (to be fair, who wouldn't?) and sneaks off to a ball in the hopes of having a man solve her problems. Which eventually happens. One of the more poignant examples that doesn't come from Disney is the Oscar-nominated An Education. In this film, a young woman with very promising prospects for a college education and a bright future decides to give it all up to spend time with a sophisticated older man who takes her to museums and parties and ultimately invites her to marry him. Only, it turns out he's already married and has been lying to her the entire time. I have to give proper credit to An Education for being a bit more grounded in reality. The young woman learns that, while pursuing passion, love, and exotic experiences are great in themselves, pinning all your hopes on one other person you have only known for a short time is risky. Especially when you're young, it's dangerous to give up everything just for a man. While personally I felt this particular film could've benefited by omitting the "but everything worked out anyway" ending, it was at least a nuanced approach to the concept, as opposed to blatantly telling young girls that all their problems will be solved by a tall, handsome man. Except, An Education isn't really a kids movie, now is it? Darn. Back to Disney princesses, I suppose.