Princesslullaby's Response. to Fanpop's Best Role Model Countdown (part 2)

Continuation of my previous article .


5.Cinderella
I think Cinderella is one of the best role models of the princesses. The thing she was given the most flack for was not standing up for herself and not running away from home. C'mon, run away from home? And go where? Secondly, she's not gonna leave this house she grew up in. It's the one of the few things she has left of her father and mother, it has so many memories, if she left it she would feel guilty and disloyal. Also, people blamed her for not standing up to her step-family. Just because she doesn't start screaming at them doesn't mean she doesn't stand up for herself. I think refusing to let her spirit to be broken is the best form of standing up there is. She's showing them that they can't "force her to stop dreaming"! And if she does yell at her stepmother, then what? It's not going to change anything. They're gonna make the chores worse. She's not stupid enough to do that. And she does stick up for herself: "That means I can go to!" And she does disobey them and go to the ball. Also, Cindy has a different reason for dealing with her step-family's abuse; she believes in karma. "No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, the dreams that you wish will come true." She knows if she keeps acting kind and gracious, she will earn her dreams. It's a great lesson. Thirdly, she's not going to be rude to Tremaine. This is the woman her father married, so she thinks he loved her. She's not going to dishonor her father's memory by being rude.


4.Pocahontas
"and the comments that were left seemed mostly about her cliff-diving. <---Are you serious? Is that REALLY your reasoning? You think when people watch this movie, the lesson they learn by the end is "it's okay to jump off cliffs". Come on, even when I was little I knew it was disney princess magic. That's just really stupid reasoning. However, some said that she seemed to develop a whole different personality once she met John Smith <---What in the world does that have to do with being a role model? I sort of feel like not analyzing this one because all the reasons were just plain dumb. But okay, Pocahontas does some dumb things, like talking to John in the first place (I take back what I said earlier about him trying to shoot her, she didn't know it was a gun) she knows its forbidden and that he could be dangerous. But also, there's the whole "disney love connection" thing, which they had, so again when she talks to him for the first time, it doesn't really count as a bad thing because it goes outside the realms of reality. I dont think pocahontas is a bad role model, but she really doesn't do anything noteworthy. Saving John is meh, all she did was jump on him, and it took her ages to figure it out. Her intentions were good, John isn't dangerous, but she did end up killing Kocoum so my feelings towards Pocahontas are neutral. I guess by surface role models, she's good, because she did save John and tried to stop the war, although she had weak actions. And she didn't judge him as much by his skin color and sings a song about nature, meh, it's all nothing deep.


3.Tiana
Overall I think Tiana is a good role model; it's really good to have a princess with a specific, realistic goal instead of just wanting "adventure" or "love", and it shows her working really hard for it and being determined. I don't think Tiana works so hard that she doesn't have fun. She has a limited time to get the restaurant so she has to cut her losses. It's her dream, the one thing she really loves, and the other princesses have dreams where they can have fun trying to achieve it, Tiana doesn't. It's not fair to be biased against her for it. However; if Snow White taking a fruit from an old lady is stupid, Tiana trying to kiss a talking frog is really stupid. And she immediately believed he was a prince and everything he said? Also, I found this really stupid: if she knew Naveen was cursed by a voodoo doctor, when she meets Louis and he describes Mama Odie, he describes her being really scary and creepy. So, Naveen was cursed by a voodoo doctor, so they go see ANOTHER voodoo doctor, I don't know, to me that part was stupid. It would be the last place you would want to go to. And also, immediately trusting Louis was stupid too.


2.Belle
I think Belle is one of the best disney princess role models, she's in my top 3. She gave up her freedom to free her father (although I don't think her sacrifice is very significant, but that's another matter) She kept her promise to the Beast and stayed in the castle; BUT! She broke it for a very good reason- he was being violent and yelling at her, so she left. I think it would have been really stupid to keep her promise and stay in the castle after that demonstration. She saved the Beast after he almost dies with the wolves, she stuck up for herself like she should have and refused to eat with him. She only started to fall in love with him AFTER he changed. The only small thing she did was go into the West Wing, but that's a really minor thing- like Pocahontas' cliff diving, it's a stupid reason not to put her higher. I don't buy the "she fell in love with someone who could abuse her", come on, she's not stupid, she didn't like the Beast, and ran away from him when she was in danger. But when he changed, after a long time she started to like him. I think Belle is a really excellent role model.

1.Mulan
Hm, I don't agree with this, though I love Mulan and I really admire her. She has so many good points. You said she didn't let her family decide for her, she's brave, determined to be herself, etc. But; a couple things. She DID let her family decide for her- she went to the matchmakers, the only reason she failed was because she was clumsy, not because she refused to not act like herself. Secondly, she isn't "determined to be herself" at first, she sings "Reflection" about how she's disappointed she can't impress her family, if she acts like herself. Thirdly, cutting off your hair and joining the war hoping you can pass for a boy is a really, REALLY stupid idea. I absolutely love that she did it, I have no bias against some stupid ideas (look at my favorite princess) but she risked EVERYONE'S lives doing that. Her parents could be accused of conspiracy and also killed. She had a really slim chance to be successful and sorry, but it was really risking everyone's lives. But again, obviously it's not the point disney's trying to get across, and the things she does while she's in the army are really admirable. When she thinks of shooting down the mountain, it's a great idea. Because just shooting at the army is a total waste, and even if she had missed the mountain, it would have made no difference than if they had just shot at the army. Although it's arguable that when Shang lets her go back home and she chooses to stay and climb the poll, whether or not that's a stupid decision. She has a chance to keep her entire family out of the war. Although I suppose the people in town know she doesn't have a brother, so they'd wonder why no one in the Fa's family is in the army if she came back home. But choosing to stay and climb the poll is also awesome; it shows she's not giving up on herself.


Anyway, this is my article, and I want to say I changed my mind about something: This is not a bad countdown to have if PEOPLE HAVE GOOD REASONING. I think next time I would participate, granted everyone actually thinks before they vote.