Reflection: The Sleeping Beauty

The Sleeping Beauty was my second favorite Disney princess movie as a child (after The Little Mermaid - I somehow managed to pick two of the most problematic films as my favorites... yikes). My love for the film was definitely partly inspired by the fact that it was not a Disney princess movie that my family owned, so watching it at a friend’s house (or elsewhere) was always a special treat. Prior to watching the movie again for this class, I would have probably summarized it as follows: Maleficent crashes a party with Aurora as a baby and sets the curse on her because she was not invited, Aurora goes to live with the three fairies in the woods, she has a run-in with the Prince she is supposed to marry, she gets tricked into touching the spindle, Phillip goes after Maleficent in anger and defeats her while she is in dragon form, he goes to kiss and wake Aurora, and they lived happily ever after. I also would have made the claim that her dress was pink the entire film, with the exception of the two fairies fighting over it in the very last moments of the film. Clearly, there were some loopholes in my memory.

After watching the movie again, there were two primary problems that I had with the story. First, the scene where Aurora is singing in the woods and Prince Phillip appears makes me want to bang my head repeatedly against a wall. He continues reaching for her hand THREE TIMES after she keeps pulling it away. This is unbelievably problematic. If you were to just vaguely describe this scene, this is essentially what happens: a woman is singing alone in the woods, a complete stranger whom she has no recollection of ever meeting in person shows up out of nowhere, she expresses clear discomfort with the situation, he persists despite recognizing her discomfort, she finally concedes, and they decide that they are ready to marry each other by the end of the day. I imagine a potential response to my criticism would be that it is a fairytale, and that aspect of the story is not only inseparable from the plot, but also justifies Phillip’s actions. I understand that it is, supposedly, just a children’s movie. However, I think this almost makes the interaction in the woods more alarming. Young children watching this movie are learning to romanticize behavior like Phillip’s - and that is not just speculation. I personally remember thinking that this scene was romantic as a little girl. In fact, this justification of romance seems similar to that which adults often employ when young boys harass, demean, or hit young girls - the frequent excuse of “Oh how cute, he likes you!” Explaining away interactions like these by saying the male’s behavior is related to romantic longing is a detrimental lesson for both boys and girls. It teaches boys that aggressive and persistent behavior, even when the woman firmly says she is uncomfortable or does not want a relationship, is not only okay, but romantic. And, it teaches girls to expect this behavior from any men with whom they wish or expect to share a romantic future - setting the standard for how an ideal male partner, in a heterosexual relationship, should treat them.

My second main complaint about The Sleeping Beauty is the fact that I do not feel as though they emphasize the critical role of the three good fairies, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, to the extent that their actions deserve. As I mentioned earlier in the post, I remember Prince Phillip as the hero of the story from my childhood. However, while I was watching the movie in preparation for this blog post, I was struck by how pivotal of a role the fairies played in the final outcome of the film. The three of them were the ones who both inspired and helped Prince Phillip to escape, and provided him with the tools necessary to destroy Maleficent. Quite frankly, her defeat would have been absolutely impossible without them. And yet, ten years later, I had no recollection of their work. I only remembered that Prince Phillip plunged the sword into the dragon’s chest, and assumed he had been the one to do most, if not all, of the work. Of course, it is possible that I may be an anomaly, and everyone else who watches the movie remembers how revolutionary the fairies were in Maleficent’s ultimate downfall, even more than a decade after watching it. However, based off of the marketing of the movie and its characters, I doubt it. It is scary to know that I can have such a skewed perception of the movie, not even necessarily based on the actual storyline, but on how that storyline was portrayed and sold to its audience. The scary thing is that the fairies also seemed to credit Philip with much of the success - not even realizing their own work. Women must receive more credit for the work they do - on and off screen. But, women must also be encouraged to accept credit for their work when due. Disney has the potential to play a big role in both of these goals; unfortunately, The Sleeping Beauty does not seem to make any significant steps in that direction.