Fairy Tales: Rapunzel
The Grimm fairy tale that they took from Friedrich Schultz are practically identical save a few changes. So, what did the old Rapunzel teach? First of all, not to be a thief, whereas Disney's Tangled is all about thievery. They claim you need to embrace the bandit within you and you need rebellion to reach your potential. But in Tangled, Flynn and Gothel are both thieves, so what potential did Gothel reach? She splatted on the ground outside the tower. It was when Flynn became honest that he reached his potential.
In the old tale, the stealing of the Rapunzel plant had repercussions on the child that made her suffer for the rest of her life. The evil sorceress could very well be a symbol of the punishment of thievery, bad parenting and bad examples. Rapunzel is named after the plant that ruined her life, just as children are influenced by the bad examples of their parents. Her father and mother were bound by their thievery, made helpless by their greed and fear, and so lost their child. This was their symbolic prison. What potential did they reach by embracing their inner bandit? Nothing, they lost what was most precious and they never get Rapunzel back.
This here is also a symbolism. Now that the parents are "imprisoned" by what they have done, what can they do to help and teach Rapunzel? Nothing. So now Rapunzel is locked in her tower, the prison of her mind that her parents let happen. She's left to her own devices, but she's also innocent, for she has no knowledge. What does she do? What many do who are trapped in their own towers, she has premarital sex with some guy she hardly knows and thinks it's so fun. She gets pregnant and then Gothel has the audacity to call her godless. What did Gothel teach her of anything?
Disney's Tangled had Rapunzel and Gothel represent the differences between generations, old and new attitudes. Indeed, the old and new tales of Rapunzel mirror that view. Like Gothel who did not teach Rapunzel what was right and wrong, the old generation did not teach the new what it should know. And now the new generation represented as Tangled thinks that everything new and its views are all right and the old is all wrong because suddenly the old generation is shouting "kids are so awful today!" They might as well be Gothel tossing Rapunzel out into the desert to suffer for a sin she did not know about.
Did anyone take Rapunzel in hand? No. Gothel is in charge. Unless the Rapunzels of the world decide to run out of the tower like in Tangled, they can't escape. When Rapunzel in Tangled did this, she found her real parents, her family, the happiness she had been longing for. Did she truly rebel against the old generation? It seems like she ran towards it. Are we really all bandits as Disney said? Or are we the stolen articles that must find the courage to escape the tower and the world of Gothel?
Too many things scream we need the "new and improved." Maybe it's all screaming we need Gothel, but everyone knows she's evil. She steals us from our homes, she locks us in towers, she showers us with pointless activities and entertainment. She says she's our mother, but when we suddenly don't do as she wants, she throws us into the desert to die. She kills what we love.
At the same time, as stated in all versions, if we can recognize true happiness when it calls to us, and we have the sense and courage to run towards it, we can all escape the Gothels in our lives. In the old version it was Rapunzel and the prince recognizing each other and coming together in the end. In Tangled it was her finding her family, and Flynn finding her, for he called her his new dream.
In the old tale, the stealing of the Rapunzel plant had repercussions on the child that made her suffer for the rest of her life. The evil sorceress could very well be a symbol of the punishment of thievery, bad parenting and bad examples. Rapunzel is named after the plant that ruined her life, just as children are influenced by the bad examples of their parents. Her father and mother were bound by their thievery, made helpless by their greed and fear, and so lost their child. This was their symbolic prison. What potential did they reach by embracing their inner bandit? Nothing, they lost what was most precious and they never get Rapunzel back.
This here is also a symbolism. Now that the parents are "imprisoned" by what they have done, what can they do to help and teach Rapunzel? Nothing. So now Rapunzel is locked in her tower, the prison of her mind that her parents let happen. She's left to her own devices, but she's also innocent, for she has no knowledge. What does she do? What many do who are trapped in their own towers, she has premarital sex with some guy she hardly knows and thinks it's so fun. She gets pregnant and then Gothel has the audacity to call her godless. What did Gothel teach her of anything?
Disney's Tangled had Rapunzel and Gothel represent the differences between generations, old and new attitudes. Indeed, the old and new tales of Rapunzel mirror that view. Like Gothel who did not teach Rapunzel what was right and wrong, the old generation did not teach the new what it should know. And now the new generation represented as Tangled thinks that everything new and its views are all right and the old is all wrong because suddenly the old generation is shouting "kids are so awful today!" They might as well be Gothel tossing Rapunzel out into the desert to suffer for a sin she did not know about.
Did anyone take Rapunzel in hand? No. Gothel is in charge. Unless the Rapunzels of the world decide to run out of the tower like in Tangled, they can't escape. When Rapunzel in Tangled did this, she found her real parents, her family, the happiness she had been longing for. Did she truly rebel against the old generation? It seems like she ran towards it. Are we really all bandits as Disney said? Or are we the stolen articles that must find the courage to escape the tower and the world of Gothel?
Too many things scream we need the "new and improved." Maybe it's all screaming we need Gothel, but everyone knows she's evil. She steals us from our homes, she locks us in towers, she showers us with pointless activities and entertainment. She says she's our mother, but when we suddenly don't do as she wants, she throws us into the desert to die. She kills what we love.
At the same time, as stated in all versions, if we can recognize true happiness when it calls to us, and we have the sense and courage to run towards it, we can all escape the Gothels in our lives. In the old version it was Rapunzel and the prince recognizing each other and coming together in the end. In Tangled it was her finding her family, and Flynn finding her, for he called her his new dream.
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