The Project - Day 14

They say it takes two weeks of continuous behavior to make a habit, but I don’t feel like I’m there yet. Maybe missing the other night means my habit-o-meter has reset to zero? Nonetheless, I plod along.

Today I was looking around, trying to be aware of things that piqued my interest that might be good fodder for the daily write. I know there were at least three subjects that got me going, although now I can only remember one. Perhaps it is time to go back to carrying the notebook of ideas with me, if I can’t keep a thought in my head for a mere 10 hours. I’ll blame motherhood, it’s so convenient.

There may have been some very deep, penetrating thoughts in there somewhere. . . oh wait, I just remembered part of one. To be honest though, I don’t much feel like riffing on Theresa of Avila right now, so I’ll go with the shallow topic knocking around my head.

There has been a lot of fuss in the press and the blogosphere about Disney’s upcoming Rapunzel film and it’s re-titling to “Tangled”, supposedly in an effort to be more inclusive of the young male audience. Apparently The Princess and the Frog did not crank out as much money as your average Pixar flick and they are now trying to de-princessify Rapunzel in hopes of having wider appeal. I didn’t think this was a big deal but apparently it’s an OUTRAGE. Even NPR has weighed in, which I would find funny if the author’s championing of iCarly didn’t make it so very sad. Beyond this totally offensive title change, it is revealed that there is to be a dashing character called “Flynn Ryder” who will be the male protagonist with much buckle and swash.

Confused as to why this is drama? Me too. While I would like to live in a universe where there is no gender stereotyping, that universe is currently in the science fiction section. I sold children’s books for over 13 years and I can promise you that while a girl will pick up a book with a boy or a girl on the cover without too much thought, but only one boy in a hundred will want to buy a book with just a girl on the cover. Disney is not in the business of remaking gender stereotypes, it is in the business of selling movie tickets. There is no sacred cow being slaughtered here, they’re just adjusting a picture to try and get a bigger audience, something that many other producers do with no comment made at all. This may be a good idea, it may not, I don’t really know.

What I do know is that the hue and cry over “desecrating” the original story (found in the comments to several blogs and in internet forums) is complete hokum, as is the idea that adhering to the “original” is a better idea for attracting boys to the movie (or girls for that matter). Yes, by all means, stick to the original. Let’s have Rapunzel get knocked up in the tower before she is cast out into the desert by the vengeful witch. Nothing says “Disney” like an unwed mother giving birth on the side of the road.

The Princess and the Frog strayed considerably from the original story as well and it was charming, funny and positive. Any boys who skipped it due to the title missed out on a great adventure where money doesn’t buy happiness and hard work can’t buy love. If a few more kids could have gotten that message by a changed title, I would have considered it well worth it. Get over it, people, this is not a big deal.