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A Review of 'Tangled'

 A Review of 'Tangled'

= Soumya Mahalaxmikar

Fairy tales are a work of constant reworking and revision. Oftentimes they’re rewritten and retold in order to suit the contemporary audiences. In a sense they could be considered a product of their times. Rapunzel is no exception. In fact, the Brothers Grimm version is also considered to be a reworking of older versions of the story. One version completely removes the prince from the picture; it shows the protagonist killing the witch, taking over her garden and living off it with her mother. While tracing the origin might as well be out of question; many believe it could also be based on the story of Saint Barbara, a heretic (at least according to her father), famed for her beauty hence locked away in a tower by her father in order to “protect her”. The most common version would perhaps be the Grimm Brothers’ version, where a farmer ends up stealing Rapunzel or Rampion - a green leafy vegetable- (differs from version to version), for his wife’s cravings; the witch catches them and takes their daughter as a recompense and names her Rapunzel after what her parents stole. The prince then winds up saving her and they escape the clutches of the evil witches.

Tangled in a way manages to stay very close to the Brothers Grimm version, in terms of plot, with a few tweaks here and there. The farmer’s daughter is now the only princess of the kingdom with a sun emblem which could be an allusion to Rapunzel’s golden hair. Mother Gothel is shown to hold onto Rapunzel as her personal youth elixir. Lastly, the prince is in fact a wanted thief, who just happens to stumble upon her tower while being pursued by the royal guards. While the gender roles aspect isn’t subverted, the movie alters a few aspects of the original with regard to characters and development. Rapunzel is able to take care of herself (despite Gothel attempting to manipulate her into thinking that she cannot) and this is seen when she knocks out Flynn when he enters the tower.

The most important aspect, according to me, would be the development in their relationship. They are shown to genuinely fall in love over the course of the film. The shift in dynamic is evident through the change in Flynn’s nature; first he is shown to be selfish and attempting to ditch Rapunzel along the way but later on cuts her hair in order to free her from Gothel. But this isn’t enough: Rapunzel is still shown to require a man in order to get out of the tower, and we don’t see her build up the courage to escape the tower by herself despite being capable of doing so. Rapunzel was raised in a way where the outside world was portrayed in a negative light; yet, despite this her desire to see the lights is strong enough only when there’s a man accompanying her. Even in the ending we see Flynn saving her by cutting off her hair, indicating that she yet again needs his help in order to live her life for herself.

In conclusion, this isn’t the most progressive adaptation; the sexist undertones still exist and continue to be perpetuated in the twenty-first century, but it's slightly better than the original.


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