The Princess Diaries (film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Princess Diaries (2001)
Representations of gender have always interested me, probably because it’s exceedingly rare that I come across a character in film or television that I believe properly represents me in terms of gender. A lot of entertainment reduces men and women to a handful of predictable qualities (most physical, some emotional), which consequently results in many characters being little more than stereotypes. From my perspective, men have it bad. But at least there are plenty of male characters; the chances of finding a realistic, relatable, thoughtfully crafted male character is probably greater than finding a female one. And as I just said, the fact that I rarely come across a male character who I find to be relatable and who is more than just a stereotype leads me to believe that it’s significantly more difficult for women, whose pool of representative characters is even smaller.
One of the biggest problems with female characters is that they are so often reduced to two things: their physical appearance, and their relationship with a male. This is nothing new. Feminist film critics have endlessly criticized films that are supposedly “aimed at women” for sending the message that females need to A, meet narrow, Western standards of beauty, and B, obtain male attention in order to be achieve fulfillment and legitimacy. This trend is visible in all sorts of films, particularly romantic comedies. But it’s also present in a lot of films aimed at young girls and teenagers. A recent example would be the Twilight films (which I won’t even begin to discuss here), and also a lot of Disney’s fairy-tale films of the past 60 years. Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White – each of these films, and many films like them, feature main characters that possess little agency, and whose lives improve greatly – and in some cases, are literally saved – only after they are sought out by a male suitor. For Sleeping Beauty and Snow White, being a princess isn’t enough. In fact, being a princess doesn’t matter at all. Their power is meaningless, if not non-existent. The only powerful women in these stories are “ugly” women; women who, while they might exude some level of elegancy or sophistication, are either past their prime (for example, Cinderella’s step-mother), or possess some other physical indication that they are not meant to be desirable (see Sleeping Beauty’s Maleficent with her green skin. And horns.) Although I’m simplifying, the gist of these films is that for women, power comes at the expense of beauty and love. And that’s…okay? The female leads never obtain any level of agency. They get a man, and we’re supposed to be satisfied with that. But they don’t really do anything else. They rarely learn anything, they rarely achieve anything. And if they do, it’s only because they’re “pretty”. Granted, these women do exhibit some positive qualities (such as graciousness, patience, optimism, kindness, etc.), which make them likable and essentially good people, but they’re not role models. In some fundamental ways, they are not satisfactory representations of female existence. They make women objects, not subjects.
Of course, these fairy-tale films are much more complicated than this, and even more so when you factor in the original stories on which they’re based. Also, they are products of their time, and considering that the most recent of the three films I listed above is over fifty years old, they can’t exactly be considered contemporary. So let’s look at something more recent. How does a film like The Princess Diaries handle the typical Disney princess themes while still being true to its contemporary time period and setting? Does it offer a more balanced, positive representation of young women, or does it fall into the same trappings of earlier princess films, reproducing the same old archetype? I will argue here that although it is flawed in that it seems a little too celebratory of some of the things that I think make it problematic, it also offers us a female lead who is not defined by her relationship with men, but simply who she is. And that’s pretty cool.
The Princess Diaries is based on a series of books by Meg Cabot, which I have not personally read. The film version follows 15 year-old Mia Thermopolis (Anne Hathaway), a geeky high school student in San Francisco who struggles with public speaking, crushes on boys she knows she’ll never have, and evades nasty school bullies by working hard to be invisible. Her life is turned upside down, however, when the grandmother she’s never met (Julie Andrews) arrives in town and informs her that she’s not just Granny Clarice, but the Queen of Genovia, and that Mia is the rightful heir to the throne. What I like about Mia as a heroine is that before she learns she’s a princess, there is nothing inherently special about her, which I think makes her relatable. No magic powers, no supernatural qualities. She’s a person before she’s a princess. She has anxieties and fears that aren’t exclusively (or even predominantly) attached to romance or physical appearance. Sure she crushes on boys, as a lot of people do, but that’s not all she does. And yes, we get the sense that she’s dissatisfied with her appearance, but at the same time she’s not overly concerned about it. Also, the film respects her enough to give her some power over her own life. Exclusive power, in fact. At first, Mia is extremely hesitant to accept her role as princess, as she has major doubts about her abilities to rule a country, small as it is (and really, what 15 year-old wouldn’t?) As a compromise, she agrees to let Clarice give her “princess lessons,” during which she learns what it is to be a princess and what the job would entail, but she won’t decide whether or not to accept the role until Genovia’s Independence Day Ball, at which point the right to rule will be passed along to someone else, should Mia not choose to become princess.
I like this premise, because it gives Mia control over her own life. She’s not like Snow White or Cinderella who simply allow things to happen to them and then “act” accordingly. Mia gets to explore her options and, in the end, choose her own path for her own reasons. And it’s no surprise that she does decide to be a princess. But what might be surprising are her reasons for doing so. She recognizes that being a princess is about so much more than marrying a prince and wearing pretty clothes. In her speech during the big finale at the ball, she says that it’s the opportunity to make a difference in the world that makes her want to become a princess. She wants to better the lives of her soon-to-be subjects, and she wants to ensure that people who might not otherwise have a voice, have one in her. I really like this final speech, because it makes Mia a potentially powerful vessel for change in and of herself. Unlike the fairy-tales of olde, there are no men in this scenario, and there are no “fallen women” who want to destroy her. Also, Mia is different from Snow White or Cinderella in that she does have agency. At least, but the end she does. In fact, that’s kind of what The Princess Diaries is essentially about. At first, Mia wants nothing more than to blend in. She doesn’t want popularity, she doesn’t want responsibility; all she wants is to be invisible. Over the course of the film, however, she slowly overcomes this aptitude for inconspicuousness, culminating in her final speech, and becomes a courageous leader. Throughout the film, she is always in control of her own life, and the story is really about her coming to terms with that, more so than anything else. This is what I love about the film.
What I’m less keen on is the stuff that the film itself seems to love. I remember the trailers for the film focusing on the makeover element, and to be honest, that was what everyone seemed to remember most about the film. It was an ugly duckling story in it’s truest form, which is always problematic, since it suggests that beauty is one of the most important things about a person, and that conformity is the best way to deal with it. The Princess Diaries is a little more complicated than that when you really look at it. Although the makeover reveal is more or less the film’s money shot, that’s actually all it is. It’s pretty much irrelevant to the story, and has very little to do with anything else. Yes, there’s a throwaway plot about Mia’s friend Lilly complaining about her new-found conventionality, and (somewhat oddly) the increased bullying that Mia faces from her peers who see her new look as a pathetic attempt at conformity, but those storylines are short-lived, as they end when Mia comes out of the royal closet, and people seem less bothered by her appearance when they realize she’s a princess. So if the makeover stuff is so minute, why does it bother me so much? Here’s why: it’s because the film itself is so eager to celebrate Mia’s transformation into a swan. And furthermore, the film clearly expects us to want to do the same. It assumes that we want to see Mia the princess as a picture of beauty, rather than the frizzy, unkempt mess she is at the beginning. That the marketing for the film was so based on the brief makeover scene emphasizes the understanding that people don’t want to see a movie about a princess unless she’s pretty. Or on another level, that we so enjoy the catharsis of a good, old-fashioned makeover that we’ll see a film that sells itself as being about that.
Mia post-makeover
I’ll admit that there is some sort of catharsis that comes from a good makeover. I feel it at times, and I’m sure you do to. We do like to see people’s inner beauty come to the surface, and ultimately, there’s nothing too wrong with that. The problems lie in how it’s treated, and the reasons that it’s done. In The Princess Diaries, it’s not that Mia gets a makeover at all that bothers me; it’s the fact that the film thinks that it’s necessary to put so much emphasis on it, despite the fact that it doesn’t add much to the story. Mia’s sense of identity doesn’t change with the makeover; her friends don’t like her more, nor do the bullies. She’s still the same person after she becomes “beautiful.” And after all those lessons that Clarice gives Mia about “acting” like a princess (ie: graceful, reserved, and conservative), Mia is still a clumsy goofball at heart. Even at the end, when she makes that final speech, she’s standing in front of a group of elegant, beautiful people wearing a soaking wet purple hoodie and sporting wet, stringy hair. This tells me that the film knows and in fact tries to make the statement that looks are not as important as what you have to say. The crowd doesn’t cheer for Mia at the end because she’s beautiful – they cheer because they like what she has to say. So why, why, WHY is that makeover scene so gratuitous? It gives in to a society that demands physical perfection, even when the rest of the film makes a (mild, yet clear) statement about agency, personality, and values being way more important than all that. I guess in summing it up, I’ll say that we’re given a bit of a contradictory message. Ostensibly we’re told that looks are relatively unimportant when you value who you are. But that message is subverted by a subplot (if you can even call it that) that seems to say “Oh, aren’t makeovers fun? Being pretty is fun! Look how pretty she is! Isn’t that just great?”
The same can be said of the romantic subplots, in that they are minor, but unnecessary. I guess Mia’s failed romance with the big man on campus (Erik von Detten) adds some basic conflict to her arc, which does make sense. And after all, who hasn’t been there? That she eventually ends up with Michael (Robert Schwartzman), the slightly awkward guy in the indie band, is an acceptable payoff in that she finds someone who can appreciate her for who she is, not what she can do for him. This romantic storyline is understandable, and yes, it even works. But in some of the other characters it feels a little bit predictable and, once again, unnecessary. For example, Mia’s single, free-spirited artist mother (Caroline Goodall) starts dating Mia’s teacher. And even Clarice has an ongoing flirtation with her chauffeur, Joe (Hector Elizondo). These subplots aren’t handled terribly, but these women don’t need to be paired off, so why does the film hint at it? It feels like an attempt to shoehorn in some of the staples of the standard romantic comedy. Makes sense, considering the film is directed by Garry Marshall, who’s helmed his fair share of films about women (of the one’s I’ve seen, The Princess Diaries is probably among the most refreshing). Still, I would have liked to see a more transgressive approach to this material. There’s so much potential here to really say something about the way we fantasize about wealthy and beauty and place it above all else in terms of importance. The characters certainly work to its benefit. Because most are women, the film has a lot to do with their relationships and interactions. There is no significant male character, aside from supporting players. And while the women admittedly do spend a fair bit of time discussing men, they talk about a lot more than that too.
Heather Matarazzo as Lilly
Aside from Mia and her family, there’s also Lilly (Heather Matarazzo), her best friend. Unlike Mia, who works so hard to be unseen, Lilly champions her beliefs with fervor, and her encouragement that Mia do the same ends up being one of the reasons that she chooses to accept her royal position. I quite enjoy Lilly. I like how Heather Matarazzo plays her, and although I want to be careful about focusing on her appearance, I feel like I should mention that I appreciate how they cast someone who isn’t conventionally beautiful (though she is lovely), and it isn’t played for laughs. Lilly’s given some depth, and a half-decent amount of significance, making her marginally more than just the geeky sidekick. That might not sound like an entirely glowing analysis of her character but hey, this is a Disney movie after all. I’ll take what I can get if it’s a step in the right direction. Interestingly, Lilly is the only female character of any importance who doesn’t have a love interest at any point in the film. There are no explicit references made to her even wanting one, which is also kind of nice. The closest we come is seeing her at the ball at the end with Jeremiah (Patrick Flueger), though there’s nothing that indicates it’s more than friendship. Besides, I’ve always kind of liked to entertain the idea – and maybe I’m reaching here, but whatever – that Jeremiah’s gay. It’s just a vibe I’ve always gotten. Anyway, I digress! We also have Lana (Mandy Moore), the school’s Queen Bee, who actually is physically flawless right from the start. However, by the final confrontation between Lana and Mia, it’s clear that Lana is only pretty, and it’s not enough to cover up her ugly personality. That the whole school turns on her after Mia shoves an ice-cream cone on her shirt demonstrates that any power she did have was hollow, and based entirely on her appearance. Mia, on the other hand, is much more impervious to jabs at her appearance, since she doesn’t rely on it. Her power is much more stable, and much more significant.
Overall, I really like The Princess Diaries. Like many films that I look at in detail, I think I like the film that it could have been more than the film that it is, but even with all it’s problems, I think it’s much more than I could have asked for from Disney at this time period. They actually do a good job of breaking down the glitzy, superficial understanding of what a princess is, and make a solid attempt at presenting it as something that can be desirable, but also entails a great deal of work; physically, mentally, and emotionally. Those virtues that Cinderella and Snow White had, such as grace, compassion, and kindness, those are still important, but no more so than intelligence, dedication, and action. In fact, although it glorifies the beauty element, taken as a whole, the story places considerably less value on that than on Mia’s personal journey from willful wallflower to a well-rounded, self-respecting leader. It’s a feel-good movie that doesn’t just revel in sappy, potentially-infuriating clichés and then justify its perpetuating of heternormative gender roles by calling itself a “guilty pleasure,” as so many similar films do. Yes, it’s still a wish-fulfillment fantasy, but it’s not especially indulgent because it creates internal conflict that feels real, and forces the characters to “save themselves,” so to speak. The Princess Diaries may just be a Disney princess movie, but in terms of the message it sends and the obvious consideration of gender portrayal, it’s probably one of the better ones. We’ll just ignore the sequel.
For now.
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