Warning: Long post, Anti-Ta*ngled, anti-Frozen, and also I’m not very nice <333

What does the title mean?

Wherein a Disney Princess movie is more likely to have an idealized kingdom and monarchy if the princess is white, while a Princess of Color in a Disney movie is more likely to criticize the social norms or monarchy of their kingdom.

Aka the white kingdom is portrayed as perfect, and the non white kingdom is shown to be imperfect.

White Disney princesses tend to be very passive and reactive to their plots. Princesses of Color tend to be more proactive and move the plot along.

I’m going to exclude the early white Disney princesses because they are very easy to pick apart and have been done to death. I’m going for more recent Disney princesses from the 1990s and 2000s.

Kingdoms Ruled by People of Color are shown as Flawed and Rife with Inequality

EXAMPLE: Agraba from Aladdin and Maldonia fro the Princess and the Frog

Agraba is shown to have social inequalities, with the gap between the rich and poor being the central conflict and a motivation for Aladdin. Breaking the social norms almost gets Princess Jasmine’s hand cut off. People in these kingdoms can be portrayed as rude, mean, and in Aladdin’s case, full of racist stereotypes of people of Middle Eastern and South Asian descent.

[sorry for the bad quality clip, it’s difficult finding good images.]

Children are shown starving because of these inqualities, and Jasmine is frustrated by her extravagant lifestyle.

She consistently criticizes the sexism she faces and criticizes Aladdin for indulging in his princely persona.

In the Princess and the Frog, there is similar criticism of monarchy and opulence. Tiana has to work for everything, and calls out Prince Naveen for his behavior and lifestyle. He has to learn to work hard, and overcome his personality flaws.

But with Charlotte, she basically gets the white Disney princess treatment. Despite taking advantage of the systems her whiteness gives her, the movie makes no comment on how her privilege puts her socially above Tiana. She’s constantly focused on and the movie indulges in her personality, not realizing the hypocrisy of showering her with positive attention while reprimanding Naveen for his privileges.

Even other Disney princesses such as Mulan have to overcome social problems and work through them. They are pointed out, they are discussed. But when it comes to white Disney princesses, the direction is completely different in how their kingdoms are portrayed.

Suddenly poverty and social problems are seldom discussed or actively shown.

White Disney Kingdoms are Shown as Ideal with no Problems, Royalty are Portrayed as Moral and Always Good

You see, white Disney Princesses are more likely to live in idealized kingdoms and make no comments on the social inequalities or problems that could potentially exist.

EXAMPLE: Corona from T*angled and Arendelle from Frozen

White Disney Princess films reinforce what is called Absolute Monarchy, T*angled especially.

Absolute Monarchy is the idea that a king or queen is given the throne through divine intervention. They have power over others because god wills it to be so.

The fact that the king and queen of Corona took an all healing power for themselves despite the narrative looking down on Mother Gothel for doing the same is because they are royalty. They deserve it because they are rich and if something from the heavens comes down to earth, they deserve it more than someone whose poor.

Frozen deems Anna and Elsa special because they are royalty as well. Despite Elsa being a recluse unfit for ruling a kingdom and Anna being immature, the narrative places their safety above all others in the kingdom because they are rich and have royal blood. They are deemed the most moral,the most pretty, the most deserving of second chances because Elsa practically divinity.

These kingdoms are both unrealistically happy, cheery, with no social problems. The citizens are all nice, never pose any physical threat to the princesses, and their laws are considered fair and equal. This is a direct contrast to Disney princesses films such as The princess and the frog and Aladdin.

Rapunzel lives in an ideal fairytale kingdom with apparently no poverty. The men from the tavern are seen as outliers because they don’t live in the city. There doesn’t seem to be any social issues at all. And yet there seems to be a dungeon where prisoners get regularly executed. But that’s not really seen as a problem or discussed at all. Everyone seems to be ok with that and just eat cupcakes and dance.

Arendelle is full of citizens that just seem to be window dressing. The kingdom apparently has no real issues despite their queen having magic that could potentially kill off their crops, their industries, and their lives. Social inequalities are non existent. And anyone who is against the monarchy is totally evil or out for power themselves.

White Princesses Tend to be Passive/Reactive, Princesses of Color are Active and Move the Plot Forward



White Disney princesses also tend to be very passive too. Rapunzel wants to see the lanterns, but she only gets the guts to go out of the tower because Flynn Rider came along. She reacts to him being there and this kicks off their journey to Corona. Result: She is reduced to being a plot device most of the time and her goal feels very vague because of the genericness of “follow your dream!!1″ theme.

Anna is constantly at the mercy of the elements because she’s been sheltered all her life and constantly needs Kristoff to hold her hand. Elsa’s hands are wiped clean of her damning her kingdom to an eternal winter by making it a result of her emotions and “not knowing.” Result: Anna and Elsa’s “triumph’s” feel unearned and lackluster.

Tiana kisses Naveen as a frog because she wants to have the money for her restaurant and it’s her dream. This takes a lot of thought and she makes an active choice. She endures grueling work and constant disrespect. It’s her motivation and she’s actively trying to get to this goal. Result:It’s satisfying when she achieves her goal.

Jasmine wants to leave the castle so she does it and goes out in disguise. She wants to be her own person and isn’t afraid to call out people to let them know to treat her with respect. She criticizes Aladdin because she knows that even though she has feelings for him, she knows they won’t work if he’s not honest with her. Result:Their relationship is satisfying to watch and they feel like real people.