A Know-It-All Male And A Clueless Female Stereotype In The Movie Tangled
The 2010 Disney animation Tangled enculturates young girls to question their potential and ability to be independent. While Tangled is a film the whole family can enjoy watching, it teaches young girls that they need a man to “save them”. The film makes girls believe they are not capable of helping themselves. They question what they are capable of accomplishing without the help of a man. While girls are capable of extraordinary things, Tangled makes them think otherwise.
In the film, Rapunzel is made out to be helpless until she is saved by a man. This is a perfect example as to why this film teaches girls to normalize chauvinism. It makes the male gender out to be superior. The director is demonstrating that men are stronger and are capable of doing much more than a woman. While the movie is supposed to be about the princess, the story ends up being all about Flynn Rider (the wanted criminal). Tangled incorporates a male who knows everything and a female that knows nothing because she has been locked inside her whole life. While many people don’t see the problem with this, going more in depth about this topic will help them see the issue.
A know it all male and a clueless female is a stereotype that is incorrect in some cases. This stereotype has been incorporated into the film and has made young girls question their knowledge. They will believe that a male is supposed to be smarter which is not the case. It is teaching them that they lack the knowledge that men have. Young girls are influenced very easily by the things they are taught or are shown on television. Tangled should be a movie about an empowering female and not about another “heroic” male.
When I was little I used to believe I can do anything if I set my mind to it. To this day I still strongly believe I can do anything. Girls should be able to have the same mindset and not be influenced by movies like Tangled. Although the film has adorable and quirky scenes, it does not have very many good teaching moments for girls. Rapunzel sings about doing household chores making it normal for girls to believe they are meant to do chores for the rest of their life. She doesn’t know when she will be able to live her life due to all these chores she’s meant to do. It is setting girls up to live like it’s the 1800’s.
There are many strong females in the world today but young girls are being sheltered from that and being taught something completely different. Rapunzel needs a man to guide her through life in the film. Girls should know that it is okay to ask for help when it is needed, but not think that they necessarily need it. Growing up I was taught to be independent and I believe it helped me out a lot. While I still ask for help when I need it, I understand that it should not be forced upon me to make me seem helpless.
Tangled’s teaching moment for girls is to wait for a man to rescue you from any tough situation. The movie is teaching girls to sit around and wait for a man to help them even though they have enough potential and independence to help themselves. Every young girl is capable of becoming something wonderful in life although it is not taught. They are learning from what they watch and this movie is a perfect example as to why some girls believe they have to act dumb in order for guys to like and help them. Although Rapunzel is not being portrayed as dumb, she is being portrayed as clueless. Tangled has proven that to this day, females are still thought to be the inferior gender.
