Fathers Raise Princesses...

Last night, as I was brushing my teeth, something struck me out of the blue. In all the most famous Disney fairy tale cartoons, the heroine is motherless and has a special relationship with her father. It's true, go back and look. In all the classic Disney cartoons from the Disney heyday (which happened to have been when I was at the prime princess-cartoon-watching age), the heroine, who is usually a princess, is motherless. In the Little Mermaid, Ariel has no mother, and though she has many older sisters, they are never shown interacting with her in a motherly way, or bestowing any feminine advice. In the Beauty and the Beast, Belle is also motherless and is so devoted to her father that she risks her life for him at least 3 times. Jasmine in Aladdin and Pocahontas follow the same pattern, and while Mulan has a mother *and* grandmother living with her, she obviously has a closer relationship to her father than either one of them. Why is this? Is there something about a mother figure that is detrimental or problematic to the standard formulaic Disney plot? Does the absense of a mother make psychological sense to the effect of creating the personality type often found in the Disney heroines? Furthermore, why is the absent mother never even mentioned? It is presumed that she is dead; in fact, I always assumed that the mother had died in childbirth, since the heroine never seems to remember her at all. I am glad that the films always show a close, loving, and healthy relationship between the father and daughter, but it seems impossible that so many single parent families are just a coincidence. Does Disney do it for a reason? But then again, most of the old Disney movies are adapted from folk and fairy tales, so perhaps I should be asking why so many folk tales leave out the mom. Does a motherless girl just make a good story, or was the mother there all along and simply never mentioned? Perhaps the absence of a mother emphasizes that the heroine is self-reliant, but then again, if this is true, why does the handsome prince always have to rescue her? This is quite a conundrum. Perhaps you can help.

Look, A Boy! Let's Get Him!

I hate men again. A few of you may know why. Most of you don't, and that's fine. I like it that way.

In other (completely unrelated!) news, I made a myspace page. It's at myspace.com/siren7.

I now love the Dresden Dolls. Very much.

My birthday is quickly approaching. This frightens me. Not because I'm angsty about turning another year older, but because I generally hate my birthday. It's a symbol (like prom) of all that stuff that "perfect" girls are supposed to receive and enjoy, and in the "friend realm" of my life, I've never had one of those "dream birthdays." This is one of those things that gives me an inferiority complex and makes me slightly psychotic and gives me a little twitch in my eye. I mostly try to lay low on my birthday, to avoid any other embarassing and/or disappointing social experiences. I'm now resisting the urge to list all the girls I knew in high school whose surprise parties I either planned or attended. But I'm not bitter.

Overhype much?

No, I'm not talking about Episode III. Episode III was awesome. Story was a little hard to follow at times for me, as in Eps I & II, because of all the foreign names for planets and characters and governments and blah blah blah... I can tell that it was easy enough for enthusiasts, but when you don't know the entire history of the galaxy, the subtle references and limited screentime for apparently important characters makes it alll very complicated. At least Anakin was all hot in his badass sort of way, y'know, until he got all deformed, and there were plenty of *really* *cool* *lightsaber* *battles*.

The overhype refers to me getting my wisdom teeth out this morning. I mean seriously, that was it? The IV didn't hardly hurt at all, the most freaky drug action I got was some mild hallucination with the flourescent lights on the ceiling, I was out like a light without even realizing it, and woke up an hour later perfectly capable of walking to the car entirely on my own. I was pissed when mom wouldn't let me practice piano when we got home. It has been a very boring day of watching very boring television, but everyone seems to think I need "rest." I'm about to go out of my frickin' mind here. Oh, and I haven't taken *any* pain medication and all I feel is a mild soreness. And people act like oral surgery is a day trip to the 3rd circle. Jeez, people.

So, to review: Eps III v. cool, Anakin v. hot in black leather badass Jedi clothes, oral surgery v. boring. Can I go outside yet?