My Beef with Disney Princesses

Last night my coworker and coauthor Von started telling me about a Yahoo News story she found about Jennifer Hudson taking a photo dressed as Disney Princess Tiana. I proceeded to rant about my issues with The Princess and the Frog and all the things I found wrong with it. Von laughs and said if you feel that way, blog about it. So here I am.

When I first heard that Disney after so many decades was introducing its first black princess the little girl in me screamed with glee. Finally a princess that looks like me! I wasn't the only one who was ecstatic.  I saw all the news reports about little black girls who were excited, going to the theater dressed up in their costumes and sparkly tutus. Even though it may have seemed like a trivial event, for little black girls it was historic. We were finally being recognized.

I finally sat down to watch the movie and my initial reaction was: What the hell is this? We waited all these years for this garbage?

Now my issue isn't with Tiana. She's a hardworking sister and I love her to death. She works hard to make her dreams come true, which in the real, non-Disneyized world is a great lesson. I think Disney did a good job with how her character was portrayed. My issue isn't with her, it's with the loser they decided to hook her up with.

It felt like they went to the Disney vault of bad qualities and just grabbed a handful. Prince Naveen was broke because he was so trifling and irresponsible that his royal parents disinherited him. He was a womanizer and spent part of the movie chasing after Tiana's BFF and surrounded by groupies. He was lazy and not to mention narcissistic. This is the first black Disney princess and they set her up with this douchebag? As my dear departed Grandmother would say, he ain't worth two dead flies. What are they saying about black women? We're going to eventually end up with a loser like this? What happened to our Prince Charming?

Now of course at the end of the movie everything is set right and Prince Naveen has totally changed his ways, but c'mon. Leopards really don't change their spots. How long after the credits roll before Tiana catches Naveen with Belle or he starts trying to pull on Rapunzel's extensions? How long before Sleeping Beauty shows up for a paternity test and yelling about child support? Nah, I don't think so.

Historically most heroes and princes in Disney lore have been pretty bland with a few rare exceptions. I would rather have had a prince who's just window dressing then the hot mess Tiana was stuck with. She isn't the only minority princess who was stuck with a loser. Look at middle eastern Princess Jasmine who was stuck with Aladdin; a liar, thief, and a con artist who'd escaped from death row.

Now I'm not throwing down the race card and yelling Uno, I think Disney made a good attempt at giving their audience what they wanted. I just ask that when they decide to give us the second black Disney Princess, they put a little more thought into who she marries.

Those Lovable Bad Boys

What is it about fictional bad boys that they can do no wrong in women's eyes? What is it about the Han Solos and the Eric Northman's in fiction that women can't get enough of them?

I finally got a chance to sit down and talk with one of our readers, Karen, who'd completed The Body Hunters: Paradise Denied a couple weeks ago. Since I'd been on vacation from work I didn't get a chance to get her opinion on what she thought. Without revealing too much about the story line, secrets between the two main characters are exposed. Karen goes on to tell me how the main character, Danielle was totally in the wrong for what she kept hidden from the hero, reformed former player Aiden. It surprised me because I thought she would at least take the woman's side in the argument. The gist I got from my conversation with Karen was that if Danielle couldn't treat Aiden right, then she would. Yeah, we're talking about fictional characters, but this is the type of vibe I got and Karen isn't the only one.

The opinions we've received about our good looking, rogue have ranged from an 'I'd do him!' to him being called 'sexy' and every thing under the moon. He's the right combination of dangerous and loveable, with a little salty language mixed in. Even though the character is nothing but a compilation of ones and zeroes on a computer screen, women love him.

I think the attraction stems from the idea of the bad boy being able to be reformed, something that isn't necessarily true in real life. If you meet a bad boy in real life, most of the time your best bet would be to turn around and run because you're in for nothing but heartbreak. Most people aren't that easy to change, which is why women love their fictional heroes. They can live vicariously through the pages of the book or on the television. The sexy scoundrel is their fantasy come to life.

I'm all about giving the people what they want and the jury has spoken, but as a writer I have my responsibility to keep the story fresh and unpredictable. So I tell Karen and the rest of our superfans to keep reading, we have some plans for Aiden Stone in the next few months.