Sleeping Beauty is as Passive as her Nickname Sounds

After watching the film, I was a little disappointed to see that the role of Aurora had very little substance. In fact, I would argue that the main characters of the story were the fairies over the princess. While, I disliked the way the princess was portrayed in the film, I actually quite enjoyed seeing the fairies take initiative in helping raise and save the princess.

While their are some obvious gender stereotypes portrayed even through the roles of the fairies, overall, I loved to see three females take on the main heroic role. They are the ones that gave Prince Phillip the power to slay Maleficent. They were the ones smart enough to give the curse placed on Aurora a loophole. They were the ones who selflessly took on the role of caregiver, and selflessly gave up their magic wands for 16 years. The plump, kind, and nurturing fairies are not a typical hero. They are not strong, noble, or impeccably good looking. They were not a man. I think we should applaud Disney for turning a motherly-like character into someone that saves the kingdom.

However, on the other hand, while the overarching casting was a job well done, there were some glaring gender stereotyping that played a key role in. The first gift they gave Aurora was the gift of beauty. Kind of ridiculous that of all the things you would want to give a child the first thing that comes to mind is beauty. This action places an emphasis on how important it is in society for a woman to be attractive. The fairy quite literally makes it seem like that is the most important thing a girl needs. It is completely outrageous. Are a girl's looks going to help her solve the worlds problems? Are they going to help her treat people kindly? Are they going to help her find her passions or talents? No, looks are absolutely worthless when it comes to the true substance of a person, and is the last thing I would want my future daughter putting at the top of her list for things she aspired for. Why couldn't the gift have been intelligence, creativity, compassion, ambition, or resilience? Why did it have to be so surface level? It places girls in this confining box that there need not be any more than a pretty face. As for the second wish, I will let it slide because I am a sucker for song, but would like to quickly point out the gross subtlety that implies a beautiful must also be paired with a beautiful voice. The third wish, however, is definitely one I have to harp on. I will give it to the fairies, it was clever to try and fight evil with good, but to specifically put her fate in the hands of "true love's kiss" is demeaning by making her destined to be a damsel in distress. They put her fate in that of a man's. Why not gift here with a gift that allows her to save herself?

Aurora is honestly a pretty lack-luster character. She is passive and has little to no spunk. She is so  startled by the prince, and does not even want to give him her name She naively falls in love at first sight, yet does not fight to see him after being told she must return to the castle. Instead, she cries and morns the fact that she has just been given the power and title of a princess instead getting to see a man she has spend five minutes with.

The fairy, in my opinion, stole the show in this movie and were much more dynamic, interesting characters than Aurora. Though Disney missed the mark on defying gender roles a good amount of times throughout the movies, I overall enjoyed the fact the the fairies saved the day and think that is a positive message we can pass on to young viewers.