The Unknown Side of Rapunzel

The Unknown Side of Rapunzel

Rapunzel (Tangled) from a deconstructive point of view. 

We all know the story of a blonde long-haired beautiful lady, Rapunzel, and of course, were obsessed with her when we were children. Rapunzel is one of the greatest works of Disney. She is locked in a remote tower by a witch who pretends to be her mother who protects her from the “creepy outside world”. Rapunzel uncovers the truth of her being a princess and, eventually, falls in love with Flynn, the guy who used to be a theft and tried to steal the crown from her parents’ palace. Flynn is the main reason behind her uncovering the truth, leaving the tower, and meeting again with her parents. 

Tangled is one of the best and most famous Disney movies. It all goes to the levity, seriousness, and the beautiful songs wrapped up in one movie. Having said that doesn’t mean that Tangled doesn’t have a bunch of flaws when it comes to the plot and other elements of the movie. As a result, this research is going to be a deconstructive analysis of Tangled movie. 

As we discussed in the previous classes, deconstruction is a critical analysis of either philosophical or literary language.  It seeks to expose the contradictions and the flaws in a work. Accordingly, I will be discussing all of these flaws one by one, going from the bottom of my pyramid all the way up to the top. 

•• The Secret Getaway: 

The only entrance Rapunzel knows is the window at the top of the tower. The 18 year old Rapunzel is used to lift Mother Gothel with her hair through that window, since she’s 18, so her hair has grown enough to help her lift Mother Gothel. Due to that, the logical question there lies. What did Mother Gothel use to do for ingress and egress when Rapunzel was younger and her hair was shorter? 

An evidence of that is when we caught up some glimpses of baby Rapunzel’s hair. It was long-ish for a baby at her age, but it was not as long as it is at the end of the movie. 

•• Mother Gothel's Biggest Mistake: 

This is one of the biggest flaws in Tangled. Mother Gothel ruins her plan by making the most ridiculous decision a villain would ever make. Her first intention is keep Rapunzel away, so that she can make use of Rapunzel’s magical hair to stay young forever. Rapunzel’s constant desires to leave the castle make holes in Mother Gothel’s plan. One of the reasons why Rapunzel wants to leave is the fantastic lights show that comes up every night on Rapunzel’s birthday. 

The question is; 

Understandably, Rapunzel is curious. whom do we blame for Rapunzel's curiosity? Of course, no one but Mother Gothel. Who else would tell Rapunzel the actual date of her birthday instead of giving her a fake date, or at least not telling her at all. Rapunzel is taken from a young age, so she doesn’t have any knowledge about the outside world. It’s truly sloppy. 

•• Pet Affections:

We, especially Disney addicts, can easily notice that there is no such Disney princess without a companion pet. Cinderella has her mice whom she saved from Lucifier to keep her company, and Mulan has got Cri-Kee because she needs luck. On the other side, Rapunzel has Pascal, a little chameleon. How did she get such a pet? What is the point of having this kind of pet? It’s not a typical kind of pets. 

Did Mother Gothel bring her such a pet? Or did Rapunzel rescue Pascal, so he owns her a debt of being all the way with her? It’s just weird. 

•• All-knowing Flynn Rider: 

 Flynn narrating the beginning of Rapunzel's story is a big flaw in the movie. 

It makes sense that he knows his part of actions and his own involvement in the story. But how does he know the story of Gothel at the very beginning of the story and the creation of the flower? Only the night, Gothel, and the flower know what happened back then. and at no point in the story Flynn knows these events. He shouldn’t know the fact of Gothel visiting the flower in secret for so long, and that it keeps her young. Flynn also should have no clue about the origin of the flower either. 

•• Mysterious Hair Growth: 

Rapunzel does a lot of things with her hair she shouldn’t be able to do. She uses it to lift people into the tower. As we see throughout the movie, when she lets her hair down to lift Mother Gothel, it barely touches the grass. On the hand, when she uses her hair to lower herself, it is looped twice around her grip. In order for that to work, her hair has to be twice as long as it had used to be. If it’s not that tall, Rapunzel wouldn’t be able to get herself on the ground safely. Come on Disney! 

If you want people to believe that Rapunzel’s magical hair can cure people, at least give it some realistic physical properties. 

•• The Royal Guards: 

The first thing we do is that we look at what the guards are like at the castle when Flynn Rider steals the crown right out from under them. There were a big number of guards who were in charge of protecting the crown, but no one of them was looking towards the crown when Flynn stole it. That’s how Flynn was able to steal it easily when his friends lowered him down from the ceiling. The guards were looking at the front door. The audience wouldn’t be surprised that Flynn was able to do so. 

Mother Gothel, an old lady, is able to climb in through the window of Rapunzel’s room. Neither the crown nor the little princess is guarded and well-protected. The crown has more guards than Rapunzel does. Is that the case in a royal household? Maybe her parents don’t expect such thing, but it’s there since Mother Gothel does so. The castle gaurds are all ignorant, but Maximus, and he’s a horse. 

•• The Royal Arms: 

A cooking utensil is the weapon Rapunzel extensively uses to defend herself. She first uses the frying pan to beat Flynn right on his head. Then, Flynn strats using the frying utensil to confront Maximus. But the usefulness of the frying pan doesn't mean that it should be made into the official weapon of the royal guards. At the end of the movie, it becomes the official weapon of the Royal Guards, and their swords are taken away and are replaced with it. 

•• Bare Feet: 

Since Rapunzel has spent nearly all of her life with Mother Gothel, she has gotten the way things are  indoors. Part of that is getting used to walking around without any shoes. When Rapunzel gets out of the castle, she goes through many adventures. 

•• Royal Obligations

The Queen & the King create a tradition of sending lights into the sky on Rapunzel’s birthday, so that might help them find their daughter, she can be guided by such lights, and that’s considered to be a mourning ritual. 

Don’t they think what’s going happen? Who’s their next heir? Why don’t they try to have another kid? 

•• Lost And Found: 

When it comes to hiding something important, you give all of what you could ever do to keep it hidden from people. 

Mother Gothel’s choice of hiding Tapunzel in the tower is not wise at all. Why? 

First of all, the King and the Queen should have sent a gazillion guards out searching for Rapunzel. They could have done this easily, since the castle is so close to the castle, even though it’s hidden by vines. To prove that, the scene of Flynn Rider’s escape is enough. When Flynn escapes the castle because he stole the crown, it only takes him a short chase to get to the valley’s entrance. 

Mother Gothel definitely needs to be more sly to fit the villain’s charachter. She also needs to learn how to find perfect hiding places.

Plot Contrivance: 

When Flynn and Rapunzel are in the water, Rapunzel uses her hair magic to illuminate the cave in order to help Flynn punch through a rock, so they let the water go outside and escape. This means that tons and tons of water are not enough to ush the rock out, but it’s all possible with the punch of Flynn. 

In conclusion, and for me, Rapunzel was too perfect, despite being one of the most imperfect movies I watched.