Not So Passive Princesses

Frozen was awesome! Anyone that says otherwise either hasn't seen it or is stupid. That however is not the point of this blog because the entire internet will tell you I am right. Instead I have something else to discuss. I was reading an article about the ways in which Frozen is the most progressive Disney movie and who can argue, but I will argue with the statement made that all the Disney princesses have been passive characters. So here's to those that we grew up with who weren't doormats even though some of them found a prince. In no particular order.

Pocahontas
She may have caused some problems with all that magical listening to her heart, but fact is she was not passive. She didn't just sit there throughout the film. When her father wanted her to marry that one guy (Kocuom or something right?) she didn't. When John Smith got arrested by her tribe she stood up for him and when he asked her to come with him she said no. Pocahontas didn't have her ass saved by John, she saved John's ass. (For time and sanity related purposes, I am ignoring sequels.)

Belle
She ignores Gaston not even for a second putting up with his crap. When he put his boots on her book, it probably took more self control than you can imagine to not murder him right there (totally different story then, huh?). When the horse comes running back terrified, she hops on without hesitation to find her father. Same with giving up her freedom and happiness to take his place. She refuses to do what the angry furry dude tells her even though he has huge with fangs. And she even attempts to run away at one point. She does have more guts than she gets credit for. Beauty and the Beast may have some other issues, but a passive lead is not one of them.

Mulan
Okay, this one may be a given, but Mulan kicks ass! She is so beautifully assertive, it is damn right wonderful! She argues with the scrawny dude on his high horse about her father going to war. She won't let the matchmaker drink a bug (which alone makes her a better person than me). And if course she runs off to war to save her father and doesn't even give up when whatshisface (yeah yeah lecture me all you want for forgetting his name) tells her she's unsuited for the rage of war. So hats off to Mulan. High fives all around!

Jasmine
She doesn't put up with cocky princes trying to woo her. She sicks a tiger on them! (She may have some anger issues.) On top of that she runs away to have freedom, but willingly gives it up when it means saving the boy that saved her ass. She confront Jafar about it even though suffers from untold levels of creapy. She refuses to buy Aladdin's prince act. And above all else she is very glad to help Aladdin fight Jafar. When she's sees him sneaking in she doesn't just wait to be rescued she kisses the creapy old man, so passivity not one of her qualities. On top of that (and yes I said I wouldn't bring this up), even in the sequels she helps with the ass kicking.

Ariel
She's not the best example because everything she does is for a man she hasn't met, but she isn't passive about it. While not the brightest traffic cone she does take matters into her own hands to be with her fella, so she does deserve points. She also gets a few for blowing off singing to fight a shark and for running to stop the wedding rather than just accept it. Granted, that was after Skuttle did his whole raving thing. She's by no means the highest ranked, but she does get some points even if the motivation is all wrong.

Cinderella
She has a lot of shit to deal with. A crazy sadistic step mother and siblings that have been trained to follow suit. On top of that she has to hear their bad singing and do all the chores. It's pretty impressive that Cinderella manages to be optimistic enough to be in a good mood ever let alone not punch someone in the face. When it's time for the ball she doesn't just sit there thinking "I'll never be allowed to go", she buckles down cleans the whole mansion and has her mouse friends build her a dress. Then when it gets ripped apart in like three seconds that's when she gives up. Everyone needs help once in awhile guys. She wasn't expecting the fairy godmother, but she would be damned if she wasn't taking the invite. On top of that she willingly booked it midconversasion out of the ball and when the slipper guy came about she was fighting (mostly by encouraging mice) to get out and get that thing on her foot. Come on guys it's an escape. You telling me you wouldn't take it in that situation?

Rapunzel
She wasn't rescued from the tower. I mean come on Flynn took a frying pan to the face and it was her idea to use him as a guide to go exploring. On top of that her hair does a lot of ass saving for the both of them. For a princess in a tower story, she really does not do much passive sitting about. Just listen to the opening song people. Nowadays it would be, "I watched Netflix. Then more and more. I'm cool with staying here." (Maybe with more rhythm and tune.) Rapunzel kicks ass!

Tiana
I have only seen this movie once, so bear with me about how this one won't be as detailed. She is willing to work her butt of to build a successful restaurant on her own. And when she gets turned into a frog it's not just sitting there accepting it. Lots of things are tried so that she can have posable thumbs again.

Megara
Who doesn't love Megara? While I can barely watch Hercules without cringing (what did you do to mythology?), I still love Megara. She is one of the first leading love interests to not be innocent. She's the femme fatal who doesn't ask for help. She takes matters into her own hands and even refuses rescue when she first meets Herc.

Esmeralda
Another femme fatal type. She isn't one whatsoever to sit still and wait for anything. As soon as she has sanctuary, she starts looking for an escape (well after a song of course). She won't give in to Frollo even when strapped to a stake to burn. And let's not forget she was the only one willing to give Frollo the finger (oh she totally would have if it wasn't a kids show) and cut Quasimodo free.

There you have it. The princesses of yore, while definitely not maybe as badass as the ones in Frozen were not totally passive and useless. Give credit where credit is due and thank God all of us have the sense to not marry a man we've never met that kisses us when he thinks we're dead.