witch is not a bad word

I wanted to like it. I really did. The first season, while had some bits I thought could have been expanded on, was fantastic and left me wanting so much more. I want to see how the rocks link to Rapunzel, where the flower’s magic comes from, what she’s going to see, and most of all, who the mysterious, rock-sword-wielding woman was at the end of the finale. But with the premiere of the second season movie, I’ve been left with a bitter taste in my mouth.

I have issues with a fair bit in the movie, but most of them I blame on time constraints or other production restrictions that can’t be changed. That’s fair enough, and I won’t say anything about it. But the plot was bad. I’m sorry, I loved the series, but the whole engagement plot felt really lazy and it felt like traditional Disney - and I don’t mean in the good way.

Rapunzel realising she wanted to marry Eugene after seeing him with someone else? Even in the circumstances they were in, it feels like she’s been saddled with the ‘jealous girlfriend’ trope. Especially as she spent the second half of the movie ripping Stalyan apart for things like her decorations or her name. Yes, our Punz is under pressure and she gets wound up, but she’s not mean. Not like that. Writing in a change in personality, even if you claim this was for comedy, is lazy and it could have been handled differently.

I asked Chris Sonnenburg about it here (except tumblr asks aren’t very long and I couldn’t say all I wanted to) and was nicely directed to a fan-made post about it found here. I’m very thankful I actually got a reply and romancemedia’s take on it was very interesting, but I’m not satisfied. It’s clear the writers wanted Rapunzel to want to marry Eugene, or at least want to be engaged to him, but it was so rushed. She wanted to reject his proposal in the beginning of the episode - and less than 24 hours later, she wants to marry him? I’m not buying it. 

This kid spent 18 years locked in a tower with an emotionally abusive ‘mother’, six months being allowed no further than the Corona wall, another six months being confined to the kingdom and then at least a day locked in her room by the father she fought to meet. It’s been, at the most, a few months since that and marriage, the way Rapunzel seems to see it, is another type of prison. Of course, anyone with sense know that marriage can be a beautiful thing with enough communication and patience on both ends, but she clearly doesn’t see it that way. That’s a problem in itself, but an issue not relevant here. The bigger picture says that she has this set idea of marriage and she’s not ready for it. If there had been a scene about seeing what marriage could be, or even a scene with some proper communication between Eugene and Rapunzel, it would have made a lot more sense. It can easily be blamed on time constraints, which is reasonable, but it’s a gaping hole.

Unless you’re planning an episode where she realises she doesn’t know anything about marriage, then this is pushing her into it. Funnily enough, something like this was actually mentioned, by Rapunzel herself, stating she’s never even been to a wedding. Is this a hint to an episode? Because it’s needed.

Regardless, it’s an outdated trope to push the female character into wanting marriage this fast because she’s jealous of an ex-fiancée. If they wanted Rapunzel to realise she wanted to marry Eugene, it could have been done a million different ways, over the course of the season rather than one short movie. People can be dating with no plans of getting engaged and it’s unhealthy to jam in a need to get married. We all know they get together in the end, thanks to the Ever After short, so why do we need a quick engagement? Wouldn’t it be nicer to show them (or at least Rapunzel) slowly growing to want to get married and show it isn’t something that snaps when something bad happens?