MovieChat Forums > Sleeping Beauty (1959) Discussion > Selflessness, not blindly obeying

Selflessness, not blindly obeying

posted 11 years ago by SomethingUnoriginal
25 replies | jump to latest

I personally believe that Aurora wasn't just a meek, blindly obedient person. Some people are giving her a lot of flack, saying that she isn't a good role model like the more modern princesses. But in my opinion, giving up her dream guy in order to marry for the good of her kingdom is something that required a lot of bravery. Not every girl has to be boisterous and tomboyish in order to be brave and kind, and the first 3 princesses are some examples of this. Aurora especially was very mature, and can actually teach people about the value of selflessness.

[–] stayprettystockholm 11 years ago

I thought I was reading my own post at first. You're saying exactly what I've always said (you don't post a lot on tumblr or fanpop do you? I've posted about this there,)

The double standards are funny. Belle is praised for taking her dad's place. Jasmine is praised for being willing to give up her privilege (which she never appreciated anyway) to be with Aladdin. Ariel is praised for fighting to be with Eric. Pocahontas is praised for choosing her people over John. Mulan is praised for putting herself in her father's place. I could go on. But Aurora, who does the equally selfless thing, is a spineless wimp.

I think many Disney fans, at least of the Renaissance heroines, tend to be very biased and hypocritical (although we are all a bit about our faves). The classics get condemned for reasons the 90s ones get praised for.

I admire Aurora enormously for what you said. She's sadly very underrated and misunderstood despite what an unselfish thing she did, to put her dreams aside for a people she didn't know. You don't need to swing a sword or sell your voice to be brave. I think this kind of bravery is similar to the kind Atticus meant in To Kill A Mockingbird. I agree the other two were brave too. It takes A LOT of strength and courage to not act bitter from abuse and abandonment as Cinderella and Snow White were put through (I know this personally). They stayed loving and kind. What's with the selective victim-blaming?

Why are people so outraged by obedience anyway? Because it clashes with the rebellious/me-first attitude we have today?

Though you're dressed in rags, you wear an air of queenly grace

[–] SomethingUnoriginal 11 years ago

Thank you for your reply :)
(No, I don't really post stuff like this on tumblr, and I don't post on fanpop)

I just think that because she sadly does not have a lot of screentime, and does not fight or behave like a tomboy, she is immediately branded as weak.

Because people view royalty as something that gives you everything you want, they tend to forget that Aurora was thrusted into a role that she learned about a mere few hours before. Royalty back then meant a lot of responsibility. She is giving up everything she ever wanted in order to be of service to her people, and that is something that I doubt many people would do.

Personally I think that obedience has become undervalued these days, being seen as weak rather than a sacrifice for a team.

I have become convinced that nobody reads these.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] jdagd68278 11 years ago

I agree with you

[–] pinkballerina9893 11 years ago

SO GLAD you posted this! I agree with all that was said.

[–] haterslooveme 11 years ago

Selfless or not, Aurora still had no backbone. She didn't stand up for herself when she was obviously trying to get away from Phillip (a stranger.. who she was forbidden to talk to), she didn't stand up for her dreams and desires to the fairies when they told her she had to be a princess and never see Phillip again, she didn't fight to be with him or anything she wanted at all just sat and cried in the castle. Why is doing what everyone tells you and letting others rule your life a good thing? Shouldn't we be promoting strong, intelligent, capable women who follow their own hearts?

You want selflessness I suggest you check out Pocahontas. That girl was incredibly unselfish. She loved John but knew her people needed her more than he did and she never let people walk over her, she stood up for herself, her culture and what was right. I'd like to see more heroines like that.

[–] ladylaughinglizard 11 years ago

Oh come on. She didn't want to get away from Phillip because he was a stranger! She wanted to meet someone. Did you not pay attention to everything leading up to that scene? And then she agrees to meet him - not alone - but with her aunts present - a very smart thing that DOES make her a good role model to fifteen year olds/sixteen year olds (it's her birthday, remember?)

THEN she finds out she's a betrothed princess and she's going back to the castel to meet her parents that she hasn't seen since she was an infant and essentially never met!

And you think the fact that she willingly left to meet her parents and live the life she was born to lead instead of running away and fighting to be with a guy she's known for TWENTY MINUTES makes her a better role model for modern females?

Think again, sista. Did we watch the same movie?

[–] ladylaughinglizard 11 years ago

I think I used the wrong word in their somewhere. Obviously I think running away from something as monumental as meeting your family for the first time to be with a guy you JuST met is selfish and stupid. Not the opposite.

[–] frostylikas 10 years ago

'she didn't stand up for her dreams and desires to the fairies when they told her she had to be a princess and never see Phillip again'

Well that was what the thing was that made her so selfless and where her maturity shone through. She actually recognised her responsibility and went ahead to take her future, and what would of been really weak IMO, was if she demanded that she could stay in the forest and the cottage and carried on about it, instead of looking from a more mature viewpoint. The fact that she knew what she had to do, and did, despite what she really wanted (and got in the end, but still) showed more backbone, IMO.

She may not have been strong like modern-day Disney Princesses, but she was strong in the fact that, like some Princesses in modern day, she didn't throw all responsibility to the wind because she wanted to be with someone she only just met. She was just as strong, she just took the responsibility path instead of the 'rushing down into true love' path.

I will say Pocahontas was also selfless, as well, but considering the different circumstances of their respective films, I don't think it makes Pocahontas any more stronger than Aurora. Just because you realize your responsibility doesn't mean that your weak, it just means you know when to accept what you have to do and other things sometimes need to come second.

[–] helderuto 10 years ago

Selfless or not, Aurora still had no backbone.

Yeh, it requires a lot of backbone to be selfish...

[–] bobby9512-846-360489 10 years ago

She's among my least favorite princesses. Not because she was a bad role model, but because she wasn't as developed as she could've been. She was only in 18 minutes of the film, and I always felt as if I knew almost nothing about her character..

Otherwise, I do think she's very beautiful and I've always loved her voice. I agree with what you say about her being selfless. And I dislike when people victim blame her, or complain about her being saved by a prince or whatever. She was put under a spell... what are people expecting her to do? :|

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] ZakkVanBurace 10 years ago

Well that's a perspective, but I don't think she married for the good of her kingdom, she did it because she loved her prince, as he was supposed to be her dream guy. She fell in love after dancing with him, and after he wakes her up from her cursed sleep she just marries him for the sake of it...

[–] cheedo 10 years ago

She didn't love her prince- she didn't even know him. That's why she was crying: she had to leave the only life she knew after finding out it was a lie, had to leave the first man she'd ever met and come to like to marry a stranger.

And for the sake of it? Or... because he saved her, they love each other, they're engaged?

I am under the strong suspicious that you guys never actually watch Disney movies..

The entire world is falling to ruins and poor Cheshire's off his tea.