Ever since I first saw Tangled, I've struggled with liking it as much as I've wanted to. The horse, Maximus, alone is enough reason to love the film. He's awesome. And I very much like that the relationship between heroine and hero grows instead of happens at first sight. But the "I love you most" and "mother knows best" exchanges left me feeling icky. How, as a mother, am I supposed to help my daughters differentiate between a mother who really is doing her best to do what's right to protect and care for her children and a creepy, horrible user who uses some of the same loving words?
Finally, while watching it again today, I figured out how to use the film to support an important lesson to protect my girls. I focused them on how the King and Queen never stopped loving, never stopped looking and never stopped hoping that they would find their baby girl--I told them that would be how their mommy and daddy would be. And I talked about how there were, sadly, some really terrible people out there who actually took children and while they weren't witches, they would tell terrible lies to the children--they could say things like "mommy and daddy are dead" or "mommy doesn't love you anymore." I explained how, if something happened to us, there were lots of people who the girls actually knew who love them and would come take care of them and that there would NEVER be a time we didn't love them, EVER. So anyone who told them that was lying and could not be trusted.
It's a harsh reality that there are terrible people out there, and it's even harder trying to impart that to your children without making the world too scary. So, now, I can watch the movie with less stress and more enjoyment and have an important, yet gentle conversation starter.
#whyIloveDisney
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