Disney Channel and romantic tropes

[meganbmoore]

My DVD player has died and I've been compensating by watching Disney Channel shows.  Do not ask.  I think I've mostly thinking about how they'd be so cool if I were 12.  All the supposedly charming or cool or cute guys need a ounch in the face.  The goody girls who I'm supposed to like are snooty and superior, all other girls are supposed to be annoying, materialistic comedic relief, but are more entertaining.  The smart boys are supposed annoying twats and the "cool" boys are annoying brats who could do with being grounded for years.  I think the only character I like is the hyper competitive and academic sister in some show that's a Brady Bunch knockoff that's named after her irritating stepbrother.  I despair over her taste in boys, though.  (The only show whose title I know is The Suite Life of Zach and Cody.  That one is entertaining, though I keep wondering why the adults haven't murdered all the kids.)

Make me stop watching them.

ANYWAY!

Over at Dear Author, they have a poll about favorite and least favorite romantic tropes.  Since this is a type of topic I never tire of (people's likes and dislikes) give me some of yours.

Comments

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I SHIP! Just...not in everything. I squee over anything that doesn't annoy me, I just don't get involved in as many. But yeah, if they were m/f, I suspect they'd be paired.

The thing with romance centric plots is that I'm rarely convinced they can make it through real life after they work out their personal issues. If they're having to deal with other things that aren't related to their relationship too, or the conflict isn't about getting together, i'm more comvinced. (Which is why, of my favorite shoujo series, the only one where the romance is the main focus is one where they get together quickly, and the conflict-when there is conflict- is about what they'll do with their lives after HS.)

ETA: I've been rewatching Disney mvies lately too. I think that, once you reach Little Mermaid Disney goes "hmm...our target audience is teenaged girls...let's make more of these focus of finding their place in the world, and less on being rescued by the prince" and it even carries into the male-lead centric shows.

[rhap-chan.livejournal.com]

That's always something I thought was nice about Cardcaptor Sakura-- sure, you have the canon romance, but you also had plenty of delicious plot to chew over too.

Regarding Disney, that is a fascinating thought, though I almost want to push that after Little Mermaid, to Hercules or Mulan as being the start of it. Aladdin's Jasmine is somewhat spunky, but very passive-- sort of like Ariel, who isn't exactly passive but definitely made to be rescued by the prince.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Ariel still needed to be rescued by the prince, but (IIRC) she's the first one to really go "I am going to live my life and not sit around waiting." Jasmine's passiveness, IMO, was mostly because she realized that even though she didn't like them or want them, she had duties and responsibilities that she couldn't really run away from. Even when she did run away, you didn't get the feeling that she'd really be able to do it, because she was the heir. I think Mulan and Megara likely likely their ulitmate expressions of that. Though, in a way, I want to push Nala, too. She's far secondary, but she's the only one who went to those lengths to find food for her tribe, and she's what kickstarted Simba getting his act together.

And in CCS, you have relationships of every sort that are important, not just romance.

[rhap-chan.livejournal.com]

Nala was awesome. I wish she'd been more of a primary character. I think I get what you're saying here and that's a good point. I read the other day that Sleeping Beauty-- Aurora, I think?-- only actually has about 20 minutes of screentime as an adult in the movie that bears her name-- that's the kind of princess I don't like. D:

And in CCS, you have relationships of every sort that are important, not just romance.

I love that too. I'm sorting through manga images for important characters and relationships and the list is wonderfully long. I have like 90 images just for Kero and Sakura, and 4 volumes more to sort. I love that series. <3

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Seriously, that little? Are we that distracted by Maleficent? (OTOH, the movie itself, I think, is relatively short...but that likely still leaves her on screen for about 1/5th of the movie...

[rhap-chan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, IMDB says, "Second only to Dumbo (who didn't speak at all), this Disney title character has very few lines of actual dialogue throughout the entire film. The film is actually the story about the three fairies who protect her, not about the Sleeping Beauty herself. Rose/Aurora is only featured in the film in very few scenes and hardly ever says anything. She doesn't utter a single word in the second half of the film, neither before or after she falls under the spell. Her first line comes 19 minutes into the film and her last line comes 39 minutes into the film. However, she does sing two songs during that time."

And actually: "After she wakes up, Princess Aurora has no lines whatsoever."

I knew there was a reason it was one of the Disney movies I most dislike. This one and Snow White both irritate me.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Ow. Wow. Yeah. I loved this one as a kid, but it was because of the fairies and Maleficent, with Briar Rose and the prince just kinda being romantic in the background. Snow White I never liked as much. Likely for the same reasons, though there I've always realized that it's because there's almost no interaction at all between the lovers (at least Briar Rose and the prince did talk a teeny bit...) and that it was all about the dwarves.