The animated Disney movie Sleeping Beauty is a wonderful family classic, but it has a quite questionable and problematic lesson for boys, because it encourages them to get affectionate with unconscious women. In fact, it’s the lynchpin of the whole story, as you may recall:
Sleeping Beauty is unconscious, under a spell (a metaphor for alcohol overindulgence, I think), and Prince ‘Harming’ shows up with his rape culture and Royal privilege, and he’s like: “I don’t care if she’s passed-out, I’m going to make out with her anyway!” And then the story says that’s “true love’s kiss” (!!!), and it breaks the spell, she wakes up, and they get married and live “happily ever after.” (?)
And seeing this, boys get the message that when girls say they want their handsome prince to arrive, they mean they want some guy to start kissing on them when they’re passed-out. What else are boys going to think after seeing this movie? The message is pretty clear, when you really think about it.
But Sleeping Beauty didn’t consent! And, in fact, she could not consent, seeing as how she was not in possession of her full conscious faculties.
But Sleeping Beauty didn’t consent! And, in fact, she could not consent, seeing as how she was not in possession of her full conscious faculties.
So as you can see, the beloved animated classic Sleeping Beauty might possibly be the root of rape culture in America, brainwashing young males into wanting to get it on with unconscious women with the promise of happily ever after. (Shame on you, frozen Mecha Walt Disney!)
To be fair, Disney didn’t invent the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale, and I doubt they ever thought of this possible reading of the plot. But the guys who came up with Sleeping Beauty are long dead now, so how can we blame them now?
(Just kidding! Please don’t kill me, frozen Mecha Walt Disney! But you have to admit, I really do have a point here with the kissing the passed-out princess issue, right?)
BTW: I think this idea would make a fun Robot Chicken sketch: Sleeping Beauty is asleep in her bed, the prince comes in, and as he’s about to kiss her, Sleeping Beauty wakes up and says: “A-Ha! You were about to kiss me while I was unconscious, weren’t you?” And a crowd of guards runs into the room, and they take the prince down to the dungeon. And when he protests that he was just trying to give her “true love’s kiss”, they say: “That’s what they all say!” And then he gets thrown into a dungeon cell with all the other Disney princes.
