This document discusses critical approaches for analyzing the Disney film Tangled. It examines the film through lenses of feminism, age, race/ethnicity, and class. For feminism, it notes the film portrays women as princesses or evil figures, with beauty defined as white, blonde, and young. It also says males get more action and adventure. For age, it discusses how the film presents youth as problematic and the villain as old. For race, it only depicts Caucasian characters. For class, it shows Rapunzel as a princess and the thief Flynn as lower class initially. The document encourages using these critical lenses to deconstruct Disney films.

1. Critical Approaches for
Responding to
Disney’s
Tangled
http://kristanfranco.blogspot.com/2011/02/5-reasons-why-you-should-watch-disneys.html

2. What do we mean by
Critical Approaches or Critical Lens?
A critical lens is a habit of thinking, reading,
writing, and speaking that goes
beneath the surface meaning, first impressions,
dominant myths, official pronouncements, and
clichés to understand deeply the meaning, root
causes, and social context of a text.

3. Feminism Criticism
Feminism focuses on gender images, particularly how
girls are portrayed as feminine and sexual beings and
masculinity is constructed in terms of male
power/control.
In Tangled, as a woman you can either be
a princess awaiting her prince or an
evil stepmother/witch. Beauty equals
white, blonde, thin, and young.
If you are male, you get all the action (in
many senses of the word). Flynn is all
masculine adventure, power, and
cunning.

4. Critical Theories of Age
In our society, youth
is presented as a
problem or regarded
as a problem. Young
people make their
presence by going
“out of bounds” and
breaking rules.
Whereas “old people”
are evil and cunning.
• Rapunzel is 16, an age
considered to be a the
threshold of
womanhood.
• Her desire is to be
somewhere else.
• Mother Gothel is a witch
who kidnapped pretends
to be Rapunzel’s mother
in order to maintain her
own youth and beauty.

5. Critical Theories of Race & Ethnicity
Critical analysis of race
focuses on the ways in
which race and ethnicity
are portrayed in the text.
Images of race are
shaped by various
categories: white = good
and black = evil. These
binaries limit and
essentialize race and
ethnicity.
• In the movie all the main
characters are Caucasian (White).
• There are no images of people of
color. Those presented as other
are social outcasts in regards to
weight, looks, and abilities.

6. Critical Theories of Class
• Rapunzel lives
comfortably in the
Tower and later the
viewer finds out she is a
princess.
• Flynn is a thief (think
Aladdin) and “bad boy”
who changes his ways
after he meets Rapunzel
-- later when she
becomes her true
princess self ,they marry.
Critical theories of class are
most evident in people’s
perceptions and
judgments of members
of different socio-
economic status.
Different people have
different notions of what
is means to be “rich” and
what it means to be
“poor.”

7. And now, it’s your turn . . .
In small groups you will critically
deconstruct and analyze the Disney
film Brace using one of the Critical
Approaches discussed today. We will
combine our analysis into a CYOAV.