The princess saves herself in this one.
It’s becoming a more common story, as women young and old have access to their own money, their education, and things that were out of the realm of possibility even 100 years ago. And the stories are starting to reflect that, as Millie Bobby Brown’s new movie on Netflix shows.
It is not a perfect movie, and it has a PG-13 rating definitely for fantasy violence, etc. Millie’s perfect haircut and makeup kind of took me out of the story a bit, and I kind of agree with one reviewer who said they wanted less running around in the caverns of the mountain and more revenge storyline. And that gets to the point I really wanted to get to. I don’t want to talk about the damsel in distress saving herself, I want to talk about the Queen.
*spoilers incoming*
The reason that Elodie (Millie Bobby Brown) finds herself in the position of escaping from a dragon is centuries of patriarchy. A king chose to violently destroy a mother dragon’s offspring setting off a centuries-long practice of sacrificing young women to the dragon as recompense. Rather than make any attempt at a peaceful and harmonious relationship the king chose to see a threat and “neutralize” it in the only way he knew, war.
The dragon mother wanted the king to experience the grief that she felt in losing her daughters and so she demanded that in every generation three of the royal daughters must be sacrificed. The king agreed and now we have two villains, a dragon, and the aristocracy. Being the manipulative power mongers they are, the royal family found a loophole: marry their princes to any girl they could, have a blood-binding ceremony to give the new princess so she bears the sent of royal blood, and throw her to the dragon.
Generation after generation of young women, innocent of any crime, sometimes quite clever, find themselves paying the price of blood so that power can stay in the hands of a few. By the time Elodie comes on the scene, it is not the King who holds all the cards, the Queen and other nobility are willing to support and encourage this practice. Their fear of losing their positions and their power keeps them silent as the prince weds and tosses to the dragon's young women.
The Queen makes the decisions, the Queen cuts her son’s hand to blood bind with Elodie, and the Queen will do anything to stay in power, even though she is also a woman. She will cast aside other women to maintain her life of privilege. She will feed the beast whatever is asked to prevent facing her own sorrow and doom. She herself is bound to the patriarchal rules and cannot fathom any other alternative to the situation.
Elodie is the daughter of a smaller-ranking noble in a distant land from the dragon. We first meet her chopping wood to care for her people during a harsh winter. She is shown as willing to take on hard work and give up her own resources to care for the needs of those who rely on her and her family. Elodie agrees to the arranged marriage that promises support for the needs of her homeland. She has this in common with the queen, a willingness to set aside personal gratification for the greater good. The difference is valuing life above societal rank.
The Queen does not bother to investigate alternatives or ask questions of the enemy. She simply assumes that to maintain her power, she must continue to sacrifice others. The king, the prince, and the nobility who surround them do the same, hiding behind literal masks, refusing to acknowledge the blood and bones that have lifted them up and prevented their demise.
The dragon is not the villain.
While it may be tempting to make the story about the damsel, it seemed to me to be a story about systems of power and the lengths that people will go to to keep that power. Systems whereby innocent people suffer, while those in power stay in power. The story is about what motivates women, which is often different from what motivates men. The kings and men think of themselves, of the “greater good” choosing the supposed lesser of two evils. The dragon mother acts from the deepest grief. The queen wants to preserve her son's legacy, no matter the cost. The damsel is willing to face the ultimate trial for the sake of her sister and her people.
The story's villain is the system that people have bound themselves to, without attempting to find a better way. The ending is fairytale appropriate, with the demise of the evil king and queen and all they stand for. But what does happily ever after look like when the prince betrays the princess and the damsel saves herself?
It looks like examining the motives, uncovering the whole truth, and dismantling systems of oppression. Happily ever after is not a life of blissful ignorance, unless that system benefits you in some way. Just ignore the possibility that the system which benefits you causes others harm, because of some “greater good.”
Over the past few years, I have had a lot of reasons to observe and examine different systems, religious, political, and social. The closer I look the more issues I have. And think I will have to choose: will I be the dragon, lashing out at everyone, the queen who will destroy the innocent to preserve the status quo, or the damsel pushed to the brink to save herself and those she loves?
For the Ears
For the Eyes
What are you watching these days?
For the Taste Buds
For my birthday the kids and I went to a sushi and steakhouse restaurant, the kind where they cook the food on a grill, with big flames and onion volcanoes. Freaked the toddler out, but the rest of the kids had a grand time.
May this week bring humility to your senses and your soul.