#gocelottxtpost

[gocelot]

Tangled the Series, remarkably, seems to have almost on accident stumbled into a powerful queer narrative- a narrative which was inherently doomed by the movie and at a broader level the company it’s based off of.

The original Tangled is, primarily, a story about child abuse. Flynn rider, for that reason, represents liberation, an escape from Gothel’s control. So we are content with their ‘happy ever after’- it’s thematically satisfying. However, in the TTS the opposing force shifts from an individual (Mother gothel) to an oppressive system- the society Rapunzel is suddenly expected to conform to and the expectations that come along with that.

Eugene comes to explicitly reinforce this system- he’s ready to settle down and says as much with his proposal in Before Ever after. Rapunzel panics, not because she doesn’t love Eugene, but because the prospect of going back to a form of ‘confinement’ in this case, marriage, after she’s just left the tower is uncomfortable for her. Rapunzel barely knows who she is, and already she feels pressure to conform to what everyone *expects her to be* This is also very present in her strained relationship with her father.

So, as her mind is reeling, what happens next? That’s right, her lady in waiting reveals herself to be a rough around the edges, gender non-conforming lesbian- with a costume change just to really nail this point home. And that night, the night where Rapunzel was supposed to promise herself to a domestic life with Eugene, is when Cassandra takes her out on a liberating outing- takes her past the literal walls she’s not supposed to pass. For just that one night, Cass sets her free- from the expectations of her father, from her boyfriend, from her kingdom. It’s that drive which triggers the return of her magical hair, setting into motion the events of the entire series, events which allow Rapunzel to discover herself.

And we’re supposed to watch that and NOT pick up on queer subtext???

[gocelot]

Della duck’s arc always makes me so emotional because what do you mean this reboot about triplet ducks who go on adventures with their billionaire uncle also manages to not only tell an incredibly poignant story about loss and how it damages families but also a story about motherhood and how hard it really is, especially for a character like Della, who hasn’t even gotten to know her children for the most formative years of their lives.

How she spends 10 years, fighting so fiercely to undo what she’s done, to claw herself out from a moment of reckless abandon. She wasn’t ready to be a mother. In a way, no one really is. But she would have learned. Yet that chance was stolen from her- and she remained suspended, in a sort of limbo for those 10 years. But she holds on to this dream of motherhood, of her children, of making things right for them. That’s all that keeps her going.

And then she returns. And it’s a beautiful, wonderful moment. But it’s also not exactly as she dreamed. In front of her are her kids, yes, but they’re also fully formed individuals who she doesn’t know, with names she didn’t choose, and 10 years of growth she never got to see. She was never going to slot imperceptibly into their lives. She can’t make up for all the time she was gone, not really.

And what a tragic thought that is. Maybe it’s been too long, maybe things are too different, maybe it’s too late for her to ever really be their mother. But it isn’t. It’s not easy, though, either. Della makes mistakes, she struggles to connect with her children, hurts them, in some ways either. But she also loves them, loves them enough to grow, and change. And despite the fact that her absence for all those years can’t be erased- she grows to truly become a mother.

[gocelot]

How crazy is it that Sasha always wanted what was best for Anne and Marcy and never wanted to hurt them but for so long she was convinced that she knew better than them what they needed.

That’s why she helped get Anne to steal the music box, to her it was part of her idea of the perfect birthday- a sort of coming of age ritual. Did Anne want to do it? No, of course not, and Sasha knew that, but she also knew it was for Anne’s own good.

Sasha, who grew up in an unsteady and insecure household, had to manifest control and order in some other part of her life. So she adopted this sort of paternalistic attitude towards her friends- particularly Anne, who was generally kind of aimless and a bit of a pushover.

But when they get to amphibia, and suddenly Anne has gotten more confident in herself- and is willing to stand up to her- that’s when things escalate. Sasha pushes harder, thinking she can corral Anne back into line. When she can’t, the only thing she can resort to is physical agression- their fight.

She hurt her friends, and made some significant mistakes- but it was never out of animosity, and especially not out of indifference.

[gocelot]

Something about how Cassandra’s lady in waiting dress represents her being forced to suppress her genuine self and fit into preconceived ideas of femininity as well as class structure and how we’re shown how much more comfortable she is in her more masculine presenting clothing because she’s no longer defined as subservient to royalty (especially rapunzel) or to her role as a woman

And then this contrasted with certain corners of the fandom where she’s presented in that same dress in heterosexual bliss