Every little girl dreams of being a princess. They think of the huge palaces, the beautiful dresses, and the shining jewels. But what children need to understand is that it takes more than that to be a princess. There are plenty of films that tell you what being a princess really means. The ones that spring to mind for me are "The Little Princess" and "The Princess Diaries". While both on the surface seem to be films for children and young adults there is a hidden message behind them both. All girls have this idea of what being a princess is like - that it`s this magical experience so unreal that it`s like a dream.
For some that supposed dream is a reality and not the fantasy that you might think.
Today`s princesses live a little differently than they do in story books. They have to deal with real life. Endless people want to know every detail about them, from what they are doing, where they are going to who they are with. The most famous princess of all now is Kate Middleton - once a middle-class singleton, she is now one of the most popular princesses in the world. She best confirms that fairy tales do come true as she once was a regular girl and obscure to the world and now is one of the most watched and talked about princesses in the world.
The influence of Princess and Film
Whilst Kate Middleton may have had an influence on your children wanting to be princesses, there is another influence that has I expect had an influence too.
"Frozen," tells the story of two Princesses who have magical powers. They are strong women that young children can look up to. They make mistakes and get things wrong but in the end, they learn from them. They learn that being true to yourself never goes out of style . What reunites them, in the end, is their love for one another.
This is the thing that makes them strong. If being a princess is going to give children any kind of message then that is a good one - that love makes you strong.
Princess - status or feeling?
While "Frozen" teaches of love and sisterly affection, "A little princess" teaches young girls that they are all princesses; that being a princess is not something that is defined by status but by feeling.
It teaches children that they should be confident no matter who they are and what they do. "The Princess Diaries" show is a more realistic view of what happened to Kate Middleton's life. Like Mia, she was a normal girl turned into a beloved princess and one day she will become a beloved Queen.
