Evolution of Characters- Disney

        Story has evolved over time and the portrayal of female characters in movies have slowly been changing as well. The best example I can think of that portrays this point is the evolution of the Disney "princess" films. I believe all Disney movies are great and I love the stories but the older Disney princess films always portrayed the females as a damsel n distress waiting for a guy to save her. They make the princesses these perfect little girls that never do anything wrong. They never give the princess power or control. Well today Disney is starting to change this trend.
         A perfect example of this is the 2012 film, "Brave, " one of the newest Disney movies. In this story the princess, Merida, is a disobedient and powerful princess. She is forced by her mother to learn all of the things a princess should do but she really just loves to go out with her bow and explore. The problem in the story is that her parents, the king and queen, are about to pick who she maries and say that it her fate and that the princess must do it. However, Merida wishes to change her fate. The story revolves around her trying to take control and change her fate and break traditions. She runs into many obstacles with this decision and she has to be brave and mature to overcome them. Merida was a breath of fresh air because of how different she was from previous princess characters. She took control of her life and didn't wait for a guy to do her work. Another thing was different was that true love or marriage never happened in the end. I think that this is another way of showing the power of the women as well.
         Next, the Disney take on  Rapunzel is another new take on the original Disney princess movies. In Disney's "Tangled" Rapunzel has been locked up in a tower for years and years and wishes to see the lights she sees once a year. She finally works up the courage to leave the tower and explore it for herself with the help of guy she just met. She uses the crown to make the guy taker her to the lights and throughout this journey she finds love and the truth about her life. She finally realizes who she is and fights against the person who has been holding her captive for years. In the end she sacrifices her magic hair to save the guy that she loves. Disney's "Tangled" was probably the start of the new movement to stronger female characters in Disney movies because it was the first tie the princess had power and took a stand.
        Another Disney movie that has stepped outside the box is Disney's newest hit "Frozen." Frozen is the take on the Ice Queen and it has Queen Elsa and Princess Anna. At first glance they are both sisters, daughters of the Kind and Queen of Arendelle but Elsa actually has powers over snow and ice. The movies starts out sad with the death of the parents forcing Anna and Elsa to grow up alone and the fact that Elsa can't control her powers makes it even harder for Anna. They are forced to stay in the castle lonely until Elsa's coronation day and that's when everything starts to happen. Her powers slip out and she runs away to hide and live in the  mountains where she can't let her powers out and not have to hide them anymore. This story revolves around Anna's trip to bring Elsa back home and throughout this journey she overcomes obstacles and even meets a guy that she might like. I don't want to ruin the movie for anybody who hasn't seen it so I won't say anymore, buy that it is another example of new take on the Disney princess movies.
         These are just some examples of how story an characters have evolved over time. It's evident in the Disney princess movies the change in the female characters over time At first, Disney portrayed them as the perfect girls always dressed up to make them look the most attractive and made them seem like a damsel in distress. Now, Disney has given the princesses ore power and makes them disobedient and more adventurous. The girls take control of their own life and try to break traditions. It's nice to see these new and empowered characters because they are a brush of fresh air and appeal to more people. People like characters that are different and Merida, Rapunzel, Elsa, and Anna all are unique so a lot of people like them. Disney is on the right path with these characters and I m interested to see what they come up with next!

Mystery and Suspense

Why are we attracted to mysteries? Is there something in our brain that is wired for thrillers and suspense stories? The answer to that is yes, we love to be able to live out a murder mystery or suspense without actually experiencing it.  There’s something about mystery or suspenseful thrillers that gets our blood pumping, goose bumps rising and heart racing. We live out the scene through the eyes of the character. For example, the first time I saw the movie Disturbia I loved it because I was totally immersed in the movie. It is about a troublesome kid who figures out a serial killer lives next to him but nobody believes him. Once he finds out, he sees all of his victims die from across the street but when he calls the police they don’t find anything. Then the killer befriends his mom and plans to make her his next victim but the kid has to stop him. The movie is very good and it can really get your heart racing once he is the killer’s house because there are surprises at every turn.

There’s something about mysteries that just attract our interest. We like trying to predict what happens next, who the killer is, and who is going to end up doing what. No matter who you are, you always try to deduct or predict what is going to happen it’s in our nature. We always put ourselves in the characters shoes and end up saying things like “No don’t do that, don’t go in there, or what are you doing?” because we are so into the stories. We even end up saying things like if I were in that situation I would have run or done this or that. We’ve all done it. But that is the purpose of these mystery and suspense stories, they give us an opportunity to live out dangerous or thrilling situations without actually experiencing it. It gives you a nice escape from reality and gives you a chance to live out a dangerous murder mystery and allows you to be the sleuth or savior to solve everything. I always loved that feeling of solving the mystery or putting all the clues together to find out the culprit, it kind of ties up the loose ends throughout the story to me and makes it all makes sense.

In conclusion, there is something about murder mystery and suspenseful thrillers they get our blood pumping and attract our attention. I think it’s the fact that it gives us a chance to live out dangerous situations without actually experiencing them in reality but it could be for other reasons to.