Misrepresentations In Disenchanted

I attended a live performance of Disenchanted on April 23rd, 2017 at the Boulder Dinner Theatre. Book, lyrics and music were written, composed and lyricized by Dennis T. Giancio. Disenchanted tells a story about the classic Disney fairytale princesses, but takes a more satirical, feminist approach about each of the flaws of each Disney princess. The Disney writers presented the princesses in an unrealistic and unnatural way by over feminizing them and attempting to dim their racial/ethnic background. The actors and actresses in Disenchanted, debunk the stereotypical misrepresentations of race/ethnicity, how women should dress and present themselves in society, and the reliance on men to be successful in life. This is done through various accents,

gestures and how the actors overall carry themselves throughout the musical.
Misrepresentation of race and ethnicity is very common in Disney musicals.

The acting in Disenchanted sheds light on these misrepresentations. Scene 3, the introduction to the character Pocahontas, played by MariJune Scott, showed how the rough and tumble, 10 year old Pocahontas was transformed into a more feminine, ethnically Caucasian, 20 year old princess. “I was given long flowing, straight hair, a mini skirt, and double-ds” (Giancio). Along with singing the lyrics, MariJune Scott used physical gestures to emphasize the lyrics. She flicked her hair, pulled at her mini-skirt and grasped her chest. The combination of the physical gestures and irritated tone in her voice successfully drew my attention to her act. MarieJune Scott’s acting accentuated how frustrated her character was with Disney’s misrepresentation of the historical figure,

Pocahontas.
In Disney films, the princesses are presented in a very feminine way. Their clothing, postures and how they act are displayed in a feminine manner. Disenchanted however, takes an alternative approach to this with the character of sleeping beauty played by Annie Dwyer. Annie Dwyer’s acting portrays a sleeping beauty who goes against the “princess complex”, the idea that women must present themselves in a lady-like fashion as princess would, presented by Disney. Along with Snow white played by Jonnie Brosseau and Cinderella played by Tracy Warren sing “One More Happ’ly Ever After”, deconstructing this princess complex. She presents the audience with an unmannered, vulgar, tobacco consuming sleeping beauty. Throughout the entire play, sleeping beauty continually interacted with one of the audience members being overtly sexual with him. She successfully presents herself in a very “un lady-like manner”, on multiple occasions she presents her middle finger to the audience and other characters, maintaining a slouched posture throughout the musical, and frequently begins smoking a prop cigarette on stage.
Lastly, a common theme among Disney films and musicals is the idea that women must be reliant on men to be successful in life.

The damsel in distress is a repeated theme throughout many of Disney films. The idea that princesses are incapable of taking care of themselves and need their prince charming to come rescue them. An example provided by Disenchanted was the princess Rapunzel, Rapunzel a German story that was the least feminized Disney princess fairytale. This fact was exploited by the actor chosen to play the character Rapunzel. A male actor was chosen to present Rapunzel in the most masculine way as possible. Rapunzel was played by the actor Matthew D. Peters. In addition to being a male actor playing a female character, he accentuated his masculinity by flexing his muscles on stage, thrusting his hips to add an oversexualized masculine performance, as well as singing in a very low tone. Matthew sung the entire song with a German accent to promote the historical significance that Rapunzel was originally a German fairytale. The combination of these actions presented by Matthew D. Peters playing Rapunzel created a different dynamic through a dominant, masculine sexual

character.
Disenchanted presents an alternative view to the original way the white-male writers presented Disney princesses that accompanied many racial/ethnic stereotypes and patriarchal portrayals in many of the Disney movies. The musical Disenchanted did an excellent job shedding light on these themes through the use of a feminist lens. Through the great acting by all of the performing actors many of these stereotypes and portrayals were exploited in a satirical manner. Through the use of various accents and gestures, the acting throughout the musical was successful in sending a clear message: Disney writers were racist, misogynistic, white men whose ideals and values presented were unrealistic and unnatural in the real world. Attending the live performance of this production helped keep my focus on musical with the combination of the theatre atmosphere with the improvised audience interaction. Sitting front row at the production allowed myself to see the pure emotion expressed on the actor’s faces and through body.