Kit Power Princess Questions

2018 is the year of the princess!

Throughout the year, I will be asking authors from a variety of genres as well as a host of others from editors to academics, what they think makes a definitive princess.

This month we are joined by Kit Power: author, podcaster, singer, parent and husband.

1. What three attributes do you think a princess ought to have?

I guess before I answer I should point out that the lens through which I view this question is that of a father of an 8 year old daughter who, up until a month ago, was obsessed with all things Disney princess (and has now morphed, apparently, completely into a superhero fanatic - kids, eh?) So what I’m looking for in princesses are the qualities I want to serve as good role models for my kid.

A questioning nature. I like princesses that ask difficult questions, challenge the status quo, and think for themselves. These are absolutely critical life skills, and I want my daughter to associate them with heroic characters.
Courage, especially in the face of tyranny or evil. Again, vital life skills.
Weapons training. No, really. Princesses who are capable of defending themselves, as opposed to being reliant on a prince to save them, is an absolute must. I want my daughter to see girls and women who are empowered, and in the world of fairytales and all that entails, empowerment means the ability to defend yourself. So, weapons training.

2. What characteristics do you think are so overused that they’ve become tropes?

From the Disney perspective, for most of the run of the movies, beauty standards have been woefully narrowly defined, though that has improved in the last couple of decades, especially post-“Shrek”, which did such an expert job of skewering many of the more troubling tropes of the genre. Actually, I think “Shrek” also did a number on Prince Charming to such an extent that he’s been increasingly AWOL since: Merida ends “Brave” resolutely single, as do Elsa and Anna, and Moana ditches the notion of a love interest entirely. I think that’s the biggest single trope I’m glad to see gone, actually - the notion that the crowning and most important thing for a woman is to be married to a square-jawed handsome cypher. Bleurgh! Not that marriage can’t be awesome, but to have it be portrayed over and over again as really the only reason to exist… I realise that’s more a characteristic of the story type than princesses themselves, but it’s the component of the first 50 years of Disney that I find among the most obnoxious - again, not out of any issues with marriage as a good thing per se, but out of the total hegemony of vision that it’s literally the only route to Happily Ever After.

3. If I forced you to choose, which would be your favourite Disney princess?

Merida from “Brave”. My daughter isn’t Scottish, but she does have curly red hair, and a bow and arrow, and is awesome. I love Merida’s story so much because ultimately the way she reconciles with her mother is not by knuckling under to tradition, but by demonstrating to her mum through action that there is a better way. Rebellious teen upturns social order by asking tough questions and holding tight to her principles of self-worth? Hell, yes!

Honourable mention to Mulan who, prior to my daughter being born, was my favourite, and who I think still has much to recommend her.

4. A lot of people look down on the older Disney princesses, such as Snow White and Aurora, as being too passive and subservient. Do you think there are good qualities in these outdated princesses that modern girls and boys can aspire to?

Hmmm. I mean, they’re good singers…

I actually enjoy those early movies - especially “Snow White” which is a masterpiece on a technical level, utterly astonishing for its time. And it’s interesting how often the villains are female in those stories: Snow White’s witch, Maleficent in “Sleeping Beauty”, and Ursula in “The Little Mermaid”…

But I’m talking around the question, because I’m honestly struggling to find positive qualities. Well, okay, they tend to be honest, and polite, and while I think polite and subservient are very, very different things, and sure, one can tip into the other, politeness in and of itself is a value I think worth extolling actually (which may surprise readers of my work, but I think writing serves a different function to interpersonal interaction). So, I’m stretching it a bit, but I think there’s something there, sure.

5. What’s the ideal outfit for a princess, including a can’t-do-without accessory?

Something you can ride a horse in, while either swinging a sword or shooting a bow and arrow. Which I think also covers the can’t-do-without accessory.

6. Although it’s rarely written about, princesses eventually turn into queens. Which fictional (or real) queen do you consider to be a particularly inspiring character?

It’s hard not to be excited about the Daenerys arc in “Game of Thrones”, and while there are justifiable and understandable fears about how her story might end, her journey - and especially her refusal to accept so many of the evils associated with power and leadership - have been really interesting, and a rare attempt at working through a potentially utopian vision in what is undeniably an otherwise über-grimdark setting. I wouldn’t like to put any money on how it’ll play out in the last ten episodes, but the evolution of her morality, and her continued attempts to increase the depth and scope of justice in the teeth of a brutal world, has been quite the story so far.

Kit Power Princess Questions

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