Dion Winton-Polak 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 Dion Winton-Polak. Dion is an editor, an occasional writer, and a happy model for ridiculous facial hair. He started out as a podcaster and a reviewer for Geek Syndicate, then switched tracks to preside over a couple of fun small press anthologies: the oddly uplifting “Sunny With A Chance of Zombies” and the ambitious shared-world SF project “This Twisted Earth” (which featured an unexpected star contributor). Dion now spends his time helping authors raise their game via his freelance business, “The Fine-toothed Comb.” Find out what his clients think of him at thefinetoothed.co.uk/recommended-editor-proofreader/ or hunt him down on social media for a bit of a chat. Tell him Charlotte sent you.

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

Royal daughters have been used as pawns throughout history to secure alliances and maintain the lineage of power. It would be hard enough to endure this, but to thrive in the role and make the nation a better place takes some doing. To my mind, the top three attributes a princess needs are self-possession, tenacity, and empathy. Self-possession is necessary to maintain a sense of personal identity and self-worth within the dreadful strictures of the role; tenacity, to weather political storms yet still pursue positive change for the country; and empathy is, of course, critical to forming and maintaining a connection with the people (upon whose backs the economy and the whole power structure ultimately rests). Lose them and the royal family could find themselves losing their heads.

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

I suppose there are quite a few characteristics that seem de rigueur when people write princess characters. If we’re supposed to like the princess these days, she will usually be unladylike in some fashion so we think of her as one of us really – either as a dirty-kneed child who chases after animals or as a restless young woman who’s also a bit of a klutz. The key thing will be that she doesn’t want to be a princess (but, of course, she’ll grow into the role). Alternatively, if we’re supposed to hate her she’ll be eager to lay claim to her title. She’ll know the part she has to play down pat but she’ll also want to exceed her bounds, determined to use every wile in the book to take power for herself – against the “natural order” of the male dominated world and somehow at the expense of the people. Talk about stacking the decks against her, eh?

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

Oof! I knew this one was coming. I mean, of course it’s Moana, for all the reasons given by previous respondents and more, so I’m going to switch to my fall-back option: Tiana from “The Princess and the Frog.” Instead of putting a child born into privilege up on a pedestal, we’re given a vibrant girl who’s had to work for everything she has. Social status aside, she’s a genuinely likeable character with a great sense of humour, a heart of gold, and a pin-sharp brain. Yes, the fact that she becomes a princess does play into the ropey-tropey Disney tradition but it also subverts it, telling the audience that the things that actually matter – the things they should really be paying attention to and valuing in life – are not just found in royalty, but in everyday people who work hard (Tiana), who express themselves through their art (Louis), and who are willing to sacrifice everything for their loved ones (Tiana’s father and Ray). And this particular princess ends up in a palace which is actually her restaurant – in a location with a vocation she has made for herself – which has the twin virtues of being both inspirational and achievable.

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?

It’s been a long, lonoog time since I watched any of the classic Disney princess movies but I remember finding value in them, both as a child and as a parent. They are drawn from the old fairy tales so, cutesiness aside, they do still show us that the world can be a dangerous place, full of bitter and cruel people. Sure, motive may be all-but-sketched in but the point is made: you need to be careful of strangers. At the same time, the princesses show us the value of open-heartedness, a trait that enables them to make friends outside of their conventional social boundaries – and it is these friendships (as much as, if not more than their “prince”) that help them through their difficulties. They may be a little passive in their approach but one thing these princesses embody is endurance through troubled times, and to do so they find beauty and pleasure in the smallest of things: a song, a woodland glade, a rushing waterfall. That’s no nothing. Life goes on, no matter the hardships. Shouldn’t we fight for justice? Absolutely, when we can. But sometimes we lack the power and all we can do is endure. Better to do so with hope (and a song) in your heart than to wallow in despair.

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

Fashion is really not my forte, so I’m gonna go way out there with this one. Ever heard of the DC comic book character, Zatanna? She’s a stage magician who can do real magic. For… superhero reasons (I don’t know. Shut up). I’m thinking her costume might just represent an “ideal” outfit for a princess. She has the whole top hat and tails look for her upper body (representing stagecraft played against the rich and powerful) but her lower body is clad in fishnets and high heels (representing a more domestic power over her prince, while satirising the whole princess-objectification thing. That works, right? Right?)

Her must-have accessory is, of course, a real magic wand with which she can literally be all things to all people – a powerful feminist icon and an obedient daughter; a figure of aspiration yet an untouchable idea; a people’s princess and a steely ambassador; a perfect fashion dummy and a future queen. With superpowers.

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?

I’ve been reading “Nation” to my daughter recently. It’s not one of Terry Pratchett’s best-known books, but I think it’s one of his finest, touched as it is with such depths of sorrow, anger, wonder, and hope. The titular Nation is a microcosm of the wider world and I swear it has never been so elegantly laid out. The character of Daphne (otherwise known as Ermintrude) is my choice for the most inspirational queen, although she is far from conventional. Is she born to privilege? Yes, although she has no particular hope or expectation of acceding the throne. Does she have an in-built sense of entitlement? Surely. What makes her so remarkable is how she faces her trials, shipwrecked as she is on a distant island. At every step she uses her mind, her experiences, and her observations of the indigenous people around her to develop as a person. As she is helping Mau (the other main character) to rebuild his shattered Nation, they are helping her comprehend the role and responsibilities of leadership. She is a character who makes mistakes but is prepared to learn; who gets on with the job at hand, however scary or dirty or difficult it may be; who acknowledges her inadequacies and then tries to be better, and to do better. Would she have made such a great queen if not for the tragedies and horrors she endured? Probably not, but she allowed herself to learn from them. Would that we could all be as noble and as wise.

Dion Winton-Polak Princess Questions

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