The Princess Paradox Final Summary

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In James Poniewozik’s 2004 Time article The Princess Paradox, he elucidates how the Hollywood movie industry had found a way to manipulate an big chunk of the American nation through the idea of feminism. Hollywood has changed the original concepts of the original fairytales by retelling their stories in a more modernized and female-friendly way. This change is aimed especially at the parents of young girls who are consistent in pushing the idea of independence into their child’s minds. The Princess Diaries is a spin-off of the classic fairytale Cinderella; however in this modernized version, the female lead Diana has no desire at first to be a princess. She is given the chance to experience the life of a princess and then is given the choice to choose whether or not she wants to take over the throne. The Prince & Me is yet another Cinderella byproduct. If only, that is, the original Cinderella had been more career-ambitious. The female lead, Paige, is ultimately given the choice to choose between her dream job and a prince. Given these choices, the girls bring forth a sense of independency. In his article, Poniewozik declares that at the end of The Prince & Me, Paige secures both her dream job and her prince. This shows Hollywood’s subliminal manipulation to brainwash feminists by offering Hollywood princesses a chance to change their own destinies, but not completely throw out the pedestrian ‘girly’ details that make these films fairy-tales. As cited by Poniewozik in his article, “You can have the girly dream of glass slippers and true love… as well as the womanly ideal of self-determination and independence…”. Poniewozik then continues to explicate the fact that there are a new set of ideals Hollywood princesses must follow to please both fantasy and feminism. He accentuates that each princess should be studiously attractive, be able to fight for themselves,
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