As promised, in today's post I'll be discussing the end of my song, the 15 second interlude, if you will. Yesterday I was thinking about the image I that young Charlotte will be drawing and how I want it presented. Automatically the first image that popped into my head was that of "Tangled's" Rapunzel, infamous for the all of the drawings she's painted around her tower. As I try to load the gif while my mother, father, and I all share a singular hotspot (it took me 20 minutes to get on to this blog editing page), allow me to relieve your worries.
No, I will not have Charlotte drawing flowers on the ground. That 1) would make no sense for her character and 2) has no connection to my storyline (the flowers are a motif in "Tangled" and serve more than one purpose throughout the film). It was when I was riding home from Jamaica and listening to "Future Friends" by Superfruit that I realized the image that I wanted our young heroine to create: a boar.
Yes, you may have seen this coming, it's possible that I'm just a little bit slow sometimes, but this was a huge revelation for me. The real question is what this boar symbolizes in the context of the film and how to make that clear. To do this, I decided to analyze the introduction, symbolism, and value placed upon the flower in "Tangled." (I apologize for the stressing of this particular case study but my little sister is obsessed with the film and because of her constant references the Mandy Moore has been stuck in my head all morning.)
QUICK PSA: IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN TANGLED READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.
The symbol is introduced in the very start of the film when Mother Gothel is shown using a magical glowing flower to preserve her youth, covering it with a false bush to hide her precious secret from the world. When the queen of the kingdom gets sick, the soldiers are sent out to search for a cure. When Gothel fails to cover the flower in a rush to get away, the soldiers find it and bring it to the queen. When Rapunzel, the queen's daughter is born, her hair exhibits the same ability to grant Gothel her desired youth. In this instance the flower symbolizes powerlessness, Gothel hiding it and eventually stealing the child with little difficulty.
As Rapunzel grows up, the flowers appear all over her sketches, symbolizing innocence and hope. Later in the film, Rapunzel's hair, which is what has the mystical powers of the flower, is pinned back into a large braid by a group of young girls in the land she was meant to grow up in. This event turns the flowers from a symbol of innocent hope to a symbol the borderlines on freedom. While this counteracts the typical meaning behind the putting up and taking down of hair (in "The Scarlet Letter," there is a scene where Hester Prynne takes down her hair in the forest, notorious for symbolizing freedom), I feel that by pinning back her hair, Rapunzel is pinning back the responsibility she feels for being with Gothel (there are a series of instances where Gothel tells her she's been kept away from the world because the world will only want her for her magical hair and that Gothel is the only one who can protect her, which is why Rapunzel must stay with her).
Then, when Rapunzel is once again locked up by Gothel, she begins to recognize the symbol of her kingdom in all of her drawings. While the symbol looks like a sun, it also looks like a flower. Both glow and guide Rapunzel on her path, so for this analysis we're just going to roll with it. Also, according to this page on Disney's Wikia,
"A single drop of sunlight fell from the heavens, and from this single drop of sun grew the golden flower."
I knew the comparison wasn't crazy.
Anyways, as she discovers this symbol's motif in her artistry, she continues to inch towards her freedom. In doing this, the flower grows to completely contrast what it once symbolized by representing strength and believe in oneself.
The final instance I'm going to reference is when Flynn Rider, Rapunzel's love interest is dying. Since Rapunzel's hair has been cut off, she feels powerless to stop what is happening. Then, when her teardrop saves his life, it blossoms into a flower, demonstrating that strength comes from within, positing that Rapunzel had it in her all along.
Yeah, I'm a sucker for Disney.
Anyways, as I currently have four minutes left and my gif still hasn't loaded, therefore, I'm going to have to apologize and promise to include it in my next post. Sorry, y'all! I'm going to leave you with a quick little promise to share what the boar will symbolize in my next post along with a glorious final interlude for your lovely ears.
Adios, amigos!
Magical Golden Flower. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2018, from http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Magical_Golden_Flower
Magical Golden Flower. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2018, from http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Magical_Golden_Flower
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