donal_mac_r

In My Little Pony, the land of Equestria has a pair of reigning Princess – Celestia and Luna.  The author originally wanted to have Equestria ruled by a queen, but was convinced not to when it was pointed out to her that in cartoons (and especially the wonderful world of Disney), reigning queens are always evil.

In Snow White, of course, Queen Grimhilde (also a stepmother) is a perfect avatar of evil, first attempting to have Snow White killed by a huntsman, and when he can’t fulfill that unpleasant duty, she undertakes the mission herself in a magical disguise.

In Alice in Wonderland, the Queen of Hearts is a psychotic power-tripper, whose capricious orders to have courtiers, servants, and guests beheaded would quickly depopulate her realm if they were obeyed.  (Remember what the Cheshire Cat tells Alice.) The King of Hearts is an ineffectual wimp, though in other versions of the story he manages to exert a calming influence on the Queen.

The evil Queen Narissa in Enchanted is not as well known as the others, but she fits the mold, including being a stepmother.  She kidnaps Princess Giselle and exiles her from the animated “happily ever after” land of Andalasia to the gritty real world of New York City.  Like the evil Queen Grimhilde in Snow White, she sends a henchman to kill the Princess but is thwarted.

In The Little Mermaid, Ursula the Sea-Witch is another magical villainess, who manipulates the naïve Ariel to steal her voice and marry the Prince.  She also uses her magic to dethrone the rightful King and become the ruler of all the oceans, though her reign is brief.  So she qualifies as an evil Queen of sorts.

Disney’s institutional misogyny seems to include not only Queens, but any women of power or authority.

In Sleeping Beauty, the evil witch Maleficent (called Catabute in other versions of the tale) behaves in a very regal manner, though she may not be a queen as such.  She curses Princess Aurora, imprisons her, and later imprisons the Prince who comes to save her.  At the end, she morphs into a dragon.

Actually, there is a good Queen in Sleeping Beauty – Aurora’s mother.  But she is just a “bit player” in the Disney story; she hasn’t even a name.

In Cinderella there isn’t an evil Queen, but Lady Radcliffe, the evil stepmother, rules her household as a tiny kingdom, making false promises to Cinderella and holding out hopes that she later dashes. 

In One Hundred and One Dalmatians, Cruella De Vil is a rich heiress who is obsessed with furs (In the original story, she’s married to a furrier.).  Although her only minions are a couple of dim-witted thugs, she behaves in a manner that caricatures a queenly bearing and wields what little authority she has with an imperious hand.

In fairness, it should be pointed out that there ARE male villains in Disney films, but they’re not Kings.  Kings in Disney films are either good and wise like King Stefan in Sleeping Beauty and Triton; or good-hearted but ineffectual such as the King of Hearts or the Sultan in Aladdin.

But Disney didn't seem to think women fit well into positions of authority.  Power corrupts, it seems, especially on the distaff side.

My vice is my voice.

 Well, actually, that’s only part of it.  Many people are fond of misquoting the aphorism about money and evil as “Money is the root of all evil.”  It’s actually, “The love of money is the root of all evil.”

 So it is with me and my voice.  It’s not just the voice, it’s that I’m too fond of it.  Too fond of hearing it, too fond of using it.  In an age of sound bites, I tend to talk in paragraphs.  Ask me a question that some might answer in a single sentence, and I’ll give you two or three paragraphs.

 With footnotes.

 Help! I’m talking and I can’t shut up!

 If there’s a mitigating virtue, it’s that I know it, I acknowledge it, and I TRY to keep it within due bounds.  I tell almost everyone that if I’m running too long on a subject, just tell me and I’ll back off.  I don’t really want to bore anyone to death, or to monopolize a discussion.  But sometimes it gets away from me, almost like an addiction.

 “Therefore, as brevity is the soul of wit, and tedious the outward limbs and flourishes, I will be brief.”  Or rather, I have been.  Uncharacteristically.