But back to the Blogging with A to Z Challenge. My theme: Modern day lessons from fairy tales.
For today's edition, I had to include a villain I found thoroughly entertaining... Mother Gothel from Rapunzel (or Tangled, if we are going with Disney).G = Gothel
I will admit something here publicly for the first time... I have sung "Mother Knows Best" from Tangled to my kids on multiple occasions and with as much drama and flair as I could muster.
What can we learn from Mother Gothel today?
Okay, lessons from villains. It's possible. I love how Maleficent had us seeing a whole other side to her character, one that made us (or at least me) much more sympathetic to her actions.
As a mother myself, I can say I learned that sheltering your kids (locking them away) will not make them happy or keep them out of harm's way. Mother Gothel's intentions might not have been pure, but it's still a very valuable lesson. Part of our job as parents is to prepare our children for the adult world. And the adult world hurts sometimes. Sheltering them too much when they are little only makes it more difficult when they ultimately face real life.
Another valuable lesson, and a line straight from "Mother Knows Best"... Skip the drama. Having three girls, I have taught them to avoid drama as much as possible. Never add to it or stir it in any way. Usually, this just makes it come right back at you like a boomerang. Sometimes avoidance really is the best answer. The ability to see drama and circumvent it is a true gift.
And let's be honest, a huge lesson for parents... Forbidden items are sometimes more appealing. The more we fight the little things (blue hair, multiple piercings), the more our kids will push. It's better to provide information and love them than to go around dictating.
What did you learn from Mother Gothel or Rapunzel/Tangled in general? Did you like the Disney spin on the classic fairy tale?
***
As I've mentioned in previous posts, I will have a serial series (along with Kelly Risser, Nichole Greene, and Jo Michaels)--War and Pieces: Frayed Fairy Tales--coming out starting 4/24/17. Each Season will feature a different princess/fairy tale character who faces life beyond her fairy tale... and comes up against a paranormal creature. Throughout this month, I'll feature each season through a character.
Today, I want to show you the cover for Season 3, which features Rapunzel.
Don't you love it? Jo Michaels did an amazing job with these covers/shoes, which are all original artwork.
For more information,
check out www.frayedfairytales.com
2 comments:
I only know Gothel from the disney movie so I cannot agreed with you that she is a mother, rather I think she is a kidnapper but I guess you can say, one can learn that being selfish means you'll end up kidnapping someone and locking them up for years but you still get killed because you lied too much and was being a rather unkind mother or is that not a lesson?
I don't know. I think it's rather hard to sympathize with someone who keeps doing bad things and keeps lying to you.
that's my 2 cents.
have a lovely day.
~ How to be good ~
I wonder if it would make a difference to see Gothel's side of things. I hated Maleficent the movie because it made me feel sorry for her, and she was one of the perfect villains, IMO. Sometimes, I want to be free to dislike a character. Too much backstory can make it difficult.
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