Dear Stanford community,
Love is in the air, so be sure to wear a mask. For far too long Stanford students have relied on marriage pacts and algorithms of the sort to find true love. Well, dear reader, the time has come for that practice to come to an end.
Over are the days when you would ask for love advice from friends, RAs or even a stranger. So why not take advice from the one place everyone gets a happily ever after? Disney movies are actual fairy tales and their takes on love and sacrifice can be either inspiring or gut-wrenching — depending on the focus group you ask. However, we think there’s something to be learned from several films put out by the magical mouse industrial complex.
Take 101 Dalmations as an example. If you’re a fool, you’d admire the whirlwind relationship between Anita and Roger. One minute the duo are falling into a pond together and the next they’re getting married. It makes no sense that their entire relationship could be missed by a simple bathroom break. Yet, no one questions why the two have not a single human guest at their wedding? So, forgive me for taking advice from villains rather than characters who could only get their dogs to show up to their big day.
The real gem in this Disney classic comes not from the protagonist but from Cruella De Vil, the “villain,” who tells us that “More good women have been lost to marriage than to war, famine, disease and disaster. You have talent, darling, don’t squander it.”
And Cruella isn’t an outlier. For another example, let’s dive into the sea, where Ariel makes the disastrous decision to give up her voice to chase a guy who clearly falls in love with her based on her looks. Ursula, on the other hand, knows exactly what she wants. Quite frankly, that’s so much more than most people’s exes could say.
Then, take the evil queen from Snow White. While she obsesses over her looks, who are we to judge what brings her joy — even if it means murdering Snow White. Quite frankly, what is up with Disney repeatedly making women the villain for knowing what they want and chasing after it? We have a long way to go before true love can prevail, and that includes loving even the darkest parts of ourselves. (And extending grace to our favorite Disney villains.)
(Not) love,
Dalt Wisney
Editor’s Note: This article is purely satirical and fictitious. All attributions in this article are not genuine, and this story should be read in the context of pure entertainment only.
Contact Richard Coca at richcoca ‘at’ stanford.edu.