Playing the royal birth

93Devil had it right.

I remember hearing something during some news coverage years ago, I think either upon William's 18th birthday or else an anniversary of Diana's death, in which a TV commentator or British Royals expert tried to explain something along the lines of the question Dick Whitman asks.

"Everyone in the world wishes this young man well," she said.

And really, that's about the gist of it. People are interested in the royal family, and in Prince William, in particular. People like him, care about him and want to see him succeed, (both to the throne and just in general).

In short, people are rooting for him. You know, kind of like a sports team...

I'd bet the birth of this couple's baby is a story people actually were looking for in the media, even the New York Times, much more than just about any other thing the NYT had on its front cover. I'm also willing to bet many more people actually read the paper's story on them -- even despite its inside play -- than read just about any of the other offerings.

 

Pretty much this.

 

Sorry, Dick. The stuff you care about doesn't mean Jacques Merde in the big scheme of things. Not more than two or three people in the entire world care what you think about this.

 

Do you actually not allow her to watch Disney? Are Brave and Tangled forbidden in your house?

 

"Brave" is terrific. The message is precisely what I want her to receive.

 

This is an odd post. This is a journalism message board. We discuss topics relevant to journalism here. Story play is a topic relevant to journalism. What I think about it isn't important because it's what I think about it. But the news value of the royal family in 2013 North America seems like a relevant topic. Obviously, newspapers had to ponder that question this week.

 

Brave is considered a princess.

 

My issue isn't with princesses generically. It is with the specific princess culture of living a life of luxury and waiting for her Prince Charming to come. Those stories are corrosive. Brave is not such a story. It is the antithesis of such stories.

 

Like grinding your way through college and becoming a professional photographer is something a modern woman would aspire to do. Start a career for herself rather than trolling parties looking for a man to latch onto.

Or maybe something lower level like working with children or becoming a nanny. That might be noble as well.

 

I'm not quite following you here. Are you agreeing with me?

 

There's a big difference between the little kid who wants to dress up like Cinderella and the teenager who walks around with "Princess" on her shirt.

Don't deprive your kid of the fun stuff because you're worried that it will impact her 10 years down the road.

 

But it seems like those Disney movies plant an idea of feminimity in girls' heads at a very early, impressionable age that I think could be developmentally dangerous: You are defined by your hair, your clothes, your Prince Charming. I like "Brave." She was a princess because she was the king's daughter. But she was active and confident and not defined against her ability to attract a mate.