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Rating: 5/10 (1 October 2015)

Modern day fairy tales can entertain, teach lessons, and help children expand their imagination. There are often twists of unexpected changes and underlying themes and symbols in the story lines for some particular fairy tales. One example is Disney's version of Rapunzel in the movie Tangled. While the story captures the hearts of the audience by telling a romantic love story through a fun filled journey, there are also major themes presented which often go unrecognized. Disney's Tangled does capture the audience's attention in an entertaining way, but also presents many underlying symbolizations which can possibly affect the overall experience of the movie.
The story begins with a teenage girl named Rapunzel with long golden hair, locked away in a tower with her Mother Gothel. While it is unknown to Rapunzel at the time, she was kidnapped and held hostage her whole life by the witch Mother Gothel. The witch kidnapped Rapunzel in order to benefit from the magical healing powers of Rapunzel's hair. After some time, a young man by the name of Flynn Rider stumbles upon the tower seeking refuge after he stole a precious artifact. After the two meet, Rapunzel begs Flynn Rider to take her out exploring to see a lighting of lanterns which occurs on her birthday every year. While Rapunzel and Flynn Rider often disagree about things and have different challenges to go through, the main storyline of the movie focuses on the journey of the two setting out together. After some time, Rapunzel and Flynn learn about each other's secrets and eventually fall in love. The plot twist of the movie consists of Mother Gothel regaining captivity of Rapunzel and holding Flynn Rider as a hostage. However, Rapunzel sacrificially gives up her freedom by agreeing to live with her mother forever in order to save Flynn. In return, Flynn Rider attempts to save Rapunzel by cutting off her hair and removing her magical powers. This results in Mother Gothel being taken away and allows Rapunzel to save Flynn and heal him from injuries acquired from Mother Gothel. In the end, Rapunzel marries Flynn Rider and reunites with her true family.
Tangled presents a theme that differentiates from common fairy tales because it illustrates the story of a young girl victimized to captivity. The movie paints the picture of Rapunzel living in solitude and enjoying her various activities. However, her story can represent the reality for many individuals in the world subject to human captivity including: domestic abuse, human trafficking, kidnapping, and slavery. Since Rapunzel was kidnapped and sheltered by her witch mother, her whole life and psychological emotions were affected. One example is prevalent when she sets out from her castle for the first time with Flynn Rider. Rapunzel expresses her emotions by singing and dancing after experiencing the wonders of the earth and freedom for the first time. However, there is also an example of the negative impacts of captivity on an individual. In parallelism with Rapunzel's joy of experiencing freedom, she also goes through deep regret and guilt after leaving her captor Mother Gothel.
Disney tries to portray Rapunzel's captivity as harmless and fun, however in reality, human captivity is a serious situation and can greatly affect the lives of victims. It is important to think about the underlying ideas and symbols presented in movies and to understand how easily audiences can be deceived into believing that harmful situations can have no major consequences. Tangled truly entertains by developing lovable characters, adding humor and adventure, and illustrating through beautiful animation, however I found that the overall theme of the move affected my opinion of it. It saddens me to think about the torture and lies Rapunzel lived through and how Disney portrays this lightly and harmlessly. Without much thought and reflection, Tangled presents a lovable story, but after understanding the hidden symbols and realizing their truth in reality, the movie can leave a depressing effect.