The animated movie Tangled became an instant Disney classic with its debut in 2010. Featuring typical Disney characters, the beautiful princess and unlikely hero fight evil to defeat the wicked witch. Eventually, all is right in the kingdom again and they all live happily ever after. However, Tangled has a dark side in the movie that went untouched by screenwriters. The evil witch, Mother Gothel, kidnaps Princess Rapunzel as a baby and keeps her hidden for the entirety of her childhood. The psychological damages this would have had on Rapunzel may have been so crippling that Rapunzel would have never been able to fight back.
Mother Gothel abducts Rapunzel before she even has the chance to walk. The princess never experienced grass on her …show more content…
In fact, she would have been comparable to a feral child. The most famous case of a feral child is a girl who is commonly referred to as “Genie.” Genie grew up in an environment similar to that of Rapunzel. Genie was chained to a chair alone for hours on end, where she was unable to move around or socialize with anyone. When her parents did talk to her, it was verbally and physically abusive. Genie was eventually taken into police custody, but was unable to walk, talk, or behave like a socialized human being. Even after four years of work with psychologists, Genie was still unable to fully grasp a language or utilize anything other than a simplistic set of social skills. When found, Genie was 14 years old, which is past the critical period for development. In the movie, Rapunzel was around 17 years old. Although Rapunzel was able to move and learn a language, both her and Genie were isolated for long periods of time during childhood. Rapunzel’s inability to socialize during her critical development period would have left her closer to Genie than a normal person. Perceiving the world with a skewed set of core mental processes would be difficult enough. Rapunzel’s trip to the kingdom would have been impossible combined with the inability to constructively interact with another human
Mother Gothel abducts Rapunzel before she even has the chance to walk. The princess never experienced grass on her …show more content…
In fact, she would have been comparable to a feral child. The most famous case of a feral child is a girl who is commonly referred to as “Genie.” Genie grew up in an environment similar to that of Rapunzel. Genie was chained to a chair alone for hours on end, where she was unable to move around or socialize with anyone. When her parents did talk to her, it was verbally and physically abusive. Genie was eventually taken into police custody, but was unable to walk, talk, or behave like a socialized human being. Even after four years of work with psychologists, Genie was still unable to fully grasp a language or utilize anything other than a simplistic set of social skills. When found, Genie was 14 years old, which is past the critical period for development. In the movie, Rapunzel was around 17 years old. Although Rapunzel was able to move and learn a language, both her and Genie were isolated for long periods of time during childhood. Rapunzel’s inability to socialize during her critical development period would have left her closer to Genie than a normal person. Perceiving the world with a skewed set of core mental processes would be difficult enough. Rapunzel’s trip to the kingdom would have been impossible combined with the inability to constructively interact with another human