Misrepresentations In Disenchanted

I attended a live performance of Disenchanted on April 23rd, 2017 at the Boulder Dinner Theatre. Book, lyrics and music were written, composed and lyricized by Dennis T. Giancio. Disenchanted tells a story about the classic Disney fairytale princesses, but takes a more satirical, feminist approach about each of the flaws of each Disney princess. The Disney writers presented the princesses in an unrealistic and unnatural way by over feminizing them and attempting to dim their racial/ethnic background. The actors and actresses in Disenchanted, debunk the stereotypical misrepresentations of race/ethnicity, how women should dress and present themselves in society, and the reliance on men to be successful in life. This is done through various accents,

The acting in Disenchanted sheds light on these misrepresentations. Scene 3, the introduction to the character Pocahontas, played by MariJune Scott, showed how the rough and tumble, 10 year old Pocahontas was transformed into a more feminine, ethnically Caucasian, 20 year old princess. “I was given long flowing, straight hair, a mini skirt, and double-ds” (Giancio). Along with singing the lyrics, MariJune Scott used physical gestures to emphasize the lyrics. She flicked her hair, pulled at her mini-skirt and grasped her chest. The combination of the physical gestures and irritated tone in her voice successfully drew my attention to her act. MarieJune Scott’s acting accentuated how frustrated her character was with Disney’s misrepresentation of the historical figure,

The damsel in distress is a repeated theme throughout many of Disney films. The idea that princesses are incapable of taking care of themselves and need their prince charming to come rescue them. An example provided by Disenchanted was the princess Rapunzel, Rapunzel a German story that was the least feminized Disney princess fairytale. This fact was exploited by the actor chosen to play the character Rapunzel. A male actor was chosen to present Rapunzel in the most masculine way as possible. Rapunzel was played by the actor Matthew D. Peters. In addition to being a male actor playing a female character, he accentuated his masculinity by flexing his muscles on stage, thrusting his hips to add an oversexualized masculine performance, as well as singing in a very low tone. Matthew sung the entire song with a German accent to promote the historical significance that Rapunzel was originally a German fairytale. The combination of these actions presented by Matthew D. Peters playing Rapunzel created a different dynamic through a dominant, masculine sexual