Alright, here are some of my thoughts on some of the complaints I’m hearing about the Rise of Red. I’m not going to get into the whole Cameron/Carlos debate. I already made a post about that. But some of the things I’m going to comment on are the “mistreatment of Chloe”, the non-resolution to the QOH abuse toward Red, and the failed “prank” plot hole.
First off, with the “mistreatment of Chloe.” Now, I’ve watched the movie three times already. Is it the best movie that's ever been made? No. Is it enjoyable? Yes. Is everyone entitled to their opinions? Also yes. But that doesn’t mean some of us can’t help but roll our eyes and rub our temples at the sheer annoyance that some people have when it comes to their opinions. I’ve seen folks on this app say that the characters were treating Chloe like garbage because she was “acting like a princess, wanted to follow the rules, blah blah blah.” Now, you can say that, but from what I picked up, that was more of them calling her out and helping her recognize some flaws that she wasn’t aware of. Chloe was unaware of certain things due to her upbringing as a royal. It's important to approach these character actions with an open mind, as it allows for a more nuanced understanding of the movie. She really believed that if you were a good person, if you followed the rules, that if you did everything the good, moral, and decent way, then bad things were never gonna happen to you, that you would always come out on top, that good things were gonna come your way. And while that may be true to some extent, it isn’t that cut and dry.
Chloe was described from the beginning as a perfectionist, and while being a perfectionist isn’t always a bad thing, it can become very annoying very quickly. Trust me, as someone who jumps back and forth from being a perfectionist, I know.
Her meeting her mom in the past, when she was at her lowest, helped her come to that conclusion. Here is someone, Ella, who was living with her cruel stepfamily, being made to live like a servant, but still managed to keep something of a positive and open-minded look at things in life. That is why the scene “Gets Your Hands Dirty” is one of my favorites from the film cause it offers up the murky sides of things that we are taught when it comes to things that most people deem “good” and “bad.” Not everything is as simple as it seems. Sometimes, you can play things by the book, but it don’t result in anything. There are some people who do bad things for the sake of cruelty, but there are people who do bad things for the sake of others. Like they mentioned: Robin Hood. You can’t say that breaking the rules and doing something bad is wrong, but look at someone like that and say, “Oh, but he was helping others.” See the contradiction there? Chloe unfortunately fell into that with her way of thinking.
Back on the goody-goody things, let's go to the scene in the Tremaine Home. When Chloe accidentally breaks the vase, she says three specific things:
“It was my fault.” Good, good. Owning up your role in the incident, not letting Ella get the full blame.
“ But I’m very sorry….” Again, good. Acknowledging you feel remorse for it happening.
“...and it won’t ever happen again.” Now see, that's where she lost me.
She says this as if it makes everything ok. Now granted, she’s saying this to a woman who most definitely doesn’t give a damn if she’s sorry. But in the overall point, saying you’re sorry only goes so far. Action needs to be behind those words. And I’m not talking about “It won’t ever happen again.” Cause it's nice that you’re sorry and you won’t let it happen again…but the vase is still broken. None of what you are saying is gonna fix or replace that. What Chloe should have said was: “It was my fault. But I’m very sorry, and it won’t happen again. I’ll gladly pay for it to be fixed or even to get you a new one.” That’s would’ve been better. Again, I know Tremaine wouldn’t have given a shit either way but it would have established Chloe as someone who wanted to make up for her mistakes. But instead it came off some goody princess who thinks that a simple apology will solve things and make them better.
And back to the whole rule following thing. I’m not saying it's wrong to want to follow the rules the entire time, but following the rules doesn’t always result in you succeeding or even accomplishing your goal. Take Robin Hood again. Also, there are plenty of examples of heroic tales whether ones from long ago to books/tv shows/movies that portray the protagonist constantly breaking the rules and completing what they set out to do. So I don’t know what Chloe is thinking following the rules is going to get her in the situation that she is in now. Just saying. Hell, I’m pretty sure time traveling is breaking some kind of law of nature or other.
Now onto the “no-resolution for the QOH’s actions toward Red.'' This is gonna be pretty cut and dry. Y'all do realize that by changing the events of the past prevents the Queen from becoming the evil abusive asshole of a mother she is now right? So by that logic, none of the stuff she ever did to Red no longer happens. Red might still remember them (I don’t know if she would have any new memories of the current altered timeline) but she can’t exactly hold anything against this version of her mother. Hell, I'm pretty sure every bad thing the Queen did has been erased, every one she has ever hurt is probably fine now. So with that being brought up, I have to ask: Why would she have to apologize or be punished for anything that no longer exists? If nothing changed, then yeah by all means there would need to be some kind of resolution, but this is kind of it. That Queen of Hearts is gone, replaced by a much better and kinder version and Red gets what she’s always wanted and deserved: A mother who is kind and loves her. So if y’all are pissed at that and that the queen didn’t suffer any actual punishment then y'all can just go somewhere cause there’s really no point in arguing. Cause it’s coming off as y'all don’t want Red to be happy.
Now onto the “prank.” I will admit that the prank was kind of a weak excuse for a reason for Bridget to become as heartless as she was and the way they stopped the prank from happening was kind of trash, but I lowkey get how the prank would have had an everlasting effect on Bridget. Walk with me here for a second:
Bridget is a person who wants to be friends with everyone and lives her life by the idea that if you’re kind to everyone then it will all pay off in a good way. “You get more with sugar than salt.” That's one of the big reasons why Uliana hates her so much according to Ella. Because no matter how nasty Uliana is to Bridget, she (Bridget) continues to be nice to her because she wants to be friends with her even though Uli is a terrible person. Now Bridget is, I’m assuming, a person who is easily bullied as that's the only explanation I can fathom as to why someone as sweet as that who literally gives treats to everyone (FOR FREE) has no other friends than one person. Now let me tell you something, being bullied isn’t something that can easily be brushed off. Even those who act like it doesn't phase them can be holding back inside, burying how they really feel deep, deep, deep down. There’s no telling what Bridget was feeling on the inside for real. But maybe having Ella helped keep the pain at bay. So imagine you’re at your first dance ever with your best friend who goes off with someone else. You’re happy for her, no question, but her not being there later on comes back to bite the both of you. Especially if you’re turned into a monster in front of everyone by the person who you tried on multiple occasions to be nice to, give the benefit of the doubt, and tried to be friends with after you’re led to believe that it was paying off with the offer of a sweet treat. And while everyone is pointing and laughing, you can’t find your friend. Because she’s off with someone else and has seemingly left you behind after asking you to come with her to this event. I can see how all the pain and anger that you’ve been holding down, trying your hardest to suppress can come to the surface and all that niceness and goodness could go out the window because why bother being that person when it’s become clear that no matter what you do none of these people will ever like you or love you and that you really have no one to trust but yourself?
With that being said, I can see how a “stupid” prank like that could be the “perfect revenge” as turning Bridget into a monster on the outside resulted in her becoming a monster on the inside and it ruined the person she was before.
So do I think that that prank was the number one main reason as to why she became a villain today? No. Do I think it was the main catalyst that opened the door for more things to affect her going forward that resulted in her becoming a villain? Absolutely. I 100% believe that that prank was the reason the darkness was able to open up in her. Hell, like I said earlier, I wouldn’t be surprised if the monster-turning-prank had an after effect that left some of the monster inside her.🤷🏻
I haven’t thought much on the fact that if they VK’s get frozen because of the protection spell on the book they wouldn’t be able to pull off the prank plot hole. I can only assume that in the original timeline, they found some kind of way around it, one that possibly maybe involved Ella, but due to the fact that the book is no longer in that timeline, they never get the spell so everything is changed. I’m not sure.
Again, these are just my thoughts. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I just couldn’t sit back and hold my tongue for any longer. I’m gonna come out with something later on how I see the characters from the animated films going to school together low-key makes a little bit of sense.
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