i have SUCH strong feelings about this cuz i always loved Holly (Rapunzel character designs with the hair were just a personal favorite of mine!!). while her book does a decent job of working with what the canon gave her, yeah um as op says the canon didnât give her much.
imo, Holly has interesting elements in her personality and character that have immense potential due to the nature of the Rapunzel story. iâve talked about it before but basically: girl in tower. sheâs naive and boxed off from the rest of the world, even if sheâs a creative thinker (as she is said to be). i donât think Hollyâs destiny is the worst as princess stories go; due to her already being out and about i assume she wonât be stuck in the tower for very long after graduation anywayâlowkey she probably needs it if she wants to have time to work on her writing lolllllâyou might even consider her upbringing as part of the tower sentence since she was homeschooled (no shade to homeschoolers thooo not the intention here). in any case, her being a Royal -> stuck in a tower.
how to get out of the tower? well Mattel sure didnât say. slap her on as a cover girl for the soft reboot and feature her in all the âpowerful princessâ concepts sure, bc i guess Rapunzel is one of the stories literally about a prince coming to save a damsel (but later she saves him too) so they gotta subvert it somehow! without subverting it at all!
however, the aforementioned unique qualities that did stand out to me on my last rewatch (i was paying special attention to Holly for this exact reason lol): sheâs not only smart/wise, but considered smart, as sheâs always seen to be giving advice to people (giving âoutsiderâs perspectiveâ). sheâs a storyteller, and that part always drives me crazy bc obviously they never went anywhere meaningful with that when it could have been so powerful!! and then thereâs the hair and being a twin thing:
Rapunzel is a character whose whole identity centers around her hair. even in retellings and adaptations, sheâs the long-haired one. i believe the reason Holly is given a twin is because of this identity business: Holly doesnât know who she is without that one distinct trait (which in a way symbolizes her destiny), and finding out itâs POPPY whoâs supposed to have it, Poppy who shares everything else about her appearance, would presumably send her spiraling.
it technically did in the Selfors book, which centered around THIS as the main theme (instead of the twinsâ place in the destiny conflict). i think to really elevate Hollyâs character the show could have used both. bc if Sleeping Beauty is a fairytale about the unavoidability of fate, and Red Riding Hood is a fairytale about the dangers of walking off the path, then Rapunzel is a fairytale about escape. yes sheâs trapped in a tower, both literally and metaphoricallyâbut she will find freedom. thatâs like *waves hands wildly* thatâs like the POINT of the EAH story likeâ
and as a writer herself, Holly had really strong potential to represent that, because who champions the conflicting ideals of their age better than storytellers?
but of course Mattel was like ânah they already have one, two, three powerful princesses i think weâve fulfilled our quota!â and just left it at that. my girl was done. so. dirty.