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My Problem with a Possibly New Trope (I Hope It Doesn’t Become That)

You know what I’m talking about.

It’s what they did with Cassandra in Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure and Elsa in Frozen 2.

In both cases, the secondary female character (that’s a huge part of the plot and has a close relationship with the main character) does questionable things, but doesn’t properly have to apologize or compensate for them in a satisfying way that shows they’ve grown from what they did throughout the story because they leave for another “destiny” or higher calling.

Now for one point of view, I can see why each of them go the ending they did, and I appreciate people who are happy with them. Elsa leaves because she feels she has found herself and belongs elsewhere, and Cass leaves because…well, she said it was to “find my own destiny.”

Hear me out. I loved both Tangled and Frozen 2, and I love all of the characters. But I do have some criticisms. This isn't an essay, but a rant. I neglected grammar and my usual writing style because I haven’t slept and needed to vent. WARNING: Negativity below the cut. Read at your own discretion.

CASSANDRA FROM RAPUNZEL’S TANGLED ADVENTURE

I just don’t feel fulfilled by Cassandra’s redemption arc. It could have been the beginning of one, but it just wasn’t…it. That's because it wasn’t a proper redemption, but the beginning of one. The problems that we know to have been Cassandra’s motivations (ew, not Gothel, I’m talking about things from seasons 1 and 2) don’t get solved. They don’t even get properly addressed. For all we see in the season 3 finale, Cass only breaks down and hugs Rapunzel because they’ve both just been stripped of their power, and are now trapped together in a room as Zhan Tiri wreaks havoc on Corona.

I know that many people seem to believe that Rapunzel had absolutely no fault in it, but that’s not entirely true. The writers gave us plenty of episodes where we can see the effect of Rapunzel’s attitude or dialogue on Cassandra. Yes, we understand that Rapunzel went through psychological trauma in her childhood with Gothel, and she is a bit naive when it comes to properly understanding people’s deeper concerns, insecurities, and discomfort. Yes, we understand that Rapunzel is in a process of learning that she can look out for herself, and make her own decisions. However, I can’t help but feel that Rapunzel got frankly annoying some times. She always just talked on and on about proving herself, never caring about how that made others feel. I’m not saying that Rapunzel was ultimately at fault, but Cass’ rage comes from so much more than just “not being honest about her feelings”

Rapunzel says she has always supported Cass, but that’s not true. She always expects Cass to choose between her and her job whenever it was convenient for her. She butted in when Cass tried to prove herself in Challenge of the Brave. She got angry with Cass that she wanted to join Ingvarr’s battalion. Hell, Rapunzel is the one who CHOSE Cass as her handmaiden. Sure-maybe at the time she didn’t know what Cass truly wanted, but Rapunzel learns all about Cass’ dream later on. As a princess with title and some power to do as she pleases, she doesn't...release Cass from these duties. Rapunzel still doesn’t actively do things to help Cass achieve her dream. If anything (I hate to say this), Rapunzel seems to be the one getting in the way.

I don’t like that Cass has to choose between her dream job and her friends. Constantly. Whether it be for Rapunzel or Varian. Writers would never make a male character choose between these things. Cassandra, like many other strong and ambitious female characters, is cast aside and automatically labelled as the unkind girl until she has to make an unfair or unneeded sacrifice. Whenever writers for any show want to shove an ambition vs. friendship trope down anyone’s throat, they know to use a strong female character, otherwise they fear she will become too unlikeable.

You can kind of understand Cassandra’s annoyance with Rapunzel sometimes. Yes, for most of the series, Rapunzel is naive and still learning to make her own decisions. But Cass always has to put her life on hold for Rapunzel. That’s my problem. She’s the one making sacrifices and doing everything for Rapunzel. Yes, Eugene was there too, and does try. But he never has to choose between Rapunzel and anything else. He doesn’t really have a dream beyond Rapunzel. Cass, on the other hand, does, because she’s been working hard all her life and still denied things by everyone. It infuriates me that they spent much of season 1 and 2 talking about this, but neglect it in season 3. At least, they do not bring this up as much as the old “Gothel” trope, which I absolutely DETEST.

After the betrayal, Rapunzel comes off thinking that Cass’ “heart is hardened”- that she’s astray, and she needs to be saved. As if it’s just a phase, and not some life-changing revelation that could decimate the entire kingdom and their friendship. Despite everything that happens, Rapunzel still seems to believe that “not giving up on Cass” and “getting through to her” will stop things. Rapunzel STILL comes off as naive and childish, and its worse because she automatically assumes Cass is only acting up. I know that Cass was her very close friend, and Cass is dealing with a lot of emotions right now. But Rapunzel acts like Cass is her wayward teenage daughter, who will eventually see the light and stop chasing the world for its woes. We do not hear her acknowledge her part in it, like she does when she sees Quirin encased in amber, even though she had next to NO fault in that, either. No, I’m not saying Rapunzel is ultimately guilty. But still, she had more involvement in Cass’ case. She wasn’t a spectator to the conflict with absolutely no impact on Cass’ emotions. If anything, she was the center of Cass’ emotions. And she doesn’t show to have understood that until AFTER Cass has betrayed her.

Literally, she goes about constantly telling Cass, “I told you I could handle myself” and even “I don’t need anyone to keep me safe.” As if she wants to prove to her of all people. Yeah, you’re going to tell me she’s been belittled all her life and she’s concocted a complex. But did Rapunzel ever once think that by ‘pursuing her dream,’ she was actually stopping someone else from pursuing theirs?

One can argue that Cass CHOSE to do all those things for Rapunzel, but it’s still the same reason why Cass never got to achieve her dream and instead resorted to terrible means. I don’t support what Cass did, but I get extremely annoyed with Rapunzel’s insistence.

I KNOW that Cass and Varian have different places of importance on Rapunzel’s life and different character arcs, and I’ve seen so many excellent comparisons of them. But still, even if Rapunzel didn’t have too much fault in Varian’s situation and did everything she could, she showed signs of learning. She didn’t have to regret what had happened, but she did.

In Varian’s case, Rapunzel had to learn to accept responsibility for what she could, and SO DID VARIAN. We see that they both have learned, because they’re constantly together throughout the season, and it looks like they’ve made an effort to support and understand each other. They even touched on Varian’s trauma, and Varian comforted Rapunzel too! They not only addressed the root of the problem, but you can see that Rapunzel is changing the way criminals are treated in Corona. You can see that Rapunzel and Varian both tried in their own ways to make amends and prove their trustworthiness to each other. In the first episode of season 3, Varian acknowledges that what happened was his mess, and Rapunzel doesn’t disagree with him...but then she takes charge and still tries to save the kingdom, because she acknowledges that as queen, her duty is to ALL of her subjects, regardless of what she had fault in or not. THAT WAS GOOD.

In the final episode of the third season, when Cass starts crying and apologizing to Rapunzel, telling her that she wanted to prove that she was more than everyone said she was, Rapunzel just says “no.” She looks happy that Cass is hugging her, but that’s it. Nothing else? Nothing other than no? Nothing to point out that Cass’ issue wasn’t just with how others saw her, but how Rapunzel saw her? That the very person she always held herself back for was the same one who could never help her achieve her dream, who told her that she didn’t need her, who told her that she just had to deal with her disagreements on decisions? Yes, I know that Cass is a handmaiden and Rapunzel is going to be queen. But Cassandra made a lot of unnecessary sacrifices, like the one in ‘Beginnings.” Literally. There was no need for it.

No, they didn’t address anything. They just wanted to bring up Gothel, over and over, because apparently THAT’s the only mother figure that deserves attention? Out of like the THREE that we could have had? We don’t even get to know about Varian or Eugene’s mothers! Not even names. This is classic Disney BS, but still. Is the only way to prove that dads can be good but misunderstood parents…wiping away mothers or making them passive and only relevant in the end? Apparently, the only way a mother figure in Disney can get attention is if she has or intends to do the protagonist harm, like Gothel. And despite clapping itself on the back for making Rapunzel “a strong, independent woman who doesn’t just immediately marry, and chooses to see the world for herself,” the writers just bereave her of healthy female influence (separate from Arianna, who still has less emphasis) that extends to her journey in understanding life. I don’t know if Kiera and Catalina count, because we don’t see Rapunzel interact with them so much, and even then, they’re children. They’re not someone Rapunzel can sit down and talk to, like we see her doing with Cass.

In many movies, there have been single mother figures who weren’t entirely bad, but they were sparing. Is there any room for GOOD single mothers in Disney?

Anyways, I am angry that they just had Cassandra leave right after all that had occurred. It would have been fine if she left after reparations. If she talked to everyone this ordeal had affected, or even if she had a longer heart-to-heart with Rapunzel. If Rapunzel had been hesitant to forgive or trust her, and the people had held her accountable. I know that Cassandra did many things out of anger and frustration, but that doesn’t make what she did right. I thought the series would be intelligent enough to talk about that more, given that they did relatively well with Varian. (I wasn’t too happy with Stalyan’s, but it was enough for a minor character). My heart goes out to people with trauma, but even in the real world, everything you do has consequences. Being afflicted with emotional and unmanageable conflict doesn’t excuse you from punishment. It doesn’t excuse you to hurt other people. The writers seemed to have agreed that Cassandra helping Rapunzel defeat Zhan Tiri and dying for Rapunzel was enough, but honestly, it felt slightly out of place. More on this later.

Cass was also unjustly angry with her father, yet we see them only hug in the end as though a silent show of forgiveness. And he stays in Corona despite having retired. He could have gone with her! He could have resumed his post! Even if he didn’t do any of those things, they could have at least shown them talking, and Cass APOLOGIZING for what she had done. Why was she even angry with the Captain for not telling her about her real mother? I guess it could have been because she felt cheated, but what was she cheated out of, exactly? She got a childhood with a kind and dutiful man, who raised her to be a strong and hardworking young woman. As opposed to Gothel, who wouldn’t have properly raised her at all.

For Cass just immediately leaving, it’s as though they implicitly agreed: “Yeah, our society will always be sexist, and you’ll never be happy as a guard anyway, even though it’s been your ultimate dream for the entire of your life. But we really don’t want to deal with your emotional fallouts in the future either. Why don’t you just leave?” I’ll get back to this after my analysis of Elsa, but you’ll see.

Let me make it clear that I have no problems with Eugene being Captain of the Guard. I agree that he earned it, but people keep pointing out that Cass wouldn’t be a good captain because she didn’t like being second to anyone or working under Rapunzel all her life. She wouldn’t feel that way if she hadn’t been CONSTANTLY denied the position when she was clearly the best fit for it and MORE THAN WILLING to follow Rapunzel’s lead, MULTIPLE TIMES before she felt she had to go against it because she felt Rapunzel was in danger.

By the end of “The Great Tree,” I understood both Rapunzel’s decision and Cass’ conflict. Yes, Rapunzel saved them all, and has a right to be angry at Cass for not listening to her. But every other time, Rapunzel doesn’t listen to Cass when she warns them about danger continuously. People should also understand that Cass gave up everything for Rapunzel, and gets hurt or degraded for simply doing her job, even if it’s at a controversial moment like this when no one is really at fault. She is constantly belittled or teased for being suspicious, and her “being open with Rapunzel about her feelings” would not have helped. If that was the case, they would have actually made her stay in Corona for at least the ending title.

I do like that Rapunzel used the phrase “Plus et en vous,” but I feel like they threw it in with little to no context. Cassandra says she wanted to prove that she was more than everyone thought she was, and it’s true that’s she’s always put that prospect aside for Rapunzel. But Rapunzel tells her that she sees a look in her eyes, and that she’s her best friend, and she’ll never give up on her. But...that doesn’t address the problem. As always, Rapunzel just assures Cassandra that her other worries don’t matter only because Rapunzel herself thinks highly of her. It was the same thing that happened in Challenge of the Brave: when Cass said she wanted people to respect her, but Rapunzel only goes and says the SHE respects her more than she could ever imagine. It’s off-putting that Rapunzel thinks SHE is the only one who matters in Cass’ life, but maybe because she knows it is. At least, we know that Cass really cares about what Rapunzel thinks of her, even after becoming the villain. But RAPUNZEL expects that to be enough for Cassandra. It’s very...un-Rapunzel. Rapunzel could have actually let or even pushed Cass towards her dreams, but we’re not shown of her doing it often. One can even say Rapunzel has been slightly toxic to Cass. Rapunzel never gives Cass the space she needs, and continues to be under this notion that Cass will choose their friendship even when she’s in a dark place, not to mention that she innately ties this to “Cass being a good person.” If someone for once didn’t want to put Rapunzel before everything else, would that make them a less good person? Does it not bother Rapunzel that her friend has been cast aside and never listened too? Probably not, because Rapunzel does not really listen to Cass except to prove to her that she cares, and wants Cass to follow her everywhere at the expense of her own happiness. I know that’s a little harsh and maybe exaggerated, but it’s kind of shocking to realize when you constantly watch their interactions throughout the show. It’s unsettling that Cass’ dream is the only one that Rapunzel never openly and actively involves in helping. And this girl has helped Attila, Monty, Hook Foot, and even Vardaros.

Yes, Rapunzel was ready to cheer Cass on in Challenge of the Brave, and couldn't have known how her entering the competition would affect Cass. Yes, she didn’t mean any ill will when she ignored Cass about the dangers of the House of Yesterday’s Tomorrow. Yes, in Beginnings, Rapunzel’s main issue was that Cass had lied to her, not that Cass wanted to leave. In Rapunzel’s eyes, this new friend she had hoped would be real with her after years of isolation used her, and that probably hurt. Fine. But for some reason, the show still doesn't show Rapunzel advocating for Cass or working with her to achieve her dream. Where is Rapunzel when we see Cass gazing wistfully out of the window at the royal guard? Where is Rapunzel when we see Cass training her best and trying to do all her chores so that she can get guard duty or any sliver of recognition? In Great Expotations, Varian helps, but only at the condition that she becomes his assistant (in an obvious bid to spend time with and impress her). If anything, he and Cass used each other-the only difference is that Cass didn’t hold up her end of the bargain. Fine, she apologized, but then she had to turn down that guard assignment from her dad to show that she was making up for it. Once again, she has to make a sacrifice ambition for friendship. AGAIN. I don’t support what Cass did, but I don’t blame her for being annoyed when Rapunzel seems to not take her advice to heart. In Destinies Collide, Rapunzel finally does take Cass with her to the moonstone chamber, but it’s only because she remembers Cass being upset about Rapunzel not trusting her judgement.

In the end, Rapunzel lets Cass go. At first, I thought that would be fine, like a sign that Rapunzel finally understood why Cass was unhappy. But then I realize that it’s too late. Cass is going into the world with no idea of where’s she’s headed. She doesn’t get to properly serve the kingdom she grew up in. She doesn’t get to join Ingvarr’s battalion. She doesn’t get to become this militaristic genius (fine I went overboard). They used Cass’ ‘villain arc’ to throw all of these things we know about her away, and then give her an excuse to not be a ‘toxic friend’ to Rapunzel. Now, a lot of people have different ideas about whether or the extent to which Rapunzel and Cass’ relationship was toxic, but still, not resolving or addressing any of those things makes the ending feel somewhat incomplete. Yes, there are ways in which the reverse can be argued: many people say that Cass was toxic for Rapunzel, too. I love both of the characters, but the way they were written to suit the plot-or rather, the way the plot was altered as their known character traits were subverted-makes it convenient for the final message to get across.

ELSA FROM FROZEN 2

I know most people have pointed out that Anna is the main character for the Frozen franchise, and Elsa is the mythical element. But the writers seemed very conflicted on how they should distribute plot, screen time, and character-development. If they had focused more on one sister, it could have turned out a little neater. I am still happy that Elsa and Anna discovered two different forms of independence, and accepted their respective roles as two sides of the fifth spirit. But that left out a lot of unanswered questions and unresolved dilemmas.

Usually (in simple words that I have used to explain to my 6 year old sister), a major Disney character gets multiple songs that range from ‘sad’ to ‘happy.’ They go on to show the character’s development: they are an intimate insight into the progression of the character’s motivations and priorities. Characters grow from a place of melancholy to a place of fulfillment and satisfaction.

The problem with Elsa’s ‘development’ is that there is no significant character arc. She learns to accept and love her powers, which is fine. It’s a change, but it’s not proper growth, because one could argue that Frozen accomplished that already, and Frozen 2 should have focused on Elsa and Anna working as a team. Elsa going to Ahtohallan immediately after breaking her promise to Anna felt rushed, and she never apologizes for it. Elsa doesn’t get a ‘sad song,’ she gets two upbeat and happy songs about freedom (Into the Unknown and Show Yourself). Anna gets a ‘sad solo’ but her happy song isn’t just hers-it’s everyone else singing with her (Some Thing Never Change). Not to mention, the people of Arendelle were evacuated so that Arendelle could be destroyed. Why did Elsa unfreeze when Anna broke the dam? It could be because Elsa had already accepted her role as the magical part of the fifth spirit, so upon noticing that Anna took on humanity’s part of the fifth spirit by destroying the dam, the spirits forgave Arendelle along with the Northuldra, and let Elsa go save Arendelle. Even as someone who loves both Elsa and Anna, I feel like Elsa freezing to death would have been a satisfying end for her. She never has to apologize or acknowledge how greatly her actions affect Anna. She’s always the one going out into ice palaces and wearing new dresses and singing upbeat songs while Anna is the one wandering around, in the snow and in the dark, trying to do what’s best for the kingdom.

If anything, this only falls in line with the first movie’s unsatisfying ending: Elsa comes back into Arendelle with a pretty dress and uses her powers for ice skating. She doesn’t apologize to Anna for freezing her heart, she doesn’t show remorse and is not met with scorn or mistrust over starting an eternal winter. Elsa gets an excuse for her actions because she’s angry and afraid, but Anna never gets an excuse because she’s lonely and depressed. Anna is punished for doing the right thing, whereas Elsa never even has to apologize for doing the wrong things.

My biggest problem with Frozen was that they tried to make Anna seem in the wrong just because she wanted to marry Hans, and completely gloss over the fact that Elsa was dangerous and irresponsible for the entire movie. It was disgusting that Anna had to die for Elsa to show that she “learned she didn’t need a man,” instead of Elsa dying for Anna because of all of the things she has caused her to go through. People have done whole analyses on this, so I’m not going to talk so much about it here. Hans was just a twist villain to make Anna look bad, and overlook the fact that Elsa ran away from her responsibilities an didn’t have to make up for it AT ALL. Thawing the winter she started was not enough. She could have killed people and she showed no remorse.

That being said, Frozen 2 sees Elsa leaves to live...in nature. I guess. But we don’t know why! That’s the issue with making both sisters the fifth spirit. The spirits weren’t angry because they were in misbalance and needed a human bridge, they were angry because the past was unresolved. The bridge between the human and magical world was made as a result of that being resolved, and so that injustice never happens again. Now that they had resolved the past and discovered they were both sides of the same spirit, Anna becomes queen because Elsa doesn’t feel comfortable going back anymore? That she feels she belongs in the forest? I’m not going to question why the Northuldra still stay in the same forest they’ve been trapped in for decades, but as always, Elsa’s freedom seems to come in exchange for her responsibilities. The only reason we know that Anna is the human side of the fifth spirit is that she grows precisely because Elsa gets careless. Literally. That’s it. Elsa not caring is the thing that drives Anna’s character development. Yes, Elsa goes on that whole adventure to save Arendelle, but she was willing to run off on the group multiple times, and didn’t even care about Anna’s concern when they ditched Kristoff. Elsa just says a bridge has two sides, because she knows Anna will always be there to clean up her messes and forgive her unconditionally. Because Anna is reliable and mature, Elsa knows she can ditch being queen without consequences. Because Anna is reliable and mature, Elsa knows she can runaway as far north as she can go whenever she wants, without giving a damn about the chain of command. I’ll probably do another analysis on Frozen and Frozen 2 later, but this is all I can leave it at for now. I appreciate that now, Elsa can get her freedom without putting her kingdom in peril, and I know the point was to show that Anna’s destiny was to become queen, while Elsa’s was to become...a magical, mythical portion of the fifth spirit, who lives in the forest with the Northuldra and helps keep nature in balance, I think. Maybe she’s preventing natural disasters. Who knows.

If they had just wanted to make Elsa the main character, they would have put more effort into her lines rather than her makeup or dresses. They could have made her the only child. She could have just been the fifth spirit on her own because her mother saved their father, and because she is a human with powers. Alternatively, if they had just wanted to keep Anna the main character, they would have given her more focus, and not made her choose between Kristoff and Elsa (salty about that too). They would have given her a happy solo as well as “The Next Right Thing,” like the originally deleted song “Home,” or even “Get This Right,” which gave more depth into Kristoff and Anna’s relationship, and would have made a little more sense than Kristoff’s solo, “Lost in the Woods.”

Finally, Elsa leaves Anna with an all-male company: Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven. No female friends. No communication with Ylena even, which would have been cool to see because we would know that the Northuldra feel welcome in Arendelle and want to work together to keep the peace between the magical/natural and human worlds. Again, the problems with Anna and Elsa’s relationship are never resolved. They’re just cast aside because Elsa one again chooses to distance herself instead of work it out.

CONCLUSION:

I think the writers wanted to tackle the concept of toxic or controversial relationships. But they chose to do it with female friendships, and decided that if two women have issues even remotely related to the other, it must be because they’re too close to each other and need some space. And conveniently, this leaves the main characters with a nearly all-male company and almost no other female friends. It may not be intentional, but this only sends the horrible message that having even one close female friend can make a girl toxically obsessive and neglect her other relationships, which is untrue and exaggerated. It wasn’t too much for Rapunzel; she constantly worried about Cass, and nearly every episode of Tangled the Series interjected Cass’ conflict and Rapunzel’s feelings about it, but Rapunzel doesn’t really neglect anything other than her own safety...in always trying to get through to Cass, she or someone she loves gets hurt, but that’s still not ever her fault (Read: Cassandra’s Revenge, A Tale of Two Sisters, etc.). However, I do appreciate that Rapunzel was willing to fight Cass to protect Corona, and she was actually willing to move on with life.

On the other hand, Anna’s obsession with Elsa was understandable yet overplayed as negative, whereas Elsa’s neglect of Anna’s feelings was unneeded and never addressed as negative. Anything Anna does for her kingdom and sister is considered “pushy to Elsa,” but anything Elsa does is “to protect Anna,” so people seem to have double standards. I agree that Elsa does a lot to protect Anna, but one can argue that (sometimes) her methods of doing it CAN be more detrimental to Anna than Anna’s ‘methods’ of trying to get through to/be there for her.

I would appreciate characters parting ways AFTER they properly compensated for or talked about their reasons with the main character. Leaving doesn't mean you’re throwing away your responsibilities. Leaving doesn't mean that you don’t address the very problems that led to this.

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