Mia Thermopolis and the Case of the Missing Glasses

 

The Princess Diaries.  A Disney classic and staple in my childhood (special shoutout to my old babysitter, Julia).  

Mia Thermopolis (who we later discover is, legally, Amelia Mignonette Thermopolis Renaldi Princess of Genovia) is a social outcast at her high school.  She's bullied by the popular blonde cheerleaders, and she is invisible to the popular blonde jock she has a crush on (the theme of this, and several teen movies being, brunettes aren't cool; not very uplifting to a fellow brown-haired girl).  

The Princess Diaries has always been one of my comfort films.  A nice curl-up-on-the-couch viewing with a pint of Phish Food, face mask, and cozy pajamas after a particularly stressful day.  It's great for a solo girls night or the fun-girl-feather-boa sleepover.  

However, with every single watch, I am always shocked that every character (sans Michael; we <3 Michael Moscovitz) finds Mia ugly.  Her so-called "gremlin" traits include: bushy eyebrows, frizzy brown hair, and--worst of all!--glasses. Dun. Dun. DUN!!!!! An overwhelming amount of characters in the movie, especially Queen Clarisse's stylist--dramatically gasp and guffaw upon seeing Mia's physical appearance. 

A reminder: this is a children's movie!! Or, at the very least, a film targeted towards adolescent girls.  It does the worst thing it could possibly do--establish damning beauty standards to a young and impressionable audience.  The movie ends with the lesson it's okay to be yourself, but Mia still remains physically transformed.  She looks how a princess "ought" to look, making the concluding message of the film contradictory, or at least, based in personality and not appearance (and specifically a girl's appearance).