Binary Opposition Analysis: The Princess Diaries (Film)

Yep, you know you've really spent too much time in Dr. McHugh's AP Lit class when you start to apply literary critical theories to your favorite childhood movies.

So, in case you don't spend your free time down by the river watching pre-teen films, here is a brief overview to catch you up!

Shy San Francisco teenager Mia Thermopolis (Anne Hathaway) is thrown for a loop when, from out of the blue, she learns the astonishing news that she's a real-life princess! As the heir apparent to the crown of the small European principality of Genovia, Mia begins a comical journey toward the throne when her strict and formidable grandmother, Queen Clarisse Renaldi (Julie Andrews), shows up to give her "princess lessons."


Binary Opposition Analysis:

-Fantasy vs Reality : The fantasy of being a Princess vs the real life process of becoming one and the duties that ensue, especially since Mia's "claim to the throne" is vary fantastical–she's the long lost daughter of some royalty from a far away land. The film then progresses to the present and lays it all out, almost as if the pages of a storybook have come to life; the past was already written, the present is just a continuation. In addition, one of the main male characters is a soap opera writer who observes his daily surroundings and narrates them as if they were soaps. This clearly establishes a direct opposition between fiction and reality; The real world is taken and manipulated, not only from 3D actions to 2D words, but from realistic to dramatic exaggerations like that of Soap Opera dramas. 

-Royalty vs Common : The Queen has long since been royal, and isn't afraid to show it. Meanwhile, Mia has technically always had royal blood yet lived like a "commoner" for the first 16 years of her life. Thus, there is a stark difference between the two. For example, when getting into the car, Mia offers for her grandmother to get in first to which her grandmother, the Queen, replies, "a Queen never "slides". There is also evidence of the superiority structure in the clip above. Mia arrives at the palace late and is scolded by her grandmother for doing so since the Queen, her grandmother, has authority over the Princess, her granddaughter. That being said, this interaction also represents that of an archetypal adult vs child relationship, not inherently related to the opposition of classes. 

-Physical makeover : In the clip above, before reveling the "new and improved" Mia, Pablo, the hairdresser masks her behind snap shots of her "before" look. This is an example of a physical binary opposition; a disheveled Mia to one that is plucked, prim, and proper. The two are contrasted together by first showing the before photos and then revealing the now and after. 

-Like the majority of movies, there is always the scene where the past is recounted through flashbacks. In this case, Mia reminisces and reimagines her memories of her late father. The past is contrasted with the present because Mia is reading a letter from her father in the present, while her father is shown writing the letter in the past. 


Implications: 

The binary oppositions found within the film imply the above meanings, however, I am unsure of the larger overall intended implication for society. That being said, other criticisms can be applied for additional meaning. For example, feminism is concerned with "...the ways in which literature (and other cultural productions) reinforce or undermine the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression of women". In this case, a feminist reading, or observation would derive meaning from the female protagonist, Mia. Mia takes complete control of her own future and destiny. Even though the pressures of being "a princess" are impressed upon her by others (though no male characters interestingly enough, feminism would usually suggest oppression of women done by males), Mia is ultimately the one who makes the final decision of whether to ascend to the throne.