Princess Tiana Essay

Princess Tiana as a device to further other Black People from the white status quo.

In this essay I will be looking at the Disney movie The Princess and the Frog (2009), more precisely the depiction of its lead, princess Tiana. I will show how the depiction of princess Tiana furthers racial othering.

The princess and the Frog is loosely based on the Frog Prince (original title: Der Froschkönig oder der eiserne Heinrich), widely known through the Brothers Grimm’s folk and fairytale collection.

I will be working with Edward Said’s concept of Orientalism and Othering to illustrate my claims. Furthermore Mystifcation (especially when it comes to Voodoo?) Summarizing Differences

In the Frog Prince a spoiled princess plays with her golden

It constructs the East as “the Other”, as inherently different from it and therefore positions itself as superior. It is a structure of hegemony that has placed power in the hands of the “conquerors”, also implying the rightful, throughout history which has also led to systems being created that favour those belonging to the conquering group. These systems still remain intact to this day and are just as impactful and powerful. The resulting notion of the “Orient” as exotic, mysterious and a place of romance, to name just the “positives”, is exotification. Basing subsequently gained knowledge, be it scholarly or otherwise, on this foundation of misconception one can see that is a system that is prone to perpetuating

Mystification as the term already implies puts distance between the respective positions. Having Tiana turned into a frog effectively does just that. She no longer is the Black princess Disney has made her out to be. Now she is not only a cursed heroine but a cursed Black heroine. Her outer appearance, and since this is a visual medium this amounts to her entire being, is being altered and mystified, leaving Tiana little of her humanity let alone her heritage. This movie is far from the harbinger of racial representation it was made out to