Romance In the Revival Era Movies

[jazzflower92]

Ever since the Revival era has happened, I have been seeing a trend of romance being downplayed in movies. I know during the 2000's, this was also a thing that happened in Disney movies as well. However, I also see that as time goes by that the focus on romance in even Princess movies is beginning to be downplayed or as future fairy tale movies indicate there won't be any at all. I think in the 2000's the reason why the romance was downplayed or wasn't an element at all was because most of the movies in that decade were non-Princess/Fairy Tale like movies. At that point in time, Princess/Fairy Tale movies were well known for having romance in their movies.

[Tangled]

I'm okay with this. The thing is, most of the little kids who watch these movies have never been in a romantic relationship. For them, a love story adds nothing except unrealistic expectations for romance in future. I do like how, in Disney-revival films, the romantic relationships are imperfect. Modern Disney films are desperately trying to undo this by only focusing on romances between two characters who may not fit perfectly together (hence all the relationships between two people who are opposites or who are at odds at the beginning of the film).

Plus, some kids (and even some adults) just hate the idea of romantic relationships in childrens' media. For example, my little brother squirmed any instance of romance as a kid, and for the longest time (between the ages of 6-15, it was "masculine" Pixar films that could convince him to give Disney Animation a chance again) he refused to watch Disney films since he felt as though most of them were "too lovey-dovey for boys" (yes, seriously). I kind of see why he would feel that way, since as he was growing up most Disney films were romances, even movies like Mulan that could probably work without the romance. Disney films were only enforcing the boundary between "entertainment for girls" and "entertainment for boys" for him since he grew to associate Disney films as "girls' films". Society's ideals of masculinity (men can't feel emotions or enjoy the idea of love because doing those things are "uncool") are an issue in itself. Plus, on the feminine side of the issue, there are many girls who don't like romance and dislike how media aimed at girls often emphasizes romance over individuality.

However, there's also a fandom issue. Female characters are rarely seen as individuals, but rather as the half of a potential relationship. The adult Disney fandom is horrible with this. Elsa was examined under scrutiny for not having a romance. People are still wondering if Moana will have a love interest even though she's 14. Now, Zootopia is out, and I've seen more people discussing about the potential "romance" than the films' stellar messages against prejudice. Still, I don't think we'll ever move past that. People will always obsess over shipping. It's just that, for some reason, female characters are expected to fall in love. Props to Disney for ignoring that stigma, but I don't think the stigma will ever be completely erased as long as romance is still considered "girly".

[Disney's Divinity]

Not really. Romance played a heavy role in TP&TF and Tangled. Frozen didn't make it the main storyline, but Anna's brief romance with Hans (and the outcome) is woven pretty heavily into the plot and her interaction with Kristoff makes up a sizeable chunk of the film.

Aside from that, all the other films are "boy's" films, but we still get Fix-It Felix and Jane Lynch (played for laughs). Maybe it'll be different after Moana and Gigantic, since Moana doesn't have a love interest and I know nothing about Gigantic, but for now I don't agree.

As far as what Tangled said, opposites attract couples aren't new to the revival films. Most of the films from the '90s do the same thing (B&tB, Pocahontas, Hunchback, Hercules, Tarzan, etc.). Disney's modern films are still reinforcing the divide between "girl's" films and "boy's" films.

[Mooky]

You answered your own question: the only reason it seems downplayed compared to the Renaissance is because romance was already present in the source material for those films, a bulk of which were based on fairy tales. Now that they've basically run out of fairy tales to adapt and are more interested in pursuing original stories and 'boy' movies, of course romance took the backseat, but it's probably gonna be back with Gigantic.

Besides, the '90s had The Lion King, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Mulan where romance wasn't even close to being the focal point.

[Disney Duster]

You might as well say adding magic to Disney films adds nothing, because kids have never experienced magic. That simply isn't right. It's GOOD to have romance in films. It's GOOD to have individuality in films. It's WONDERFUL to have both, and a really good film can have both. For kids, romance added to films still adds greatness, as some kids do indeed wish for relationships when they grow up. And remember, Disney films are meant to be for everyone, not just kids.