Watched a little of TP&TF today on Freeform and had a few thoughts that made me remember this post I made a long while ago:
Disney's Divinity wrote:I saw a bit of this on TV the other day. I need to sit down and watch it again, since it’s been a while. It was at the scene Naveen is trying to propose to Tiana, and for some reason a part of that scene stuck out to me and several things tied themselves together for me while watching the ending. Tiana talks about her restaurant and uses the word “we”; Naveen think she’s talking about the two of them at first, but she’s referring to herself and her father, which is why he doesn’t propose because there’s no room in her dream for him. Also striking is how, during the vision of her dreams come true Facilier tempts her with, the first thing she does is look for Naveen and she’s disappointed he isn’t there. When Tiana finally looks into the window at her family, the moment she realizes she wants to be with Naveen even more than attain her dream, all three are wearing green. I like the connection they tie between choosing to live together in the present with Naveen (rather than live solitary “in the past” with her father’s memory), and a soothing green color.
I know there are all different sorts of ways the color has meaning in the story though. There’s money (which both Naveen / Tiana are seeking at the beginning and Facilier explicitly refers to as “it’s the green you need”), and in the reverse it takes on a warm, healing, familial meaning by the end. Of course it’s also used as otherworldly during Facilier’s song sequence and several bayou scenes, making nature itself marked as supernatural. I’m surprised they didn’t go further and have Facilier himself wear more green, to accent his envious personality. But, I suppose, purple is the opposite of green—signifying Facilier’s ultimate rejection of anything and anyone beyond himself, unlike Tiana. Facilier also chooses to live in the past, wanting revenge on those with privilege like Charlotte’s family for what he didn’t have, and even sells his soul to get what he wants. That’s why, even though Facilier and Tiana have little direct connection to one another in the story, they are reflections of one another, which makes him a good villain for her, imo.
There is another similarity I thought of between Tiana and Facilier. Tiana's entire life is built around the dead (her father); completing her father's dreams are her entire life and how she plans to "elevate" herself to where she wants to be. Facilier takes it a step further--he
literally works with the dead to accomplish his goals of elevating his position. Nearly all of M&C's villains are dark twists on the protagonists.
Anyway, I had a thought during the climactic scene where Tiana finally "gets it," that a "What If" book for this film (those
Twisted Tale books) would be one where Tiana didn't finally get it there and, after having tried so hard to do it the "right" way and being denied regardless because she was Black, she gives into Facilier's temptation. ("Come on, Tiana, you're almost there....") Facilier says something about how her dream would be the shining star of Crescent City. Perhaps he would give her her restaurant after taking over the city and she would be an uncomfortable ally of his (think Megara being Hades' slave in
Hercules). And Naveen would still be trapped in a box somewhere, Charlotte in a sham marriage, etc.
I LOVE it!!! I love most of their bags.
Tiana is a pretty name. Changing her name from Maddie earlier on didn't bother me for that reason; I think Tiana is much prettier than Maddie.
