TANGLED (2011) Movie Review

The story of Tangled begins with the sun and its ability to heal the sick and injured. If you look carefully, then you will find that the symbol of the sun is everywhere even buried in Rapunzel’s subconscious.

The sun bears important symbolic meaning of life and healing, which is exactly what Rapunzel’s hair can do. It can bring eternal life. However, her hair loses its power once it’s cut, so she never cuts it and it grows to be 70 feet long.

Rapunzel’s adoptive mother Gothel locks her in a tower in order to keep Rapunzel’s healing power for herself and live forever. She refuses to let the girl leave the tower, which she claims is out of concern for her safety. Yet, her agenda is much greedier than what she claims. The reason she locks Rapunzel away is because she wants to keep the healing power all to herself. Her greed gets so bad that once Rapunzel starts to rebel she resorts to chains and knives.

Little does Gothel know that Flynn loves her enough not only to protect and save her, but he also sacrifices himself to save her. Gothel stabs him in the side (the same place where Christ was stabbed on the cross). Instead of letting Rapunzel heal him he cuts her hair so that Gothel could never use her power again, thus forfeiting his own chance to live. Gothel then turns to dust. His selfless love frees her from her prison and the heavy burden of her long hair.

In same way Christ saved the world from the heavy burden and captivity of sin, which is a gift that Christ commissioned his followers to share with the far reaches of the world. As Christians it is our God given duty to share this message, and Tangled is a great reminder of the consequences when we keep that life giving message to ourselves. People die. Not just their bodies die, but also their souls.

On top of that, I found it to be a wonderful film, good for the whole family. Frankly, it’s the best Disney film I’ve seen all year. Despite the rumors that Tangled will be Disney’s last princess film I sincerely hope that Tangled has done well enough that Disney decides to continue with this timeless genre.