If you were anything like four-year-old me, the one thing you wished to be when you were older was a Disney princess. Cinderella, Snow White, Ariel, are a few princesses that little girls aspire to be when they’re 16. Speaking to animals, meeting their 25-year-old 'Prince Charming' (although it is, in fact, illegal), and living happily ever after. The ideal ending to a little girl’s dream! But do the princesses truly lead a happy life with no issues forever? Doesn’t seem very practical. But, Disney wouldn’t lie to us, right? Disney wouldn’t deliberately plant the idea of “finding a hunky, strong man solves all of your issues” into young, impressionable girls’ minds…right? Youtuber Jon Cozart seems to think that’s the case. So much so that he rewrote Disney princess melodies and exposed a more practical ending to their happily ever afters. After Ever After by Jon Cozart utilizes parody, wit, and hyperbole to satirize the unrealistic happy ending Disney princesses gain in each movie. Ruining our childhoods one song at a time. A princess Cozart unravels in After Ever After is Pocahontas, a Native American who falls in love with the tall, blonde, and handsome John Smith. Unlike the other princesses, Pocahontas was a real young woman in the 16th century. While Disney creates a positive, happy ending for her and her village, the real-life story is anything but sparkles and happiness. By incorporating the melody of Disney’s “Colors of the Wind”, Cozart parodies the song by intertwining Disney’s narrative with the cruel reality of what Native American’s faced in North America. Cozart turns an empowering tune, into a grim, bleak ballad that Disney completely disregards. The reason Cozart's parody works so well is because of his constant clever wordplay. Cozart flawlessly blends wit into his dark lyrics, tugging on the heartstrings of broken-hearted Disney fans. By changing the original lyrics of "paint with all the colors of the wind" to "paint with the red colors in these men", Cozart plays on the fact that if the movie had been realistic, Pocahontas would’ve been quite brutal to the foreigners. Cozart does this again with the lyric "they greeted us with guns, and germs, and steel", switching the tone of happiness at the beginning of the phrase to the reality of what was happening in the 16th century. The true star of the video is Cozart’s exemplary use of hyperbole. Hyperbole is what shifts the tone from interesting to “mom, I’m scared” in the blink of an eye. While Cozart over-exaggerates the movie and Pocahontas as a whole, he does it all while staying true to Native American history. Lyrics such as “…I’m far more liberal with a weapon when I separate their bodies from their heads”, “…Bit the beating hearts of Spanish men”, and “I can murder if I please…”, Cozart over-exaggerates Pocahontas’ experiences to make her seem like a savage when that wasn’t the case in the film nor in real life. The eeriness of the exaggeration is what ties up this satire beautifully. Who knows what Jon Cozart was thinking when he created this sick, twisted jewel After Ever After but I’m glad he did. Although he might’ve destroyed my childhood for good, his satirization made me realize I’ve dodged a bullet by not becoming a Disney princess. So, if you ever wonder why, Disney tales all end in lies, here’s the satire in Pocahontas’ dreams coming true.
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AuthorHi! I'm La'Kennya Huggins and I'm currently a senior in high school. This blog is primarily for my college course. Archives
November 2021
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