Villains
Seeing the good in them
By: Verah J.
We all know our typical bad guys. Maleficent. Mother Gothel. Evil Queen. Ursula. Evil Stepmother. Three of these villains have names with the word "evil." Evil Stepmother. Evil Queen. Maleficent. But deep down, are they really evil? I will be answering that in this issue of News from the Nest.
First of all, what does evil really mean? According to Google search, it means "profoundly immoral and wicked." But is that the true definition? I think it means Enraging, Vulnerable, Isolated, and Loathed. Maybe everyone thinks they're evil but they've never given them a chance. For example, Maleficent. She only cursed Sleeping Beauty because she didn't get an invitation to Aurora's birthday party. If Aurora's parents would've just invited Maleficent, everything would've been fine! If anything, the main characters should be the antagonists. This is similar with the other villains.
Mother Gothel. Rapunzel's "mother." Trapped her in the tower for eighteen whole years. Sounds pretty evil right? But there's a reason. Rapunzel's kingdom's name is Corona. Which probably means there are the most cases of the coronavirus there. So, Mother Gothel took Rapunzel so she wouldn't get the coronavirus. After all, she was just a baby. Also, Rapunzel's mom was sick while giving birth. Could it be the coronavirus?? So, Mother Gothel took Rapunzel to the tower so she was quarantined. Though this might sound ridiculous, it can't hurt to hypothesize, right? In the Disney movie, Tangled, Rapunzel pushes Mother Gothel out of the tower. But think of it this way: Mother Gothel took care of Rapunzel. She didn't abuse her or hurt her in any way. Except for in the end when she chained her up. But Rapunzel deserved it. Sure, it sounds harsh for disobeying a rule, but it was the only rule. I mean, who's parents lets them paint the walls? So I would say it was a rightful punishment. Also, in the original fairy tale, Rapunzel's father steals the plant Rapunzel from Dame Gothel's garden! He could've just asked and she could have given him some. But no. Rapunzel's dad had to steal it! Plus, when Dame Gothel caught him, she could have killed him, but she didn't. Instead, she wanted his baby. They agreed on the deal, but when Gothel went to pick Rapunzel up? Rapunzel's parent's didn't even keep their end of the deal! I guess now we know where Rapunzel gets her villainous ways.
Next up, Evil Queen. Also known as Grimhilde. Snow White's stepmother. Whatever you want to call her, we can all agree she was pretty evil. I mean, she tried to kill Snow White! Three times! But what was the reason behind it? She just wanted to be the "fairest of them all". True, she could've tried a different approach, but I'm sure she was tired and wasn't thinking straight. Besides, this is technically all her magic mirror's fault. The mirror shouldn't have spoiled Grimhilde like that, always saying she was the prettiest. That way the queen never learned that sometimes in life, you just have to accept the fact your not that pretty! Plus, pretty's on the inside. Another way this is the mirror's fault is that she could've just lied to Grimhilde to spare her feelings. I know, no one likes being lied to. But everyone lies to their friend they look good even if they don't at least once in their lifetime. Snow White also could have helped her stepmother. She could've taught her some beauty tips, let her borrow some of her makeup products. They could've been friends instead of foes.
Now presenting...Evil Stepmother! Lady Tremaine, mother of Drizella and Anastasia Tremaine, and stepmother to Cinderella. Wow, she's a lot of things. Except evil. I know, a lot of people would disagree with me, but hear me out! Yes, Evil Stepmother did make Cinderella do some harsh things. But it was only for her own daughters! She was jealous of Cinderella, or Ella, her real name, because of her beauty. So if you don't like being pretty, what do you do? Become less-pretty, right? Well Lady Tremaine thought making Ella do a bunch of chores would make her less pretty. In the original story, Ella slept by the fire so she got cinder all over herself, giving her the nickname "Cinderella". Plus, do you remember the first dress that her stepsisters ripped apart? That dress was ugly anyway. It had a HUGE bow on the front! Besides, Drizella and Anastasia did their stepsister a favor! Pink is NOT her color. Blue suits her wayyyyyy better! See?
The blue one is even SPARKLY!! If Drizella and Anastasia hadn't ripped up her old dress, she would have never gotten her new, sparkly, one.
Poor unfortunate souls! This song is sung by Ursula, "villain" of "The Little Mermaid". There's one thing wrong with that sentence. She's not a villain. She's actually really helpful. For example, in the song, she says- or rather sings- that she helped a couple fall in love with each other. But then she turned them into tiny skeleton plant thingies. But it was their own fault! They did not keep their end of the deal. Sure, Ursula could've chosen a different punishment, but at least they didn't die! She only turned them into tiny skeleton plant thingies. Also, Ariel signed the contract to give up her voice for human legs but didn't keep her part of the deal. So she KILLED Ursula even though she was the one who messed up and Ursula helped her.
Now, the Mistress of Evil, Maleficent! Like I said, Maleficent only cursed Aurora because she didn't get invited to her party. Although she cursed Aurora, she did her a favor, too. She put everyone else to sleep so that the princess wouldn't be alone when she woke up. Also, when Prince Phillip tries to save Aurora, Maleficent tries to stop her. I think it was a good thing Maleficent tried to stop him because Aurora is only sixteen and Phillip is twenty. Which means Aurora is still a teenager and the prince is an adult. Which is illegal. So Maleficent was only trying to get them not arrested. But since they're royalty, they can do whatever they want. Even if it's illegal.
Now, do you agree with me? These villains are NOT evil. The main characters are!