Christmas, Romance and Popular Films!

When you think of Christmas romance, Disney films, and princes and princesses, you may expect fairy-tale-like heteronormative narratives of love. You wouldn’t be far off the mark! The four presentations in this session are in dialogue with each other, and with the larger context of dominant and subversive streams in popular romance and popular film. After each presentation, you are invited to join the dialogue to share your thoughts!

Session Structure:

Introduction

The Traditional Limitations for the Women of the Royal Family in A Christmas Prince (2017-2019)

• Charlotte will explore the A Christmas Prince franchise: its similarities to our royals Meghan and Harry; the gender-based restrictions that were imposed on the heroine, Amber, when romance blossoms with the hero, Prince Richard; and the traditions of patriarchy in the Aldovia royal family.

Ballgowns and the Princess Fantasy

• Hallmark, Hollywood and Disney film culture is obsessed with putting romantic heroines in ball gowns, especially around Christmas: A Christmas Prince, A Princess for Christmas, Once Upon a Prince; Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire; The Beauty and the Beast, to name a few. Evvie will discuss princess fashion, and the ways ball gowns articulate the female body.

Group discussion in smaller break-out rooms

• A chance for a free discussion on any of the topics raised in the two presentations, or anything related to Christmas, romance and popular film! 

Short Comfort Break (5 - 10 mins)

Welcome back!

Sisterhood and Sibling Love in Disney’s Frozen

• A chance for a free discussion on any of the topics raised, or anything related to Christmas, romance, and popular film! irl and boy who meet and fall in love at first sight, they get married and live happily ever after. Katrina will explore how Frozen breaks Disney’s long-standing convention by focusing on the bond and love between sisters instead of heteronormative romance and the importance of this in modern society.

Christmas Romances and the Diversity Problem

• Lucy will explore how the majority of Christmas films still present a heteronormative, white-only depiction of Christmas through films like Happiest Season, The Princess Switch and more! She will discuss the progress that has been made in the last few years but also the problems that come with diversifying the Christmas Romance.

Group discussion in smaller break-out rooms

• A chance for a free discussion on any of the topics raised in the two presentations, or anything related to Christmas, romance and popular film! 

Goodbye/Wrap-Up