Princess Diaries, White People Activism and BTW Fuck Israel
Anne FUCKING Hathaway (duh?)!!!
So, the other day I did a rewatch of The Devil Wears Prada which was one of my favorite movies because it’s a) iconic, b) I love anything 2000s romcom/dracom whose protagonist works in this magazine/publishing company based in New York (because surprise, surprise I am that basic bitch whose dream job is to work in magazine/publishing industry and/or lives in New York) and c) it starres Anne FUCKING Hathaway (duh?).
After The Devil Wears Prada, since I got nothing else to watch, I thought why don’t we do another rewatch of another (or two, because it’s a sequel) Anne Hathaway movie, which is Princess Diaries. And here I am now, reading the third book of Princess Diaries (it just happens sometimes. My compulsiveness, I mean). Like, there was a time when Twilight was a hit and I bought the books and devoured it in no time since I couldn’t sleep not knowing what happens next. Twilight was no princess diaries but you got the point, right??
Princess Diaries
Growing up, other than Harry Potter and The Famous Five, I was obsessed with Princess Diaries and teen lit in general. I don’t have the complete collection of Princess Diaries, though, since I practically had no money. Whenever school breaks came, our parents took us to the bookstore and we each bought one or two sometimes three books depends on the price. So one time I just randomly picked one of Princess Diaries sequel, which I think was the third book, which also the one I’m currently reading by the way, because I liked the cover. And I was instantly hooked, so when the next time we went to the bookstore, I went to the teen lit section to buy another, but of course I didn’t buy and read in a chronological order since there was no chronological number on the cover (of the Indonesian version, at least). So yeah, this is going to be my first time reading all of the sequel in a chronological order too. I’m so excited!!!!! I’ve spent time daydreaming about it when I was little. The thing about the book version of Princess Diaries, is that I just love how chaotic and hysterical Mia is in the book and the way she expresses every little crisis and minor inconvenience she has with an excessive amount of capitalization and exclamation marks through her writing. She’s just so me. Especially, with the boys and stuff. I also used to write with a lot of capitalization and exclamation marks on my own diary too especially, when I wrote about boys and stuff.
Ever since my mom bought my very first ever diary/journal, which was in second grade, if I’m not mistaken, I’ve always taken a keen of writing. I remember in third grade, the teacher wanted us to write about what we want to be when we grow up and I intentionally wrote a very short three paragraph essay explaining why I want to be an astronaut in a very imaginative non sense way which included pink alien army and so on since writer was not (and still is not, I believe) considered as a real job, at least back then. But I thought she got what I meant, with the non sense thingy, I mean I would definitely make a good fantasy/adventure novel writer or something.
Anyway, Mia just reminded me of myself. I always thought I was the only one who wrote about boys and stuff in a chaotic and hysterical also very personal way with a lot LOT of capitalization and exclamation marks (I’m not even kidding). Knowing that someone out there also reacts the way I do and almost thinks the way I do, was just, you know, such a relief. She also thinks she is weird and not pretty and all. She’s very relatable, except for the part she goes to a private school in New York with a limo and a bodyguard and also the fact that she is a princess of a small (fictional) country in Europe.
Is it White People Activism or.. ?
Reading this in my mid 20s, I realized that Mia is probably like a very good portrayal of white people activism. Not that it’s bad or anything but really with every privilege and all the audience she has, she definitely could do so much more. I mean, she talks about her future of working in Greenpeace and making a change for the environment, saving this and this endangered creatures, eating vegetarian/pescatarian diet because as we all know how bad the meat industry actually is, wanting to build a shelter for cats and everything when really she goes to school with her limo and flies with her private jet. I don’t know. It’s just kind of performative and hypocrisy… But, of course, she is 14. And that’s exactly what a 14 years old pretty much can do, I guess. Even for a princess. Who would take her seriously, anyway?
Regardless, I still think this book series is a mandatory read for young girls out there. Mia is the reason I tried being a vegetarian for a day or two when I was 13 years old, which was not successful at all because there was almost no option for vegetarian food in restaurant and I should just eat whatever my mom cooked at home (I KNOW. CRY IN ASIAN). But much much later, when I was in uni, I became a vegan for a little more over a year until it fucked my menstrual cycle because the lack of protein intake (I assumed), I also had a very active lifestyle (so, that could be the reason too). That’s still a win, right? And one time in middle school, I joined an English speech contest and talk about global warming and for an English assignment too writing about my role model, which was Al Gore at that time (he is known to be a former vice president of the US who’s also really known for his environment activism ((OMG!!! This just reminded me of the book he wrote that I bought and haven’t read, An Inconvenient Truth))).
BTW Fuck Israel!!!!! STOP KILLING PEOPLE!!! DECOLONIZE PALESTINE!!!!
My environmental activism unfortunately didn’t really go anywhere. I was and still am pretty much too shy and quiet for any activism. Like when I was very into feminism back in uni, I took a feminist paradigms class to educate myself and joined my first ever women’s march right before the pandemic hit. For someone who’s afraid of any sort of social interaction, let’s just say that was something.
I wonder, though, what Mia would do, as a princess in the midst of genocide, the occupation and colonization of Palestine that has been continously going on for 8 months. What about all the young girls like me out there who also have read this book series and idolize Mia to somehow make a change for a better world? We’re on the same side right? The side of the oppressed? YOU. CAN’T. BE. NEUTRAL. IN. SITUATIONS. OF. INJUSTICE??? Also, I think I might join tomorrow’s protest in front of the US embassy. Wish me luck!!!!
Here’s a list of things you can do:
Please share, educate the people around you, boycott and donate if you can!!!
