I've waited many many years for Tiana

When I first heard about The Princess and the Frog, I was elated. Yes, a 34 year old woman and mother ecstatic about a Disney princess. Because I'd never really had a Disney princess. Not one that looked like me, at least. I had more white dolls than black dolls and that was mostly because there weren't many black dolls on the market. In fact, just a couple of years ago I got into a tiny spat with the manager of my local Target store because I had been literally all over town looking for a black doll, ANY black doll at that point, for my niece and not one of the stores I went to had one. It was Christmas time; how do you not have a steady supply of dolls? He told me there wasn't really a demand for black dolls so whenever they got some they sold out fast. 0_0 what kind of sense does that make? I asked him. If you consistently sell out wouldn't that make you think that there IS a demand for black dolls? What am I supposed to buy my niece for Christmas? A white doll, he told me. And that's about when my tantrum kicked in. She's not white! I yelled. And when she's old enough she won't be giving birth to white babies!! After I left the store I was a tad embarrassed but I got over it. He needed to hear that. I did it for the people, lol. Daisy ended up with a black McDonald's Barbie doll that I found buried, literally, at Walmart, and even buying that doll almost had me in a fight, lol. The check out girl at Walmart held the box that the doll was in up and smiled at her and then said to me "All she needs is some long fingernails and a bunch of gold jewelry and she'd look just like the girls who work in McDonald's over there. tee hee" I don't recall exactly what I said to that bitch but I do remember cussing her out and saying she'd look just like Petunia Pig if only she had a big bow on her head. Among other things. I stormed out of there and vowed to never return.

Anyway, so I'm walking around with black doll/black princess baggage, lol. Yes, I am. This may seem trivial to some but I'm not concerned about them. When Disney announced they were coming out with Princess Tiana, I felt like we'd finally overcome. haha. And even though I have a son, not a daughter, I made up my mind that both he and I would be in the theater watching that movie on opening weekend, on general principal. I had to support it, otherwise, would there ever be another Princess Tiana? Probably not. So the other day we went to see it and at first the theater only had a handful of people in it and I was a bit sad but not surprised. It was 10 minutes until showtime. But by the time the movie began the theater was full! Little Asian girls and boys, three or four little white girls, a bunch of adults, like mostly adults, and some teenagers. I was so pleased, I teared up. hahaha! And when the movie was over, the audience clapped! That right there let me know they were all thinking the same thing I was: that this little Princess is a huge celebration! :)
However, for this to be Disney's first black princess I think they fell short. Yes, yes, you knew there'd be complaints. I think that maybe they overthought it and didn't want to offend anyone so they played it safe. But they ended up playing it too safe! The message was to work hard for your dreams, stay focused and your dreams will come true. And she was working hard. Like Cinderella hard. But then she got saved by a rich prince who paid for her dreams to come true. So where's the message now? Or maybe I got it all wrong and the message was really that you need love and hard work to be happy? I wonder what the kids thought. And then! Then, she was only human for a small portion of the movie. She spent the bulk of the movie as a damn frog. How does that even count as a movie about a black princess? I don't know but I kind of felt cheated. Just a little bit, though. I'm thankful for what I could get and I did enjoy Oprah as her mother, I loved Anika Noni Rose as Tiana, and the lightening bugs and Mama Dodie (I think that was her name) brought a bunch of smiles to my face. Oh, and the witch doctor was pretty good, too. The mardi gras theme at the end was also a nice touch. The music sucked though, lol. They picked the Toy Story guy to do the music. His niche was Toy Story and he should have hung up his hat after that. Nevertheless, I finally got my princess!! FINALLY.
So I got my princess and while I'm not elated with her, she'll do. I just hope she gets the love she deserves from real little girls - like Jasmine, Belle, Cinderella, Ariel, and Snow White get. I want Tiana to be appreciated because I waited long and hard for her.