The first Kingdom Hearts attached great meaning to the concept of Light and Darkness. The latter was basically a corrupting force that took the feelings of the heart and twisted them into something foul. We see evidence of this intent behind the Darkness more than a few times: RIku's own good intentions converted into jealousy, anger, and lust as he allows the Darkness to consume him; each of the Disney villains in Maleficent's crew have their own vendettas that cause the Darkness to seep in; and, of course, the ultimate embodiment of the Darkness is in the form of the Heartless, which are emotionless consuming machines.
But what of the Light? With so much to be said about the Darkness, and it's effect on people, what can we say about the counter weight, and what it means to have Light within a person's heart? Well, just as we have the Heartless to give us a look at what it means to be absolute Darkness, the Seven Princesses of Heart are said to have hearts of pure Light, and, one might assume, demonstrate what it means to be close to the Light. I think it's worth going through the Princess's individually to see what it is about their character's that can (if you'll pardon the pun) illuminate on what the Light is, what it does within the heart, and what it means for us and the people of Kingdom Hearts.
To start with, let's look at Alice, who stands out if for no other reason than she has no connection to royalty or the title of Princess in anyway. She's just an ordinary girl who happened to be bored with her studies by the river and decided to pursue a white rabbit. Yet, that in itself might be important, and somewhat key to Alice's significance: she is just ordinary. She's not on a tier that can't be accessed, she has no powers that no one else might have, and in that, she might be considered the most relatable of the Princesses. But without the sense of majesty surround her, what does Alice possess in her heart that makes her Light? Well, Alice possesses that Light which can only be found in the hearts of children, according the Kairi's grandmother. There's an innate curiosity, that desire to explore and learn about things around you. Alice encounters strange thing after strange thing during her time in Wonderland, yet never does she turn around and leave. In fact, her greater sense of judgement and occasional frustrations (why IS a raven like a writing desk?) speak well on her behalf: she is willing to embrace imagination and wonder, but never to the point of excess or madness. It's this combination of wisdom and wonder that I think makes Alice a Light: there's a will to learn, to tolerate, to explore, and perhaps most importantly, to imagine. Without imagination, a story about a kid running around with a giant key would surely never get off the ground. In a word, Alice represents Curiosity.
Next, Cinderella, who represents Perseverance and Determination. Cinderella loses her father at an early age, who is literally the only human being in her life that loves her. She spends the next decade and a half essentially as a slave, being verbally and mentally abused day in and day out, with no real end in sight. In short, Cinderella's life sucks. She knows she's probably never going to catch a break, and that this could very well continue until she eventually dies. Yet she perseveres, and refuses to crawl into a little ball and die. She has the will to carry on, because though things are dark, much like the story of the two frogs trapped in a barrel of cream, it is better to keep your head above water than to simply give up and die. The idea of clinging to a dream has gotten a lot of flak in recent times, with the interpretation being that you don't have to work for something if you just wish really hard for it, and then it'll magically happen. I believe that misses the point in the case of Cinderella: her dream does work out in the end through the work of magic, but what really matters is the fact that she didn't let despair take over her life. She didn't just throw in the towel. If Darkness prompts you to just let go, Cinderella's Light is telling you to keep hanging on.
Which brings us to Jasmine, who in the same vein seems to embody Will and Courage. Jasmine is under a lot of pressure in Agrabah to embrace tradition and step in line, from her father to Jafar to even Aladdin himself, who thinks that simply operating within the system of royalty will make her like him more. Yet in spite of stacked odds, Jasmine has strong opinions about the state of things, and is willing to fight for them. I don't know what exactly will happen in the even that she doesn't get married by her next birthday, but even still, the apparent will to stand up against what appears to be a well established law indicates the strength to draw a line in the sand and to stand by it. It takes a lot of courage to stand up for what you believe in, especially against the system of an entire country, not to mention your own father, and the fact that Jasmine doesn't crack under the pressure says a lot. It says that you don't have to cave in when you think something is wrong, just because everyone else says otherwise. You can stand up for what you believe in, even if you stand alone.
Belle's Light is Knowledge. Within the Beauty and the Beast, one of the biggest antagonistic forces is Aesthetics vs. Thought. The Beast's own curse comes from such shallowness: he judged a human being based entirely on looks, and now he himself is doomed to suffer such a fate as a, well, beast. And such seems to be the opinion of most people in the area: the villagers in the town all fawn over Gaston because he's just such an aesthetically pleasing human being: he's the strongest, boldest, and biggest, and the refusal to dig any deeper than that makes him a town hero. Gaston himself certainly thinks that this is the case: his entire attraction to Belle is based on her looks, because it only seems natural that the two most beautiful people in town ought to be together. Which brings us to Belle herself, who is regarded as an odd duck in town because of her refusal to acknowledge this state of affairs as the one true way of assessing the world. In fact, she spends her time doing something bizarre: reading. She refuses to read books with pictures because she prefers to use her mind. She seeks wisdom not just with her eyes, but with thought, and in doing so she escapes the trivial world of aesthetics that ensnares everyone else in the movie. It's the idea of trying to not just to take things at point-blank value, and trying to see deeper into things is what makes Belle part of the Light.
Both Snow White and Aurora are interesting, because within their own movies, it's the villains who seem to be the main movers and shakers of the plot, with the princesses being the subject of their ire. In this regard, you almost have to consider the villains in relation to the princesses themselves in order to discover their significance. In the case of Snow White, the Queen holds her in contempt for the purposes that the Mirror declares her to be the fairest of them all, and the Queen, in her vanity, cannot accept that, and obsesses to the point of madness with how to one-up Snow White. But, in her anger, the Queen falls into the same trap as Gaston: she sees fairness and beauty as something skin deep, and can't see into the heart of a person. Snow White isn't necessarily the fairest in the land simply through looks: after all, she's first seen clad in ragged attire, and her own style of dress is rather modest. Yet perhaps it is that modesty that that the Mirror manages to see in the young girl. She does not spend her time obsessing such as the Queen does. In fact, in spite of her rather poor living conditions, she keeps her chin up and tries to make the best of what she has. Indeed, although it might seem simple, Kindness seems to be her best asset. Grumpy nary has a nice word to say to her, yet she can be seen making a special dessert for the dour dwarf; the birds assail the blatantly evil witch in disguise, but Snow White tells them not to hurt her. Although the level of naiveness in which this Kindness is executed can lead to trouble (don't accept food from strangers!), its a simple concept that many people use on a regular day basis, and people who encounter it rarely complain about having done so. That is what makes Snow White fairest in the land: she is willing to open her heart to others, and show love unconditionally.
Which brings us to Aurora, who, I won't lie, is one of the hardest characters to write on, if only because she appears so little within her own movie, and because nearly every other character is more active than she is. But with that in mind, its worth looking at those other characters. Upon Malificent declaring she intends to off the young girl, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather dedicate their lives to keeping the young girl safe, giving up their ability to use magic if it will help. King Hubert, in spite of caring for his daughter, allows this to happen if it means keeping her safe. It is clear, then, that Aurora is cared for, to the point where people are prepared to lose on her behalf. Prince Philip, of course, is our classical Prince Charming, who, upon meeting Briar Rose, falls in love with her in spite of not knowing she is royalty, and the fact that he's supposed to be betrothed already. Most telling, however, is Maleficent and why she hates Aurora. The young girl is being held in adoration and attention, while Maleficent is being snubbed and forgotten. And the dark faerie, in her ego and jealousy, can't abide the fact that someone is being loved more than she, driving her to dedicate her life to trying to get rid of Aurora. And that, I think, puts a point on what it is that Aurora represents: Love. Her father and mother obviously love her enough to do everything in their power to keep her safe, the faeries love her enough to take care of her for 16 years, Prince Philip loves her enough to fight a dragon on her behalf, and Maleficent hates her because she will always be loved more than the Queen of Evil. It's strange that Aurora's significance should be defined based almost entirely on other people, but at the same time, being the embodiment of Love makes sense as her stature as a Light: people who embrace Love are happier for it, while the Darkness, perhaps, has the easiest time corrupting it in other people, turning it into Jealousy, Anger, and Lust.
And finally, we are left with Kairi, who, in spite of the usual accusations of being "worthless," may have one of the strongest Lights of all, at least in regards to one of the most prominent themes of Kingdom Hearts. The entire bond between Sora, Kairi, and Riku is what drives much of the plot of the game, and while Sora and Riku are the ones who appear to be moving around the most, Kairi remains ever present and ever prominent, in spite of being in a coma. The time spent of Destiny Islands reveals that Kairi has no home, no parents, and no memory of what might have happened to her in the past, and none of this bothers her at all, because she has Sora and Riku. And that right there is what's important: Kairi represents Friendship, which helps conquer the Darkness on a regular basis. In spite of Riku turning his back and pointing his blade at Sora, in the end, they are able to come together again because of their friendship. Donald and Goofy originally join with Sora primarily out of convenience, and yet by the end they are willing to literally go to the end of the world with their friend, which winds up saving the universe. And with Kairi and Sora, they both are able to drag each other out of the deepest Darkness, and this last point, I think, is the most important. One light in the Darkness is good, but surely two is better, and as Sora goes on his journey and creates lasting friendships, that Light grows as more are linked and joined. Just as Kairi gives Sora her lucky charm, it's important to recognize that the gesture means he'll never be alone, and that is what Friendship means. It means that Kairi isn't alone as she stands on the island and watches Sora disappear, and without knowing where on earth Riku is. The chain of Light that Friendship crafts spans the Darkness and keeps them together, in spite of time and space.
The first Kingdom Hearts attached great meaning to the concept of Light and Darkness. The latter was basically a corrupting force that took the feelings of the heart and twisted them into something foul. We see evidence of this intent behind the Darkness more than a few times: RIku's own good intentions converted into jealousy, anger, and lust as he allows the Darkness to consume him; each of the Disney villains in Maleficent's crew have their own vendettas that cause the Darkness to seep in; and, of course, the ultimate embodiment of the Darkness is in the form of the Heartless, which are emotionless consuming machines.
But what of the Light? With so much to be said about the Darkness, and it's effect on people, what can we say about the counter weight, and what it means to have Light within a person's heart? Well, just as we have the Heartless to give us a look at what it means to be absolute Darkness, the Seven Princesses of Heart are said to have hearts of pure Light, and, one might assume, demonstrate what it means to be close to the Light. I think it's worth going through the Princess's individually to see what it is about their character's that can (if you'll pardon the pun) illuminate on what the Light is, what it does within the heart, and what it means for us and the people of Kingdom Hearts.
To start with, let's look at Alice, who stands out if for no other reason than she has no connection to royalty or the title of Princess in anyway. She's just an ordinary girl who happened to be bored with her studies by the river and decided to pursue a white rabbit. Yet, that in itself might be important, and somewhat key to Alice's significance: she is just ordinary. She's not on a tier that can't be accessed, she has no powers that no one else might have, and in that, she might be considered the most relatable of the Princesses. But without the sense of majesty surround her, what does Alice possess in her heart that makes her Light? Well, Alice possesses that Light which can only be found in the hearts of children, according the Kairi's grandmother. There's an innate curiosity, that desire to explore and learn about things around you. Alice encounters strange thing after strange thing during her time in Wonderland, yet never does she turn around and leave. In fact, her greater sense of judgement and occasional frustrations (why IS a raven like a writing desk?) speak well on her behalf: she is willing to embrace imagination and wonder, but never to the point of excess or madness. It's this combination of wisdom and wonder that I think makes Alice a Light: there's a will to learn, to tolerate, to explore, and perhaps most importantly, to imagine. Without imagination, a story about a kid running around with a giant key would surely never get off the ground. In a word, Alice represents Curiosity.
Next, Cinderella, who represents Perseverance and Determination. Cinderella loses her father at an early age, who is literally the only human being in her life that loves her. She spends the next decade and a half essentially as a slave, being verbally and mentally abused day in and day out, with no real end in sight. In short, Cinderella's life sucks. She knows she's probably never going to catch a break, and that this could very well continue until she eventually dies. Yet she perseveres, and refuses to crawl into a little ball and die. She has the will to carry on, because though things are dark, much like the story of the two frogs trapped in a barrel of cream, it is better to keep your head above water than to simply give up and die. The idea of clinging to a dream has gotten a lot of flak in recent times, with the interpretation being that you don't have to work for something if you just wish really hard for it, and then it'll magically happen. I believe that misses the point in the case of Cinderella: her dream does work out in the end through the work of magic, but what really matters is the fact that she didn't let despair take over her life. She didn't just throw in the towel. If Darkness prompts you to just let go, Cinderella's Light is telling you to keep hanging on.
Which brings us to Jasmine, who in the same vein seems to embody Will and Courage. Jasmine is under a lot of pressure in Agrabah to embrace tradition and step in line, from her father to Jafar to even Aladdin himself, who thinks that simply operating within the system of royalty will make her like him more. Yet in spite of stacked odds, Jasmine has strong opinions about the state of things, and is willing to fight for them. I don't know what exactly will happen in the even that she doesn't get married by her next birthday, but even still, the apparent will to stand up against what appears to be a well established law indicates the strength to draw a line in the sand and to stand by it. It takes a lot of courage to stand up for what you believe in, especially against the system of an entire country, not to mention your own father, and the fact that Jasmine doesn't crack under the pressure says a lot. It says that you don't have to cave in when you think something is wrong, just because everyone else says otherwise. You can stand up for what you believe in, even if you stand alone.
Belle's Light is Knowledge. Within the Beauty and the Beast, one of the biggest antagonistic forces is Aesthetics vs. Thought. The Beast's own curse comes from such shallowness: he judged a human being based entirely on looks, and now he himself is doomed to suffer such a fate as a, well, beast. And such seems to be the opinion of most people in the area: the villagers in the town all fawn over Gaston because he's just such an aesthetically pleasing human being: he's the strongest, boldest, and biggest, and the refusal to dig any deeper than that makes him a town hero. Gaston himself certainly thinks that this is the case: his entire attraction to Belle is based on her looks, because it only seems natural that the two most beautiful people in town ought to be together. Which brings us to Belle herself, who is regarded as an odd duck in town because of her refusal to acknowledge this state of affairs as the one true way of assessing the world. In fact, she spends her time doing something bizarre: reading. She refuses to read books with pictures because she prefers to use her mind. She seeks wisdom not just with her eyes, but with thought, and in doing so she escapes the trivial world of aesthetics that ensnares everyone else in the movie. It's the idea of trying to not just to take things at point-blank value, and trying to see deeper into things is what makes Belle part of the Light.
Both Snow White and Aurora are interesting, because within their own movies, it's the villains who seem to be the main movers and shakers of the plot, with the princesses being the subject of their ire. In this regard, you almost have to consider the villains in relation to the princesses themselves in order to discover their significance. In the case of Snow White, the Queen holds her in contempt for the purposes that the Mirror declares her to be the fairest of them all, and the Queen, in her vanity, cannot accept that, and obsesses to the point of madness with how to one-up Snow White. But, in her anger, the Queen falls into the same trap as Gaston: she sees fairness and beauty as something skin deep, and can't see into the heart of a person. Snow White isn't necessarily the fairest in the land simply through looks: after all, she's first seen clad in ragged attire, and her own style of dress is rather modest. Yet perhaps it is that modesty that that the Mirror manages to see in the young girl. She does not spend her time obsessing such as the Queen does. In fact, in spite of her rather poor living conditions, she keeps her chin up and tries to make the best of what she has. Indeed, although it might seem simple, Kindness seems to be her best asset. Grumpy nary has a nice word to say to her, yet she can be seen making a special dessert for the dour dwarf; the birds assail the blatantly evil witch in disguise, but Snow White tells them not to hurt her. Although the level of naiveness in which this Kindness is executed can lead to trouble (don't accept food from strangers!), its a simple concept that many people use on a regular day basis, and people who encounter it rarely complain about having done so. That is what makes Snow White fairest in the land: she is willing to open her heart to others, and show love unconditionally.
Which brings us to Aurora, who, I won't lie, is one of the hardest characters to write on, if only because she appears so little within her own movie, and because nearly every other character is more active than she is. But with that in mind, its worth looking at those other characters. Upon Malificent declaring she intends to off the young girl, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather dedicate their lives to keeping the young girl safe, giving up their ability to use magic if it will help. King Hubert, in spite of caring for his daughter, allows this to happen if it means keeping her safe. It is clear, then, that Aurora is cared for, to the point where people are prepared to lose on her behalf. Prince Philip, of course, is our classical Prince Charming, who, upon meeting Briar Rose, falls in love with her in spite of not knowing she is royalty, and the fact that he's supposed to be betrothed already. Most telling, however, is Maleficent and why she hates Aurora. The young girl is being held in adoration and attention, while Maleficent is being snubbed and forgotten. And the dark faerie, in her ego and jealousy, can't abide the fact that someone is being loved more than she, driving her to dedicate her life to trying to get rid of Aurora. And that, I think, puts a point on what it is that Aurora represents: Love. Her father and mother obviously love her enough to do everything in their power to keep her safe, the faeries love her enough to take care of her for 16 years, Prince Philip loves her enough to fight a dragon on her behalf, and Maleficent hates her because she will always be loved more than the Queen of Evil. It's strange that Aurora's significance should be defined based almost entirely on other people, but at the same time, being the embodiment of Love makes sense as her stature as a Light: people who embrace Love are happier for it, while the Darkness, perhaps, has the easiest time corrupting it in other people, turning it into Jealousy, Anger, and Lust.
And finally, we are left with Kairi, who, in spite of the usual accusations of being "worthless," may have one of the strongest Lights of all, at least in regards to one of the most prominent themes of Kingdom Hearts. The entire bond between Sora, Kairi, and Riku is what drives much of the plot of the game, and while Sora and Riku are the ones who appear to be moving around the most, Kairi remains ever present and ever prominent, in spite of being in a coma. The time spent of Destiny Islands reveals that Kairi has no home, no parents, and no memory of what might have happened to her in the past, and none of this bothers her at all, because she has Sora and Riku. And that right there is what's important: Kairi represents Friendship, which helps conquer the Darkness on a regular basis. In spite of Riku turning his back and pointing his blade at Sora, in the end, they are able to come together again because of their friendship. Donald and Goofy originally join with Sora primarily out of convenience, and yet by the end they are willing to literally go to the end of the world with their friend, which winds up saving the universe. And with Kairi and Sora, they both are able to drag each other out of the deepest Darkness, and this last point, I think, is the most important. One light in the Darkness is good, but surely two is better, and as Sora goes on his journey and creates lasting friendships, that Light grows as more are linked and joined. Just as Kairi gives Sora her lucky charm, it's important to recognize that the gesture means he'll never be alone, and that is what Friendship means. It means that Kairi isn't alone as she stands on the island and watches Sora disappear, and without knowing where on earth Riku is. The chain of Light that Friendship crafts spans the Darkness and keeps them together, in spite of time and space.