Role Play - Director's Vision
"You be me, I'll be him."
Every fairy tale princess story is about a crime. Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty… they're all about girls suffering child abuse, attempted murder, theft, false imprisonment and kidnapping. When you deconstruct them, these adorable children's movies are episodes of Criminal Minds dressed up in pink satin and lace.
Lisa and I got the idea for ROLE PLAY when our daughter couldn't get enough of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. It occurred to us that the moral of the story is really terrible: if you're with a violent, abusive man, stay with him, because he will become a prince, if you just love him enough.
And little girls want to dress up as crime victims?
We wanted to explore what could happen emotionally to a girl who lived one of these princess stories. The fairy tale princesses come out of their nightmares unscathed. Snow White is still as trusting, innocent and happy after repeated murder attempts as she ever was. But surviving a real Beauty and the Beast scenario would change you.
It would, perhaps, even make you into an abuser yourself. Abusers tend to have been abused themselves. I was intrigued by the idea of showing a sympathetic victim – in this case, the beautiful, blonde teenage "princess" – crossing over into being an abuser herself.
The creative team of ROLE PLAY all hope to explore this territory in a feature film called ALICE IS PERFECTLY FINE NOW, for which we are currently seeking production funding.