Alexis Dromgoole
The
Princess Diaries
The trailer for Princess Diaries gives off a certain relatability quality with the
dreams of main character Mia Thermopolis (Anne Hathaway) to be popular and
famous, when in reality she is a typical awkward teenager. This is a similar emotional experience,
shared by almost every youth worldwide (pathos). As seen in Andrea Lunsford’s Everything’s
An Argument, “…emotions can add real muscle to arguments…”, and that is
exactly what these emotions of uncertainty in youth and fantasizing about your
dream life do to encourage the young audience to come see the film (103). As soon the words “From the Director of Pretty Woman” appear, immediately every
woman’s eyes are glued to the screen. First
and foremost, the audience notices the decorative font style being used to
entice the viewer in by giving off a feminine appeal. “The serifs are those little flourishes at
the ends of the strokes that make the fonts seem handcrafted and artful” (Lunsford
456). Even something as small as the
font of the text invites the reader in because the eye is immediately drawn to
the creative writing style that adds an aspect of femininity to the trailer. Secondly, the iconic movie name of Pretty Woman is comparable to that of Dirty Dancing’s in that even if you
haven’t seen Pretty Woman, you know
the story well enough to know it is a classic, establishing the ethos/logos of
the film by citing that since the film is directed by the same director, this
movie should be equally as good. For those
who have seen Pretty Woman, the main ideas
of the films parallel one another. Princess Diaries has a slightly more
juvenile theme than Pretty Woman, but
it contains the same basic concept of a “diamond in the rough” who is going to
find her true beauty, real identity, and maybe some romance in the end. Projecting the fresh faced Anne Hathaway as
comparable to the established Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, is a way to establish the credibility (ethos) of the
film as well as play on the previous emotions (pathos) felt by those who have
seen or heard of the romantic and endearing tale of Pretty Woman, and encourage the audience to venture to see this
modern day rendition of sorts.
The feature film takes
advantage of some of America’s favorite childhood memories by introducing
Academy Award winner Julie Andrews (from the classic film Marry Poppins) into the main scenes of the trailer. From Louis Gi\annetti’s Understanding
Movies: Casting, we know that “Casting is Characterization.” Once an actor is cast into their role that is
how the audience sees them until the last reel of film rolls through and beyond
that because they become those characters for one to two hours in the real
lives of the audience (282). The world
will never forget the lessons Julie Andrews taught us in previous films and
they still see her as an all knowing, heroine guiding the audience through yet
another story, this time as a Queen. Using
Julie Andrews and her Academy Award winning status establishes the ethos and
logos of the movie because with an award winning actress who is so well known, the
movie must be worth seeing. From this
trailer full of laughs and scenes filled with embarrassing moments of the main
character, stumbling her way down the stairs of her newly discovered life, both literally and
metaphorically, the audience can see that this will be a comedy for anyone who
can ever remember growing up as a klutzy, unsure teen. Humor is used to resonate with people and
their positive emotions of joy, and happiness which makes the public more
receptive to the message of the movie and more eager to see the film (pathos) (Lunsford
48). The audience will not only be
almost wholly comprised of females, but by females of all ages dying to see
this new “chick-flick”. Mothers will
surely take their daughters to experience the magical presence of Julie Andrews
that they all know and love, the enduring story of a girl trying to find herself
as a woman, and the opportunity to witness a female star be born for the new
generation in Anne Hathaway, under the guidance of the respected Julie Andrews
and in the parallel of the talented Julia Roberts.
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