Student Full Speech 06: Chantal Gagnon, Tribute to Disney Princesses

…to 70 years old, and yet the oldest does not look a day older than the youngest. They are images of perfection, their skin flawless, their hair perfectly coiffed, and each the voice of an angel. They're diverse, too—one a redhead, one a brunette, and one a blonde. They reach audiences, both young and old, having been around from the days when I was a child and still gaining in popularity. I watched them. I grew up with them. I wanted to be them. They are the Disney princesses. As a young child, I struggled with identity crisis. With each new movie I saw, I wanted to emulate that princess. I envied their simplistic lifestyles, hoping that one day I, too, would discover that I had a fairy godmother. I'm sure my dreams were not very different from those of the women who sit here before me. Therefore, on behalf of myself, the women here today, and even you men, if you liked a little bit of role-playing as a child, I would like to pay homage to the Disney princesses for giving me unrealistic expectations about life, love, and hair. You all have given me so much that I would like to take the time to personally pay tribute to each of you. Ariel, you inspired me to take my first lap across the pool. You also inspired me as a child to tie my feet together and attempt to swim like you. My mother warned me it wouldn't work, but I wanted so much to be like you. Needless to say, my mother was right. Cinderella, you led me to believe that if I should ever lose a shoe, a dashing young man would find it, know exactly where to find me despite the fact that he knows nothing about me, and return the shoe to my bare foot. I'm sorry to report that over four years ago, I lost a pair of flip-flops at a country concert in Connecticut. The shoes are still at large. Snow White, you gave me hope that animals really could talk and that they would help me to clean my house when no one else was around. I've tried approaching animals several times and speaking to them, but they've all run away from me, with the exception of one skunk living behind the parking garage, who charged at me with his tail up when I tried to approach him one night. Aurora, affectionately known as Sleeping Beauty, thank you for teaching me not to touch sharp objects. I used to spend my days going around and touching spinning needles at random. However, when I realized that one of the side effects could be eternal slumber, I stopped this dangerous behavior. However, might I note that perhaps the reason you passed out is not because the witch cast an evil spell on you at birth but because you've lost so much blood from this bad habit that you could be slightly anemic? Just a thought. Jasmine, you deemed it socially acceptable for a girl to have a tiger in her possession as a pet. For you, I have two words: Siegfried and Roy. Furthermore, while your style of clothing may be standard, I dare say that a silky see-through suit is neither convenient nor appropriate dress for everyday wear. Each of you has contributed in your own special way to my solid foundation of reality that I now know to stay away from large weaving spindles and shiny red apples. It is from your influence that I first learned to disobey my father's orders. Instead of teaching me to fear strangers, you encouraged me to see the inherent good in everyone, even if they're trying to kill me. You've acknowledged that throwing myself on the nearest piece of furniture and crying uncontrollably will never solve anything but it's the ideal solution when things go awry. And, most importantly, if I want a guy to truly like me, I'll never, ever tell him my name because the only thing for him to do then, of course, would be to search endlessly for me until he finds me, only to hurry up and marry me before even getting to know me. So thank you, princesses, for giving me hope to live happily—I'm sorry—to live tolerably ever after.