Most little girls dream of meeting their prince charming, wearing frilly dresses and crowns each day, and residing in an elegant castle. However, with age and maturity these dreams inevitably diminish, and females tend to settle on attainable goals. However, most females are not given the opportunity to participate in television's latest gimmick, "Who Wants to be a Princess?"
Apparently, the catastrophe of "Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire?" was just not eye opening enough to the deception of unearned riches and fame for America. So, instead of marrying off the winner of a distorted beauty pageant to an average millionaire, Fox decided to send one of the nation's finest on a dream date with a real life prince charming. Of course, the writers mentioned the possibility of an eventual marriage. Last Tuesday evening, about 30 contestants lined up on national television airing from the MGM Grand hotel in Las Vegas; in a hopeful attempt to transform into a titled princess.
These contestants were from all across America. They announced diverse careers such as choreographers, pharmaceutical sales representatives, students, writers, singers, models, waitresses and even an egg donation cycle coordinator. They were all generally in their early to late twenties, and they would all give up their lives to become a princess. The "mystery prince from Europe," as he was referred to throughout the program, sat hidden in his royal box, observing the entire competition. He judged the women during three rounds on his first impression, their responses in an intimate question and answer session, beauty, poise, personality, and of course, their performance in a European style fashion show, which is also known as a swimsuit competition.
This competition had to be one of the most ridiculous spectacles ever aired on television. Women made complete fools of themselves by describing their images of being a princess as "little pumpkins turning into chariots,” and, "I'm Every Woman" playing as they enter the castle. They gushed about their admiration for Princess Diana, their desire to become more open minded and culturally aware, and told interesting stories about themselves. One woman's name came to her father in a dream, one woman pretended she was on "American Pie" so she could get a good hotel room, and another would not give up her jewelry and credit card during a robbery at a Mexican restaurant because she was afraid of her father’s anger. The competition was complete with audience ratings and dramatic flashing lights before each woman was interviewed. Also, there was a last plea, in which contestants actually cried and begged the prince for a chance at a dream date. It was quite humorous to see how serious these women were about becoming a princess.
"And they all lived happily ever after,” at least that is the way fairy tales about princes and princesses are repeatedly recited to children during their idealistic youth. On the contrary, this is not a fairy tale, this is real life. At the end of this unintentionally comedic program, the Prince of Rome, was unveiled along with his chosen dream date. He was not quite the idealist prince charming pictured in storybooks. He was short, almost balding, with an overall goofy look to him. The only understandably rewarding prize at the end of this all, was that the chosen contestant was awarded a $40,000 necklace. So, I guess in real life, women have to make total fools of themselves and abandon any self-respect they have already required to become a princess. Most of these women said that being a princess would make them feel beautiful, that appearing in a stunning gown and glamorous jewels would do that for them.
Personally, I think it is a complete tragedy that women will go to this extreme to feel beautiful. This expresses an immense amount of information about how women are treated in general, and the self-image that goes along with it. I hope that this program inspires the media, and an overall public opinion to take a good look at the pressures placed on women.
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