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Although not explicitly Catholic, the Disney movie Tangled, illustrates some pretty powerful Catholic teaching, especially about our vocation as Catholics.
Here at Jump In Catholic Family Ministry, we want to teach parents and kids to look for truths of Catholicism present in the secular world. We can find the beauty of Catholicism present in the truths of many different movies, which is why we have this monthly blog all about Catholic movies for families. All good, true and beautiful things lead us to God!
Catholic Movies for Families: November
First of all, I just love this movie. It’s super funny and enjoyable for all ages. Common Sense Media says ages 5+. I would say if they want to watch it and they are younger than that, let them! There is sacrificial love as well, which is always a good message for our kiddos to see!
As we were watching this movie, I felt my spidey sense alert me to some deeper truths going on… so I decided to watch Tangled looking for themes of following God’s will for our lives, following the little inclinations, the little stirrings the Holy Spirit often uses to direct our lives to more closely reflect God’s will for our lives.
The Beauty of Vocation in the Catholic Church
Typically when we Catholics think of vocation, we think of priests and nuns. We hear “Pray for Vocations,” and pray that people say “yes” to their call to become priests or religious… but vocation goes much deeper.
First of all, The word "vocation" comes from the Latin word “vocare”, which means "to call". All of us have a universal call to holiness or a universal vocation to love others and to serve God and His church. This may seem like a no-brainer, but it serves as an important reminder that our universal and immediate vocation is to love others and serve them. This call is for everyone, no matter their age, no matter their individual vocation. I think for some people, we wait on serving the Lord until we discover our individual or unique vocation (marriage, religious, priesthood, celibate single life, etc). Typically, in our young adult years, through much prayer and discernment, we discover our unique path to serving God in the most potent way. This unique vocation enables us to love others and God to the best of our abilities, using our unique gifts.
The Lost Princess
Now… what does Tangled have to do with this? Let’s do some comparisons…
Like Rapunzel, we are born into a royal family, the Kingdom of God. Although it’s easy to forget this reality, our royalty in Christ never goes away. Just like Rapunzel’s parents, God our father and the Queen of Heaven (Mary) never stop working on guiding us home toward heaven.
Rapunzel illustrates our journey to discovering our purpose in life. She knows she is made for more than her current life. She has these stirrings of wanting to see the lanterns, perhaps all of us are made to desire the sky (Heaven) and the path to discover heaven is filled with trials and dangers. She was born with a unique gift to be used to bring life into the world. Likewise, at baptism, we are given similar gifts of the Holy Spirit to be used to build up the Body of Christ.
Mother Gothel represents living for ourselves, seeking others to use for our benefit which is the opposite of our vocation. She represents selfishness, self-focused vocation, one of desperation and using others for our happiness.
Flynn illustrates someone who is in between “the right track” toward God and others and living selfishly. Rapunzel’s search for fulfillment found in living her vocation and her virtues inspire him to do the same. Notice how she discovers who Flynn really is (Eugene) and she calls him by this name. She is able to see him for who he really is, who he was created to be.
Along this path we call life, we have the freedom to choose where we go. When we intentionally make steps toward discerning God’s will for our lives, loving God and others well along the way things just seem to work out. Rapunzel meets many people along her journey, most of them were kind and helpful.
True Love Vs Selfish (Fake) Love
Occasionally we will run into those who would keep us trapped in selfishness. Mother Gothel illustrates selfish or fake love. She says she loves Rapunzel, but we know that cannot be really true. True love demands freedom and seeking the good of the other. Gothel doesn’t care what is best for Rapunzel, but just wants to use her to keep herself young.
Rapunzel tells Mother Gothel, “I will fight. Never stop fighting to get away from you.” Likewise, we must fight against the Gothel in each of us, the selfish need to put ourselves, our desires first. True love is self-donation, is giving yourself for others. Self care is important, yes, but we only do self care to be refreshed to love others well. It’s not an end in itself.
True love is a sacrificial love. No matter your unique vocation, we all must learn to love through sacrifice.. Near the end of the movie, both Rapunzel and Eugene give their life for the other. Rapunzel sacrificed her freedom, her life so that Eugene could escape. He, of course gave up the chance to be healed in order to free Rapunzel from Gothel.
The Goal of Any Vocation
The goal of any vocation is to love others sacrificially, but also to bring others home to their heavenly kingdom. Rapunzel brought Eugene on her journey to find her purpose and along the way, helped him to discover his own vocation. He found his vocation was to bring Rapunzel home (the goal of men within Marriage and priests toward their parish). Eugene brought her home to her Father and Mother.
No matter what unique vocation God calls you to, we all must learn to love others selflessly and we must strive to lead others toward heaven.
Tangled Tips for Vocational Discernment for Families:
You can tell your kids after the movie:
This movie was great, but it also illustrates some important points about searching for our purpose in life. God has a beautiful plan for each of us. When we listen to him through prayer and follow his plan, we find peace and joy and the happiest of endings!
When we search for God’s purpose for our life, we are searching for our vocation. Here are some tips we can learn from Tangled to search for our vocation and live a happy life.
Know we are adopted sons and daughters of the King. We are royal and are awaited in Heaven. Our time on earth is simply a path toward heaven. Did you know that each of you are royalty?
As we mature and discover what we are gifted in (i.e. talents, skills, etc.), we must ask ourselves, “How can we use these to glorify God?”
Follow the inner stirrings of the Holy Spirit. Like Rapunzel needed to see the lanterns, God may call us on an adventure to serve him! We must respond, “Yes!”. Has God ever called you to do something? Did you say, “yes?”
Don’t journey alone! God puts your friends and family along your path for a reason. You should like arms with people who are also on their way toward heaven! Who do you know is helping you walk toward Heaven?
Practice selfless love as early as you can! Loving selflessly is a skill, a discipline that demands practice. The more we practice, the better God can use us to love others. What are some ways we can practice selfless love in our family?
Something not mentioned in Tangled is prayer. Prayer is the way we can hear God’s voice. Prayer involves both talking to God AND listening. The best way we can listen to God is silence. You can talk to God then say, “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.”
You may not ‘hear’ God the way you hear me now. God speaks to us differently. It’s more like an idea or a voice that pops in your head. If you hear something but you’re not sure if it’s a good voice from God or a thought meant to take you off track, I created this image, taken from my book, Level Up, to help you know.
I See the Light
Many people spend their life chasing down their own plans for their life which typically involves finding a great, well paying job, buying the big, nice house, the American Dream, if you will. When we are not open to God’s will for our lives, we are restless. Each of us is made to know, love, and serve God and when we live up to that purpose, we find fulfillment and peace. If we do not care about God’s will for our lives and hold tightly to the plans we have for our lives, we will always feel like something is missing.
I wanted to point out the song in Tangled, “I See the Light.” Its lyrics do a beautiful job of illustrating our life before following God’s plan and then after… Read the following lyrics as if you are singing to Jesus:
“All those days watching from the windows
All those years outside looking in
All that time never even knowing
Just how blind I've been
Now I'm here, blinking in the starlight
Now I'm here, suddenly I see
Standing here, it's all so clear
I'm where I'm meant to be
And at last I see the light
And it's like the fog has lifted
And at last I see the light
And it's like the sky is new
And it's warm and real and bright
And the world has somehow shifted
All at once everything looks different
Now that I see you
All those days chasing down a daydream
All those years living in a blur
All that time, never truly seeing
Things the way they were
Now she's here, shining in the starlight
Now she's here, suddenly I know
If she's here, it's crystal clear
I'm where I'm meant to go
And at last I see the light
And it's like the fog has lifted
And at last I see the light
And it's like the sky is new
And it's warm and real and bright
And the world has somehow shifted
All at once, everything is different
Now that I see you
Now that I see you
I pray this blog post supports your family's ability and motivation to create a spirit-led environment of discernment! Be sure to subscribe below to get monthly emails with links to monthly Catholic Movies for Families where we take a secular movie and draw out Catholic themes.
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