Enchanted (2007)
Directed by Kevin Lima
No · Ultra Based
How we score movies →Consciousness Markers
Giselle gains independence and questions romantic idealization, but this is a conventional character arc rather than progressive messaging. The film is more interested in satirizing fairy tales than advancing feminist consciousness.
The film entertains rather than lectures. While it comments on fairy tale tropes, it does so through narrative rather than preachy messaging.
The cast is entirely white and heteronormative, with no evidence of conscious diversity casting or representation beyond the conventional.
No LGBTQ+ themes, characters, or subtext are present in the film.
The film contains no engagement with racial themes, representation, or consciousness.
No climate themes or environmental messaging appear in the film.
The film contains no critique of capitalism or structures of economic power.
No body positivity messaging or representation of diverse body types is evident.
No neurodivergent characters or representation appear in the film.
As a fantasy narrative, the film contains no historical content to revise.
Synopsis
The beautiful princess Giselle is banished by an evil queen from her magical, musical animated land and finds herself in the gritty reality of the streets of modern-day Manhattan. Shocked by this strange new environment that doesn't operate on a "happily ever after" basis, Giselle is now adrift in a chaotic world badly in need of enchantment. But when Giselle begins to fall in love with a charmingly flawed divorce lawyer who has come to her aid - even though she is already promised to a perfect fairy tale prince back home - she has to wonder: Can a storybook view of romance survive in the real world.
Why it received this score
Enchanted represents what occurs when a major studio decides to wink at its own conventions without actually dismantling them. Kevin Lima's 2007 confection invites us to admire its self-awareness, the way it positions Amy Adams' Giselle as a princess who gradually recognizes that real romance does not conform to animated expectations. This is positioned as a form of enlightenment, a female character learning to think for herself rather than accept predetermined narratives. One could almost mistake this for progressive sensibility if one squinted and ignored the film's complete lack of interest in anything resembling actual social consciousness.
The film contains not a single thread of contemporary cultural awareness. Its Manhattan is a playground for fairy tale characters, not a city of actual human complexity. There are no characters of color in meaningful roles, no queer subtext, no interrogation of capitalism or power structures, no engagement with bodies outside the conventional range, no neurodivergent representation. The satire operates entirely within the realm of romantic convention, a narrow and self-contained universe where the only oppression worth noting is the tyranny of expecting happily ever after.
What remains is a charming, well-executed family film with clever production design and committed performances. It is precisely the kind of movie that demonstrates the difference between being smart about your genre and being conscious about the world. Enchanted knows fairy tales inside and out. It has nothing to say about anything else.
Analysis generated by our Consciousness Algorithm
Critic Reviews
“It’s the sort of buoyant, all-ages entertainment that Hollywood has been laboring to revive in recent years (most recently with Hairspray) but hasn’t managed to get right until now, and the glue holding it all together is the incomparable Adams (an Oscar nominee for 2005’s Junebug), who gives the kind of blissful screwball performance that seemed to go out of fashion after "I Love Lucy" left the airwaves.”
“Enchanted charmingly reworks all the old favorites while incorporating fresh twists of its own.”
“There's a word for women like Giselle: Supercalifragilistic. Ditto her film, Enchanted.”
“Given the possibilities it's not particularly inventive, but it is nice to see a comedy so affectionate with the conventions it spoofs.”