Gothel's POV: A villain, but maybe not wrong

Intro

We all know the story of Rapunzel. Even before Disney made a movie about it, it was a beloved fairy tale that a lot of people knew. Rapunzel is one of my favorite movies, and I could go into the full story. But one of the most fun and interesting characters to me is the villain, Mother Gothel.

Today we are diving into her character and personality. Of course she has some villainous traits, but there are also some good traits. Good traits that she has been using the wrong way. We will dive into her story, but there are a few characteristics that I can think of.

• Manipulative: That one is kind of obvious. She manipulates Rapunzel during the whole movie, and others too. Just to get what she wants.
• Vain: Her wish to stay young and beautiful forever. (And to be honest, they have made her very beautiful in the movie too.)
• Resourceful: One of her good traits, although not used for good. It kind of ties in with her manipulative character.

Now, without further ado, let's get into the movie and see things from our villains POV.

 

The Magic Flower Incident

Centuries ago, a single golden sun drop fell from the sky, creating a magic flower, which was rumored to heal the sick and injured. Gothel found this flower, and she stayed young forever. She wasn't hurting anyone. She was just using the flower everyone knew as a myth. If people actually found it themselves, I think they would have used it for themselves too. Maybe she was greedy to keep it hidden instead of sharing it. Flynn says it, as though she's the only one who does that.

 "Instead of sharing the sun's gift, this woman, mother Gothel, hoarded it's healing power and used it to keep herself young for hundreds of years!"

Sounds selfish, doesn't it? But think about it... What did the guards do when they found the flower? They harvested it, made a broth with it and healed the queen. The flower is completely gone now. They took it for themselves just as much as Gothel did. Even though they didn't know the song, they didn't consider other ways. They didn't consider taking just a petal or two and leaving the rest. No, everything seemed to belong to their queen. Was Gothel really a bad person for hiding the magic flower if this was what happened the moment someone else found it?

She even simply tried to take a part of her flower back, by taking a lock of Rapunzel's hair. What she did after she realized that didn't work was a bad thing. But to be honest, that was the first evil thing she did in the movie. 

Writer's note: Other than her being greedy, this does show her resourceful character. The flower is gone, swallowed by the queen. So what if the magic flower now resides in the child itself? She doesn't give up easily, but simply tries to find another way. Even when taking a lock of hair doesn't work, her quick thinking makes her take the baby with her.

Manipulative, But Not Completely Wrong

She locks up the baby, taking care of her on her own and pretending to be her mother. Every time Rapunzel asks her about the outside world, she tells her the world is dangerous. She tells her people outside are bad, and will take advantage of innocent people. That they will want her for her hair... 

While she is using Rapunzel's hair for herself and is just as bad as the people outside are according to her... Is she really wrong though? The world is not always a perfect place, not even in movies or books. If people knew there was a girl walking around with magic golden hair that could keep you young forever... I refuse to believe that Gothel is the only one who would want that kind of magic. People would be after Rapunzel like there is a bounty on her head. 

Writer's Note: Sometimes, villains have the wrong intentions, but their motives, or reasoning are right. Not that it would justify their actions in any way, but sometimes you could understand why a villain is doing what they do. Even here, though she has bad intentions, Gothel might not be wrong about the outside world. Even if she does exaggerate a lot.

Kidnapped a baby, but still a loving mother

Gothel could have simply used Rapunzel for her hair and feed her when she needed too. She could have been neglect full or abusive, but she was not. She took care of the baby as her own. Even though she was locked in a tower, Rapunzel got everything she wanted. She provided for all the hobbies that Rapunzel mentions in the song 'When Will My Life Begin?'. Painting, candle making, books, puzzles... She even gets to paint on the walls without a problem. Gothel doesn't have to give her something like that, but she still does. Even goes to make a trip that takes three days just to get Rapunzel new paints from some special shells.

Whether Gothel actually loves Rapunzel or only loves her hair is debatable to be honest. I think there might be SOME love for her, since she took care of her for eighteen years, or it could all be pretend. That is something no one can say with certainty if you ask me.

Even her angry outbursts is a reaction that a non-villain mother could have as well.

 "Enough with the lights Rapunzel! You are not leaving this tower EVER!"

It is honestly a well written mother figure. Imagine a child with their parents nagging that they want to have or do something and the parents have already told them no more than once. This is a reaction anyone would have eventually. 

 Writer's note: Remember, villains are not 100% heartless, even if they are shown in that way. They can still care about people, especially when they have taken care of them for years. It could also be something small, like loving animals, or helping a child in need. Just because they want to kill the hero or are some tyrannical ruler, doesn't mean they can never show kindness or mercy at all.

The Choice Between Being A Mother, Or Keeping Your Secret Save

When Rapunzel finally leaves the tower, with a complete stranger and a selfish thief no less, I could imagine her being torn between finding the girl she raised and protecting her healing flower. Of course, the latter wins, and she does turn into a more malicious villain to get her back.

Still, without condoning to the things she does, there was some truth in what she said. A strange man comes into Rapunzel's tower. What does she do after knocking him out? She hides him in a closet and then convinces him to take her to see the floating lanterns. Rapunzel was naive and lucky that he was just a thief and not a dangerous murderer. Rapunzel didn't know that and just thought she could survive without caution.

 Though the Stabington brothers were set up to capture her, this could have happened with anyone. If anyone knew about her healing powers it would have been more difficult for her to survive. What if Gothel hadn't been on time? What if she couldn't have knocked them out, then what would have happened?

Conclusion

Gothel is a selfish villain and there is no denying that. But there is still at least some truth in what she said. Sometimes Villains can be right, but expose it in a wrong way. They could have been mistreated which lead them to their villain arc. Still no excuse for the things they've done, but there is at least a little truth in what they say.

So what do you think of the points? Do you think Gothel was right in some way? What villains do you feel were right, but exposed it in a wrong way? 

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