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awknat25 · 6 years ago

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How Cassandra broke my heart with “Waiting in the Wings”

Warning: This is going to be a very long post - and will probably result in me rambling. Also, for anyone who hasn’t seen this week’s episode of Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure, major spoilers ahead. At least regarding Cassandra.

Okay, let’s start with one simple fact: Cassandra broke me emotionally. Not that I was actually crying, but inside I felt like my heart had shattered and kept breaking as I replayed the scene in my head. And the song on my phone a few more times just for the angst. I’m talking, of course, about this scene:

The moment Cassandra finally gets a solo. The moment I have been waiting for since I fell in love with this amazing character and realized she had the potential to sing - and sing well (easy to say when you have a Broadway actress doing the vocals). I hoped she would get her moment to stand alone and sing, and it happened. But not quite the way I would have expected.

When I heard the title of her solo would be “Waiting in the Wings,” I had a couple ideas as to what that could refer to. The likely option was Cassandra singing about how she wants to be on the Royal Guard in Corona but keeps waiting for her chance to prove herself; the less likely, fanon option was Cassandra confessing her feelings about Rapunzel and feeling like she was waiting for Raps to truly notice her. Needless to say, the first option turned out to be the accurate one. Mostly.

Before I talk about the song itself, I believe some context is required. I’m sure there are and will be posts criticizing Cassandra for what she did in this episode, and I acknowledge that the criticism is largely valid. I will not, however, put up with anyone tearing her down purely because she’s being “selfish” or because she doesn’t just go along with whatever Rapunzel tells her to do. I think it’s vital to remember her background and where she is coming from when she acts the way she does.

For starters, Cassandra is a warrior and an aspiring soldier. This is a simple, crucial fact that any fan of the show (and her) must understand. In the episode “Cassandra v. Eugene,” we learn that the Captain of the Guards taught her everything she knows. So we know she was brought up around soldiers ever since she was a kid. In “Great Expotations,” this is confirmed when she says, “I’ve been training with the guards since I was six.” Furthermore, if we assume that the novel Rapunzel and the Lost Lagoon is any guide to Cassandra’s character, then we know that not only does she want to be on the guard, but that she wants to become Captain like her father. She even says, “I was born to defend this kingdom.” All of this shows the kind of atmosphere Cassandra grew up in. She was raised by a soldier and became fascinated with weapons and security. She longs to join the guard. And no matter how much she may deny it, she dreams of being Captain of the Guard. Only now, we have a song that lays bare something deeper than wanting an officer’s uniform or a title.

One interesting thing I find about “Waiting in the Wings” is how Cassandra uses the metaphor of being in a play. It’s very much in the style of Shakespeare: All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players. She talks of how some are born as the stars of a play and others are “just in the way,” as if she fears she was not born to be the star. She yearns for glory, longing to be center-stage and show what she can do. And yet, she is “left waiting in the wings.” It’s a powerful and effective metaphor, conveying wonderfully her dilemma in the story of Rapunzel. We all know that Rapunzel is the heart and soul of Tangled: the Series. No one can or should dispute that, regardless of how you feel about any of the other characters. But Cassandra wants her moment in the sun; she waits for her cue to take center-stage and show the world (and perhaps herself) what she is capable of.

Yes, this may sound selfish. But I believe it’s perfectly understandable. Why? Think about her upbringing. Think about what she’s been training to do all her life. She’s a soldier. Her wardrobe is a weapons stash. She is overly obsessed with security. So why does she say, “I know I was meant for glory”? Why does she speak of showing up with “heart ablazing/ ready to achieve amazing things” and constantly left “waiting in the wings”?

Because that’s what soldiers do. They fight for glory. Militaristic cultures prize honor and duty and glory. Societies throughout the ages praise the warriors and those who achieve greatness through the might of the sword. That’s what Cassandra knows. It’s her entire world. She has probably read many books on military strategy and war heroes and the like. Heck, there was a scene in the paperback comic book “The Write Story” in which Cassandra shares her favorite book that she calls a love story but turns out to be a weapons manual! This woman lives and breathes militaristic culture. So how can you blame her for dreaming of one day being one of those soldiers who fought for king and country? How can we criticize her for adhering to the values she inherited as a kid? She spent her life training and preparing for this very moment, craving for a chance to seize the glory and make a name for herself. In her mind, this is her destiny.

That being said, I am not suggesting that Cassandra did nothing wrong. She has a nasty tendency to not trust anyone and assume the worst in people, even though, again, it probably comes from all her training. She gets overly protective of Rapunzel which led to confrontation before and in this week’s episode. Yes, it is her job to protect the princess, but she can go overboard. I’m not going to go into her attitude towards Adira because we still don’t know what Adira’s intentions are. For all we know, Cassandra may be right in the end.

Getting back to the song and its meaning, I am moved by how Cassandra feels ignored in this moment. Is she being unfair? Perhaps. Does she have reason to feel ignored or hurt? You bet.

The show doesn’t really convey whether Cassandra wanted to be a lady-in-waiting when Rapunzel came home, but Rapunzel and the Lost Lagoon leaves no doubt that she despised the idea. She considered such a job as detrimental to her chances of joining the guard, fearful that it would become a dead-end position that would leave her babysitting a princess and unable to remain in shape to become a soldier. Over time, her attitude changed and she became close friends with Raps. What hasn’t changed is her struggle to earn the respect she feels she deserves.

Perhaps it is her ego at work here when she talks about being “overlooked unfairly”. But I get where she is coming from. This is a woman who, again, wanted a career that would promise glory if she worked hard and never backed down. Instead, she found herself performing the duties of a servant. She hates hates HATES being called that, as we witnessed in her brief exchange with Adira. There are plenty of other moments where Cassandra bristles at being dismissed merely because she is Rapunzel’s lady-in-waiting (Challenge of the Brave, anyone?). And now, those feelings have come out. I always knew Cassandra hated being looked down upon as a servant girl; with her pride and her skills, it’s hard not to take such remarks personally. Why should we expect her to swallow her pride and just roll with it? Should she take a leaf out of Elsa’s book and “be the good girl you always have to be”? I think not.

Which brings me to another critique I feel needs to be addressed. Cassandra is a woman fighting to earn her place in a masculine environment. Even in the world of Tangled: the Series, the realm of the soldier/guard is one dominated by men. We don’t see any female guards in Corona, so logically Cassandra will be the first. While there haven’t been any moments where someone insults Cassandra by saying she can’t be a soldier or a fighter just because she’s a girl, there are subtle ways the show conveys some gender bias. For instance, her father could be hesitant to give her a permanent assignment because he still sees a little girl and doesn’t want her to get hurt, even though she can take a few punches. I would argue that the moments where someone insults her based on her station as lady-in-waiting could also be a dig at her gender, like the thug who mocked her saying, “Why don’t you go back to the castle, Lady-in-Waiting?”

Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but I firmly believe there is a gendered bias at play in how Cassandra fights for recognition and how she is perceived by those around her. More importantly, I suspect there is a bit of bias among the fandom due to her gender. I’m not saying people who are harsh toward Cassandra do so purely out of sexism, but I wonder if the criticism stems from the same place where people tend to criticize women when they get too loud, or don’t act ladylike, or get angry too easily, or transgress the gendered lines we have in our modern society. From a certain angle, one can see that Cassandra is fighting to prove that she is capable in spite of her gender. She rejects the feminine ideal in so many ways, yet feels rejected in her pursuit of glory. She has “the passion and the drive,” there is no doubt. But how many times do women have passion and drive and find themselves sitting on the sidelines or waiting for someone to notice them and give them a chance? How many stories do we hear of women in all walks of life being passed over for various reasons? Whether or not sexism was the primary cause is not the point; there is just enough misogyny in our modern culture to make us doubt a woman’s abilities, especially if she is trying to earn her place in a field historically dominated by men.

Even worse, she seems to be following a self-destructive path:�� swallowing her pain and trying not to show that it hurts when she feels the rejection. This is when my heart breaks. The moment she sings “While pretending that it barely stings / But it stings, yes it stings”. And then she definitely borrows from Elsa in saying she will “shed no tears” as she tells herself that she will keep waiting. And if no one cheers for her? So be it. She’s been waiting her whole life for glory, waiting for her chance to take center-stage and prove herself. So what if she has to wait a little longer?

But it hurts so bad. You can tell in her face and even in the way Eden Espinosa delivers that last verse. It’s like she’s trying to cover her heartache by saying she can just soldier on and be tough. Like any good soldier, she must bury her emotions and present a stoic face. She can’t be weak. She can’t be vulnerable. All the more reason it is fitting that she sings when the rest of the gang is asleep, because no one will hear her moment of raw vulnerability. Instead, she tells us, the audience, how much it hurts to feel neglected and constantly waiting for this moment when she can prove to the world - and to herself - that she has the makings of greatness. And it pains my heart to see her be so open for once, to confirm what I have always suspected.

There is no way to tell what the answer is to her problem. Perhaps she needs to make her own destiny instead of waiting for the moment to arrive. She feels that moments have come and gone; I’m curious as to which moments she is referring. It is telling that she has remained faithfully by Rapunzel’s side, so I imagine she will stand by her no matter what she feels. Still, I don’t think it’s asking too much to let this fearsome sword-wielding woman have her moment of glory. We all want to be admired, and many of us want glory as well. Why shouldn’t she have a shot?

I hope Cassandra finds her destiny. I hope she gets her cue and takes center-stage. And I hope she can find the courage to open up about her struggle to Rapunzel, the one person she trusts deeply and cares about so much.

As long as you are waiting in the wings, Cassandra, I’ll be there cheering you on.

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