#erika and annelise

[hererafjastori]

The movie Barbie in Princess and the Pauper is deeply misunderstood. In this essay I will…

No but like, seriously. I have come across too many people making fun of “I’m just like you” and fundamentally misunderstanding both the meaning of the song, and Annalise as a character, by acting like Annalise is a rich brat who doesn’t know to be grateful for what she has. So we are going to take an in-depth look at the song, Annalise, Erika, their situations and their character, and make a few things clear.

Let’s start with the above mentioned song, and the widespread opinion, that the girls and the movie act like there is no difference between Annelise living in constant luxury, and Erika suffering the life of an indentured servant. But what is happening has a lot more nuance.

First of: Annelise is not the instigator for this compare and contrast. Note how it’s Erika who starts comparing their lives, not Annelise, who reacts very perplexed. Annelise would have been fine with Erika never figuring out she was a princess, and only starts talking about the luxuries that being a princess grants her, after Erika prompts her. This is not Annalise bragging about her life, downplaying the privilege she enjoys or whining about how hard her situation is. This is her replying to Erikas enquire by both, acknowledging the vast difference there is between their lives, but also by underlining the ridiculousness that is such luxury. We can see later, in the movie, when Erika gets her breakfast, that there are no fucking minstrels. And Erika is totally on board with that, she even plays around with her, look at the way she interacts with the ‘omelet’ Analise presents her with. And later in the song, Erika acknowledges that the ‘married to a total stranger’ situation sucks.

But let’s take a look at the ways they recognize that they are the same. What are their similarities?

“I’m just like you, you’re just like me, there’s somewhere else we’d rather be. Somewhere that’s ours, somewhere that dreams come true, yes I am a girl like you. You’d never think, that it was so, but now I’ve met you and I know. […] ”

“I would never tell my mother. I wouldn’t wanna disappoint her.” “I completely understand.”

“[…]We take responsibility. We carry through, do what we need to do, yes I am a girl like you […] It’s something anyone can see. A heart that beats, a voice that speaks the truth”

So, what are their stated similarities:

They are in a situation they desperately want to escape. They see no option of realizing their dreams and fulfilling their desires or even have a perspective of leading a happy life.

Others lean, depend on and draw from their strength, so they have little to no opportunity of sharing that burden

They recognize that there is a reason they have these duties, and their conscience won’t allow them to even try and shirk said duties. They take up this responsibility that they never wanted, fully aware of the sacrifices that they will have to make.

Throughout it all, they make the active choice not to complain, to stay optimistic, to not loose hope and to carry their burden with dignity and integrity

Nobody disputes that they life very different lives. The first minute of their interaction makes that abundantly clear. Erika even sings “You’d never think that it was so”. Them coming from very different places was never up for debate. What they are comparing is the way they deal with it.

This willingness to endure under the pressure and expectations placed upon them without allowing to loose themselves, is the very core of both of these characters!

And we can see all of this throughout the movie, especially in ‘Free’.

[1] I don’t think I have to explain Erika. We see the direness of her situation in the way Mdm. Karp treats her the times she finds her singing, her threatening to use the excuse of interest to keep her prisoner for basically the rest of her life, the way she treats Annelise, thinking she is talking to Erika after she fled, the fact that she locks her seamstresses in often enough, that there is a routine in place to allow at least Wolfie an escape.

But Annalise is just as worked to the bone as Erika, if in a different way. Her day is planned through, down to the literal minute. Just listen to the start of Free. Her greatest wish is to have one day without work, because she hasn’t had that in living memory. And yes, most of it is studies and keeping up appearances, but in “to be a princess” we get an impression of how much thought and energy that takes. (“be charming, but detached and yet amused […] Never be confused”, “Never fall, don’t ever stray from protocol. All through the day, there’s just one way you must behave” “Never crack” “Never show a thing you feel inside. Glide.” “to be a princess is to never get to rest” “Never squirm […] Speak and be clever, never at a loss for words” “Never show dismay and be there when people call, be prepared whatever royal life may bring” “Never ever turn your back. There’s a time and place and way for everything”)

She has to be flawless, confident, and composed throughout the day without the  slightest hint of being imperfect. She has little to no privacy, she is constantly observed, perceived, judged by far more metrics than pretty much anyone else, and is she falls short of them and say, worsens relationships with another kingdom, makes a bad decision in ruling the kingdom, makes the kingdom appear weak in any way, her people will be the ones to pay the prize. And all that is without taking the marriage into consideration. She doesn’t know who Dominic is! We know that he is a great guy, but for all Annelise knows, he could be the kind of person Preminger reveals himself to be. Even if he is a decent guy, it would likely be a loveless marriage. That is a sacrifice (as we can see when her mother is forces into the very same position), especially if it means sacrificing her relationship with Julian, her childhood friend, who shares her interests, helps her through all that nonsense, and understands her better than anyone. On screen, he is the only person she truly opens up with, other than Serafina (who is a cat), and Erika (who she only met that day, and has little emotional investment in the whole thing). Erika and Dominic sing a whole duet about the importance of knowing each other in order to have a functioning relationship, and she has had that with Julian for years. They both (Julian is clearly just as devoted and self-sacrificing as she is) accept to let this unspoken thing between them slip through their fingers, with no hope of ever finding something comparable, and the prospect of drifting apart with time, all for the sake of the kingdom.

And in terms of hope for the future, Annelise is just as bad of, if not worse than Erika. Erika has been working continuously to escape her situation, and never given up hope (“My determination’s strong. People will gather around the world to hear my song! Soon I will forever be free). And in the meantime, she has found small ways to fight back against Mdm. Karp (She can never stop my schemes). How realistic it is to ever pay off Mdm. Karp is a different matter, but she still has a fighting spirit. Annelise meets Erika, while in the process of making peace with the fact, that this was it for her, and there will be no coming back from this (“Now I fear I’ll never be Free” “I’m savoring a first and last taste of freedom”).

[2] In terms of hope and determination, Erika is doing the emotional heavy lifting for both herself, and the other seamstress. And Annelise is putting up a strong façade for even her mother, because in the face of the lack of options, she doesn’t want to burden her mother with the knowledge that she is damning her daughter to an unhappy life.

[3] I already explained Annelise’s situation in detail. Because she was born in royalty, she is tasked with a lot of responsibility, and even though she had no choice in the matter, she still accepts her cross to bear, and does so silently knowing the great personal cost she’ll have to pay. For Erika, they kind of fumbled the ball with the duties she chooses to accept, seeing as pretty much the sole person to suffer from her just, running away and ignorin her 'duties' would be her active abuser. Even if she has yet to pay back all the money her parents borrowed from Mdm. Karp (something she had no say or choice in), she has more than done her time in emotional suffering, and saying that staying in this toxic environment is her duty is not a message I agree with. But in-universe she explicitly states such convictions, so any and all points on the matter of her dutiful behavior still stand. One might be able to twist her duty to be to not leave the other seamstress to suffer alone, but that has no textual evidence. But we see this willingness to sacrifice for the sake of duty and responsibility most strongly, when she agrees to help Julian out and take Annelise’s place. There are two ways this could play out: she get’s away with it, or she doesn’t. We see both, her options are being thrown into the royal dungeon for treason, or being locked away by Mdm. Karp for running away, and knowing those where her prospects, she still chose to do this for the sake of both Annelise and the kingdom.

[4] Just, listen to free, watch the movie. These two girls prove their inner strength and endurance time and time again. They always keep going, searching for solution after solution, no matter what obstacles lie in their way (Being sent away at the palace gates, escaping Mdm. Karp, escaping the mines, escaping the dungeon, etc.). Their drive, determination, endurance and unbendable spirit are admirable.

“I close my eyes, and feel myself fly a thousand miles away. I could take flight, but would it be right, my conscience tells me stay. I’ll remain forever royal. I’ll repay my parents debt. Duty means doing the things your heart may well regret. But I’ll never stop believing/ she can never stop my schemes. There’s more to living than gloves and gowns and thread and seams, in my dreams, I’ll be free”

This is the end of free, the core of them, and the thing they recognize in each other, and I will no longer allow any slander against either them!

[monkeyart]

Anneliese & Erika

[lesbianfakir]

Just watched the greatest movie of all time (barbie princess and the pauper) for like the millionth time and can I just say their little love square is giving tutu vibes and actually post cancelled I need like a 10 year later flash forward where the tutu polycule all marries each other

[louisapennyfeather2021]

Who needs the Red and Blue trope when you can just have the Pink and Blue trope?

I don't want Keith and Lance, I want Annelise and Erika.

[imnotverybright]

yall are so lucky I’m against posting myself online bc I would be posting my Halloween costume non stop it not

[blueangeldreamland]

buy my cute wedding picture <3

[lilaceas]

[jennyandvastraflint]

Watching Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper and. Wolfie/Serafina T4T real

Calico cats in the tri-colour pattern Wolfie has is exclusively found in female cats (and in very few males but they're sterile), and as Wolfie and Serafina have kittens in the end... Anyway. T4T cats real

[Image description: a screenshot of the Wikipedia article on calico cats reading "Because the genetic determination of coat colors in calico cats is linked to the X chromosome, calicoes are nearly always female, with one color linked to the maternal X chromosome and a second color linked to the paternal X chromosome. In most cases, males are only one color (for instance, black) as they have only one X chromosome. Male calicoes can happen when a male cat has two X chromosomes (Klinefelter syndrome, with XXY sex chromosomes and generally they are sterile); the condition is a chimera, with two different cell types; or, rarely, when some skin cells of the developing kitten spontaneously mutate."]

[mikkouille]

I think my most biggest media take pet peeve thingie is definitely ppl whose takeaway on Barbie Princess and the pauper (a KIDS MOVIE) is that Annelise's struggle was so much lesser than Erika's, as if her absolute lack of autonomy over her entire life was something cancelled out by her class, as if Girl Like You didn't CLEARLY state in 'you'd never think that it was so but now I met you and I know' highlighting the fact that beyond their different backgrounds their struggles are relatable to each other, MOSTLY MOST PLAINLY as if 'well it's ok that she's getting in an arranged marriage and basically isn't allowed a life of her own BC her assigned husband's rich' was a good take...

[belovedblossoms]

//Random but would ya'll roleplay if I added Barbie from her old fairytale movies as a muse? Like Clara, Odette, Annelise/Erika, etc? I just suddenly started feeling nostalgic for it all.

[destinylordoffreaks]

This Is my Barbie in the nutcracker Clara as the sugar plum princess doll

She’s one of my childhood bucket list dolls and I was lucky enough to get her with her with entire outfit including the tiara for under 30$ 😆 which has anyone who as looked for her knows is an amazing price

I’ve always loved Clara from the nutcracker and I absolutely adore her sugarplum princess dress. It’s just so gorgeous. It’s one of those dresses that I wish I could pull right out of the TV and put on and I know people make those dresses and I could probably buy one but I also would be really expensive but Gosh I would love to anyway.

So like I said, I’ve wanted her since I was a child, but since she and her movie were released when I was a literal baby obviously I wasn’t gonna get her back then and unfortunately, my older sister tended to get all of the movie dolls. She had Odette and Mariposa and Annika from Magic of Pegasus and I was always so jealous but looking back on it I realize that that was kind of her thing when it came to dolls where has I had a very large collection of Ariel dolls I really took a shining to Ariel and I guess my parents really latched on to that and just sort of fed that obsession I had so much Ariel stuff I still do  but like I list later on in this post, I did have a couple movie dolls. I had Melody from the diamond castle and I had princess Luciana from Barbie as the Island princess but I have been recently working on going through my doll bucket list and acquiring doll that I didn’t used to have the money to buy but to be fair. I still have a pretty small budget as far as doll collecting goes, which is why I am always keeping an eye out for a good deal

Some of the other dolls on my bucket list include

Annelise from Princess and the pauper. I found Erika years ago at a Goodwill, but I still don’t have Annelise to go with her.

I’d also like to get my hands on Elina from Fairytopia. I know I want either an original elina or a mermaida Elina, but I don’t want magic of the rainbow that’s not my cup of tea

I also would like to have Nori from Barbie Mermaidia 

I’ve also always wanted the deluxe Rapunzel with the super long hair and

I have melody from Barbie and the diamond castle, but unfortunately she’s broken plus whatever glue/gel they used on her head has left her extremely gunky. Turns out the neck on that doll was just really fragile and it breaks really easy and I kinda like to replace her now I’m old enough to actually display her and not let my younger siblings Get their hands on her. 

and these are just the dolls from the actual Barbie movies. This doesn’t include the regular dolls or the Disney dolls that I collect. 

[giogio1998]

Bea and Tora being best friends in other universes:

(Monica and Phoebe / Max and Caroline / Sam and Carly / Jade and Cat / Gwen and Lindsay / Blair and Serena / Buttercup and Bubbles / Erika and Annelise)

[lesbianfakir]

It’s funny 2 me that people treat princess and the pauper as the quintessential gay barbie movie (aside from diamond castle) because not only do Erika and annelise have only a few minutes of screen time together, but princess and the pauper has some of the most likable fleshed out kens of any barbie movie. I’m kind of defensive of them like Julian is a kind, endearing nerd who puts his life on the line to save annelise’s marriage to another man even though he’s in love with her. They have among the best chemistry of any barbie couple and what I find charming is it’s clear Julian loves annelise for her intelligence.

Then we have Dominick, who I think is fucking crazy in the best way. He tried to bust the lady who catphished him out of jail because he grew to know her better than anyone else in the span of a week. They have a genuinely sweet duet and a shared love of music. Not to mention when she turns down his proposal, he takes it in stride and still gives her the ring with no strings attached.

I’m sorry for liking the bland barbie men but these guys are awesome! If you want a gay barbie movie I highly recommend mermaidia, elina is CLEARLY a lesbian with a huge crush on nori. Yes nori ends up with a man but you can Chappell roan the fuck out of that situation also Nori has two hands. I wish people talked about this movie more because nori gets the screen time with elina usually reserved to a male love interest in other barbie movies. You get to watch their relationship grow from a begrudging partnership to a genuine friendship and it’s really sweet.

Anyways tldr yes annelise and Erika have a gay vibe but Julian and Dominick didn’t cunt the ever loving fuck out of that movie just to be shunted to the side like women in shounen. They LITERALLY all married each other. This was never the gay barbie movie. It was the poly barbie movie.

ANYWAYS STAN JULIAN GOODNIGHT

[sailormoonsailorstars]

I’ve just realized annelise x erika is just rei x shinji if you squint.

[chaoticwhisperedthoughts]

Barbie unpopular (?) opinion

I'm gennuing curious if it's just me or in the Princess and The Pauper movie the couples just give a polyam vibe?

Don't get me wrong, it is cute, I'm not gonna lie, and it does look like two friends that decided to have that especial moment togheter. But at the same time it looks like all four of them are a thing, because even thought King Dominick is from another kingdon and Erika decided to travel for who knows how long (maybe they said how long, but I can't remember) they still marry togheter with Annelise and Julian. Besides this they are going on their honeymoon togheter (it never says that exactly, but the fact that the four of them are in the same carriage makes it look like that). Them we have the cats, who end the movie togheter and with a bunch of kittens, and unless Annelise and Erika plan to do a parent trap 2.0 I can't see them sapareting Serafina and Wolfie nor one of them leaving the cat's behind for long (I know that Erika left Wolfie while she was travelling, but I can't picture her leaving him forever with someone else).

I remember seeing something about this a few years ago, but I didn't pay any atention at the time, also I know these are loose and vague points, but lately it has been bugging me and I wanted to know if I just had to much free time or what.

[ttyls]

how did i forget all about the hair salon game!!!!!! i need the all the barbie games up and running online neowwww!!! ☝🏻

:deep breath:

your barbie post omfg do u have a favorite movie? did u ever play games on the barbie website??? MERMAIDIA???? FLYING ON THE PEGASUS GAME??? i had the island princess doll with the singing necklace and also her love rival who was actually a really nice person 🥺🥺

!!!!!!! omg brandy no way!!!!! i had the island princess doll too!!! i pressed on her necklace so so much that eventually she would only sing "here on my island the sea says hello" and just stop there 🥹🤭 her crown was so pretty and her dress was sparkly and beautiful! ahhh the memory of her is coming back to me 💗 i will watch the island princess next in honor of our dolls 🤩 did you have any my scene dolls!!

eeeeep if i had to pick one i would say the princess and the pauper 🩷🩵🩷🩵 the songs are broadway-musical quality and i think more people need to use "if you love me for me" in weddings 😌 the magic of pegasus (i recently found out brie larson sings the credit song??!!), rapunzel, and the diamond castle are all runner-ups ☺️ what about you!!! do you have a favorite movie barbie movie or a group of favorites? :-D are there any you rewatch often?

the barbie pegasus game AHH!!! i'm sitting in a pool of my own nostalgic tears 🥹 that game + everythinggirl.com was my world 🤧