One in four women are abused (11 Facts About Teen Dating Violence), 1.5 million teeangers are in abusive relationships (Dating Abuse Statistics), and thousands of children are victims of abuse (National Child Abuse Statistics.) Abuse is a serious problem that has been rapidly growing in recent years. Representation is a crucial part of destroying this issue. Disney helps shine a light on abuse in one of their more recent films, Tangled. The story is about a long lost princess, Rapunzel, who has been locked away in a tower her whole life. Every year on her birthday, she would watch as the sky was filled with the “floating lights,” and it became her dream to see them. When a thief, Flynn Rider, stumbles upon her tower, Rapunzel uses the tiara…show more content… According to Counseling Center » Emotional Abuse, “Abuse is any behavior that is designed to control and subjugate another human being through the use of fear, humiliation, and verbal or physical assaults... It can include anything from verbal abuse and constant criticism to more subtle tactics, such as intimidation, manipulation, and refusal to ever be pleased.” Mother Gothel acts in a condescending way and often gives Rapunzel back handed compliments. Along with that, she constantly insults Rapunzel and then pretends that she was simply joking. This is best seen when Mother Gothel and Rapunzel are standing in front of a mirror and Mother Gothel says to her “daughter”, “I see a strong, confident, beautiful young lady.” Rapunzel starts to smile at Mother Gothel’s words, until she concludes with, “Oh look, you’re here too.” Mother Gothel intentionally built up Rapunzel’s confidence just to tear it down. And then, when Rapunzel starts to look sad and offended, Mother Gothel just tells her to stop taking things so seriously. Not only did she intentionally hurt Rapunzel, she also made it seem as though Rapunzel’s hurt feelings were invalid. Furthermore, when Rapunzel tells her “mother” about her dream to see the floating lights, Mother Gothel starts into the song “Mother Knows Best”, in which she completely dismisses anything Rapunzel says, severely…show more content… This is demonstrated at the end when Rapunzel finally stands up for herself. At the end of the movie, the relationship between Rapunzel and Mother Gothel had become much darker as Mother Gothel had stalked her “daughter,” schemed with thieves to capture her, and even bound Rapunzel in chains. When Rapunzel has a flashback and remembers that she’s the lost princess the kingdom has been searching for, she confronts Mother Gothel, saying, “I’ve spent my entire life hiding from people who would use me for my power when I should have been hiding from you! You were wrong about the world. And you were wrong about me. And I will never let you use my hair again!” The vital message shown by Rapunzel’s story is to never accept to be treated less than you deserve; when she understand the manipulative way Mother Gothel had been treating her, she builds up the strength to absolutely refuse to allow it to continue any longer. This is an extremely hard thing for any abuse victim to do, especially when she has been as victimized and brainwashed as Rapunzel. Because of the emotional abuse and manipulation she has gone through, to not only disobey her abuser’s wishes, but to completely rebel against her took a great amount of courage and strength. Most victims silently suffer, too afraid to do anything. As Mother Gothel chains Rapunzel up in order to gain control over her, Rapunzel continues to fight against her “mother’s” wishes and says,