Men Falling in Love for Looks
In many of the fairy tales we have read there are instances where kings, princes, or men have fallen in love with women or princesses for their looks. In fairy tales, women are called beautiful or breathtaking and the men immediately fall in love with them. These depictions lead to women prioritizing their physical features and seeing beauty as one dimensional. This trope is similar to the expression, “love at first sight,” typically seen romantic movies where men or women fall in love for looks.
The Six Swans- The Brothers Grimm
https://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm049.html
“But she did not answer. He asked her in every language that he knew, but she remained as speechless as a fish. Because she was so beautiful, the king’s heart was touched, and he fell deeply in love with her.”
In The Six Swans, the King falls in love with the young girl for her looks. The huntsmen of the King find the young girl in a tree. They climb the tree and take her down after she had thrown off all of her clothes besides her shift to make them go away. The huntsmen take the young girl to the king and he immediately falls in love with her for her beauty. She was so beautiful that “his heart was left touched.” Because she cannot talk, the king knows nothing about her, including her history or personality. This proves that the king truly fell in love with her for her appearance and not anything else.
Cinderella Movie- 1950
Link to video of the Prince seeing Cinderella for the first time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSt0QDu5c60
In her house with her stepmother, Cinderella works as a maid cleaning the house all day long. She is criticized by both her stepmother and stepsisters and is given several tasks so she is unable to go to the ball. Her fairy godmother gives her a dress, a carriage, and shoes to wear, and once Cinderella, her beauty is immediately exclaimed and the prince begins to dance with her. As she leaves the ball, Cinderella’s shoe falls off but she keeps running before the spell breaks. As the prince comes looking for Cinderella he talks of her beauty to the princes servant. The prince and Cinderella remind us of love at first sight and that without her beauty, the prince would not have found his happily ever after.
The Lego Movie — 2014
Link below to the video of Emmet seeing Lucy for the first time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2CwJDIoTXw
Emmet, the protagonist falls in love with Lucy, or Wyldstyle, when he sees her for the first time, the world stops. In the movie, Lucy is flipping her hair back in forth in slow motion which is how Emmet sees her because he has fallen in love at first sight. This movie depicts the stereotype of men falling in love with women for the beauty or look due to this scene. For the duration of this movie and second lego movie, Emmet is in love with her and waits for her feelings to be mutual.
All three of these examples portray the trope of men falling in love with women for their appearance. Love at first sight is seen in many romantic movies today and has never been discussed on the fact that it is technically falling in love with someone for their looks.
