Jeffrey Nealon and Susan S. Giroux, the writers of the Theory Toolbox, state that ideology is a “false consciousness”; an inability to see real conditions because they are masked by false ideas. Governments typically use ideology to control the public and make them think they need their government to survive. However, in the 2010 Disney story, Tangled, this “false consciousness” takes place by only one person for only one person. The movie starts out with a drop of sun falling from the sky and creating a flower. Mother Gothel found the flower and realized that it had the power to make her stay young forever. Centuries went by and a kingdom grew. Mother Gothel was still alive and hiding the flower from everyone in order to stay young forever. The queen of the kingdom became pregnant and also very sick, so all the guards went out to look for this flower. Eventually they found the flower and brought it to the queen. The powers from the flower were transferred to the queen’s baby, Rapunzel. The powers were in her hair. A few days after Rapunzel was born, Mother Gothel broke into the castle in order to redeem her magic back. She went to Rapunzel’s crib and cut a strand of her hair off, so she would still be able to have the power to stay young. However, once Rapunzel’s hair is cut, it loses the powers it once possessed. Mother Gothel stole Rapunzel from the castle in order to ensure that her hair was never cut and she would also have the power from the flower. Mother Gothel raised Rapunzel by hiding her in a tower and teaching her that the outside world was something to fear and that anyone she came in contact with would hurt her and try to take her hair. In other words, Mother Gothel raised Rapunzel with a false consciousness of the outside world.
In one of the opening scenes, Mother Gothel is brushing Rapunzel’s hair, this is how she is able to get the power to use. Rapunzel asks her “Why can’t I go outside?” To which Gothel replies “The outside world is a dangerous place. Filled with horrible, selfish people. You must stay here, where you're safe.” Ever since Rapunzel was young Mother Gothel has been telling her that the outside world is dangerous. Gothel places fear into Rapunzel by teaching her the outside world is dangerous and something that she needs to be afraid of. Over time, Rapunzel begins to believe her. Rapunzel never questions staying inside the tower every day and she never asked Gothel to let her go outside. Gothel did well in creating a false consciousness for Rapunzel.
Kavanagh states “Ideology is the unfortunate irruption of opinions and doctrine within what should be a fully “creative” or “imaginative” work. This critical perspective, then, is part of a general framework of assumptions that shapes both political and literary languages, a framework within which “ideology” is assigned a negative value”. Mother Gothel uses ideology in a creative, but also negative way. She hides Rapunzel in a tower to “protect” her from the outside world. She raises her into thinking that everything beyond the walls of the tower are evil and dangerous to her. Rapunzel fears life outside of the tower, and feels much safer living in the comfort of her tower. The sense of ideology that Rapunzel feels has a negative effect on her. She feels that if she left the tower she would be in grave danger and wouldn’t survive. Rapunzel conformed herself to the safe and comfortable life that she has always known, sheltered within the tower.
The walls of Rapunzel’s tower couldn’t hide everything from the outside world. Inside the tower was a window in which Rapunzel would often look out. Every year, on her birthday the king and queen released thousands of lanterns into the sky in hopes that their missing princess would someday return home. Rapunzel notices these lanterns in the sky, and she realized that they only appeared on her birthday. Rapunzel’s eighteenth birthday was coming up and she felt she was old enough to ask Gothel to let