Re-Porter Blog: The Porter Report #17

 

More For Us

The Profound Workings of Disney's Wish

By Brandon Porter

A wish is a powerful thing. It comes from the purest part of you. When it comes true, you feel like you and the world are better as a result. Unfortunately, the power of a wish can draw in other things too. It can manifest individuals with ill intent some of which can cause chaos and destruction sometimes unseen. How do you combat this while guarding the purity of what you hope to bring to the world? Disney's latest animated feature Wish paints a picture of why it is important to protect your dreams and aspirations from those who will simply not value it as much as you do. It's a powerful message that a lot of people seem to have missed, intentional or not, in the context of the story being told. My latest Porter Report aims to clear things up by analyzing the story and truly showcasing the message the film conveys to its audience. SPOILERS WILL BE PRESENT IN THIS PIECE. PROCEED WITH CAUTION.

Rosas is a land of opportunity, growth, and optimism. Nobody knows that more than our leading lady Asha, played by Academy Award winner Ariana DeBose. She has this incredible enthusiasm for anyone who comes to Rosas looking to settle and lay down roots. Even before she meets with Magnifico, she is ecstatic about the possibility of others seeing the beauty and magic of her home and of the benevolent ruler. What makes Asha such a great character is her incredible sense of selflessness. On each citizen's 18th birthday, they give their wish to King Magnifico in the hopes that it will be granted. While Asha is 17 and a year from being eligible to submit her wish, she is more concerned about ensuring that everyone else gets the opportunity to get their wish granted including her surrogate father Sabino. She is willing to put the thoughts, feelings, and needs of others ahead of her own despite her having every chance to indulge in her own desires and "wishes'. This makes her an easy character to root for throughout the film and her sense of unconditional uplift is a great contrast to what we see once King Magnifico enters the picture. 

Upon first meeting him, Magnifico is all the things Asha envisioned: charismatic, charming, handsome, and someone who, on the surface, cares for the people. Asha is enamored with the possibility of working with someone who has the power to make wishes come true and make Rosas the paradise she believes it can be. But it isn't until she makes a small request that her entire worldview shatters. She offers up Sabino's wish to Magnifico hoping he can make it come true in honor of his 100th birthday. The request seems simple enough given what we see but Magnifico dismisses it believing it to be "too dangerous". Mind you, there is nothing within the wish that indicates that it would threaten Rosas or Magnifico's rule. It is here that the real Magnifico reveals himself. Not as a compassionate monarch who uplifts and loves his people but as a narcissistic and egotistical con artist who exploits the hopes and dreams of others for his own personal gain. Asha is of course crushed by this knowing that everything she thought about Rosas was all a fantasy made to make Magnifico out to be something he wasn't. To be at the mercy of someone who doesn't have the people's best interest at heart leaving all the wishes of Rosas unanswered until Magnifico decides which ones are worthy enough to be granted. This is something that Asha can't bear to let stand knowing how much she cares about the dreams and hopes of those who live here and those yet to come. So in an act of humble desperation, she makes a wish upon the stars: to have something more for the people of Rosas. Something that could free them from the hidden shackles that bind them to the will of a deceitful ruler and his skewered vision of utopia. Something that can give people hope as opposed to false promises. Something that is more for them than this.

Much to Asha's shock and surprise, her wish takes on a physical manifestation in the form of a literal star named Star. Full of raw magic and chaotic energy, Star has this pureness to him where he can manifest things, like granting Asha's goat Valentino the ability to speak, without conditions or stipulations. Asha sees Star's desire to unconditionally make wishes come true as well as his eagerness to help her free the wishes from Magnifico's grasp. There is no sense in Magnifico continuing to hold onto wishes he never intends to grant. For every wish given to Magnifico, he maintains this psychological hold on the person making them indebted to him in the hopes he may one day make their life have meaning. Speaking in real-life terms, this is a dangerous situation for anyone unfortunate enough to find themselves in. To have all of your sense of purpose, dreams, and self-worth in the hands of those who never intend for you to outshine or upstage them. Whether it is out of spite, jealousy, or ego-driven mania, wishes in the hands of those with destructive intentions can destroy and cripple people and societies at large. In a way, Asha and Star's quest is to renew people's sense of agency to make things happen for themselves. This obviously unsettles Magnifico knowing how much he craves to stay in control. It's the thing that drives him to divulge in forbidden dark magic and literally feed off the energy of crushed wishes which in turn make him stronger and further unhinged.

This is what makes Magnifico such an effective villain. He was once driven by the desire to keep history from repeating itself but soon let his ego and pride get in the way of the need to protect and serve his citizens as opposed to himself. Once he embraces the darkness, Rosas finally sees him for what he truly is: not a gracious king but a power-hungry tyrant who will not hesitate to oppress those around him into submission to make himself stronger. When Star is captured, Asha pleads with the people of Rosas to stand up and make a solemn vow to not leave the kingdom in the hands of someone who believes they are his emotional playthings. When the people realize that they have left their kingdom in the hands of a monster, Asha's wish in a way comes true. Her wish was for her home to have something more for Rosas. She gets that in the form of everyone standing up and vowing that they will never again let someone else dictate their path in life or take control of their own sense of worth. As a result, Star is freed and Magnifico is imprisoned freeing Rosas from the shackles of oppression they never realized were there until now. In the end, Asha is the physical representation of what Rosas needs moving forward. Someone selfless as opposed to selfish who has a desire to uplift and put other people's needs above her own. It's for this reason that Star elects to gift Asha a magic wand granting her the ability to become a surrogate fairy godmother of Rosas. Though humbly reluctant at first, Asha promises to try her best to be a beacon of light for the place she calls home. 

In the end, Asha's wish ultimately came true. Her home now has a renewed identity where everyone manifests their own wishes instead of putting them in the hands of those looking to feed their insatiable desire for control and submission. With her now as the town's honorary wish granter, Asha helped change the landscape of Rosas by reminding people that they have the power to make the impossible possible. All she does is help steer them in the right direction and give them the "tools" needed to get started. This is at the center of Walt Disney's mantra: "If you can dream it, you can do it." Wishes can't come true unless you make them happen. Never put faith in practices or people that are not of pure intention. When the power of a wish is fully in your own hands, its impact and reach will truly transcend the stars above.