Staying in Character

Now that I’ve been to several parties as various princesses, I’m able to etch out certain patterns and observations.

For example, the way parents and adults interact with me is vastly different from the way their children do. The children have no problem accepting that this flesh and blood person with regular blond (not yellow!) hair and a different voice is so obviously their cartoon friend Cinderella (I’ve decided that %75 is the dress, %5 is the wig and %20 is just the fact that everyone is calling me Cinderella).They address me by the appropriate name and ask questions regarding my story and my life as a princess.

Many of the adults, however, seem to have lost the ability to play along. They are of course aware that I am probably just some college student in a pretty dress trying to earn some money on the side to pay for books or something (correct!). They ask me what my real name is and ask questions regarding my school and other jobs. They get confused when I say my name is Snow White, I don’t go to school and my job is to be a Princess, teehee!.

I remember a conversation at the first party I had where I was Ariel from the Little Mermaid. I was talking with a little girl about her family. We were discussing her brothers and sisters, and I mentioned that I had 7 sisters (in the movie, Ariel does. They’re all mermaids and all have ridiculous “A” names…). The girl nodded knowingly but the mother was shocked. Her mouth was agape and she said things like “SEVEN sisters?! Wow! That must have been tough growing up!”. I gave her a stern look and shook my head, trying to say (telepathically), “Of course not you silly woman. This is called being in character! It’s sort of the foundation of my job.”

Now, there have been times when I slipped out of character inadvertently. For instance, when my southern upbringing comes out and Sleeping Beauty asks, “Do y’all want me to tell you a story?” Tsk tsk. So far, Tiana is the only princess allowed to say “y’all”.

That same party, I was tipped (an excellent practice I might add) but my bag was still at the make up table outside. Trying to be covert, I unceremoniously stuffed the cash into my bra when no one was looking. Of course, the mother turned around just in time to catch Princess Aurora with her hand down the front of her own dress. Thank goodness she thought it was funny! (Because it was).

In the end, the party is about the kids, not bonding with the parents. So while I may get weird looks when I answer their small talk as if I were royalty, it’s what the kids want to hear. It’s my job to keep that magic and fantasy alive for them. Letting it spill that my name is not really Belle and I live in a one bedroom apartment 15 minutes away is not the way to dispel a little girls belief in something so beautiful and simple as a Disney Princess.