I thought "Enchanted" was actually one of the least objectionable Disney films, from a feminist perspective. Sure, it still ends with the girl fulfilled when she gets the guy, but that's hardly Disney's fault - that's kinda endemic to our whole society. I thought the credit cards were a handy modern corollary to the fairy godmother - the entire movie plays with the tropes of Disney films. The moment calls for a sartorial deus ex machina.

And I think the film sensibly concluded that only first graders would even want to wear Giselle's fashion designs - wouldn't it have been more insulting to see grown women prancing around in flower-festooned gowns? Wasn't it right in the story for Giselle to wear something modern and kinda sexy, something from the real world, at the moment when she's discovering she might want to stay there? Wouldn't her making the perfect gown be just so very Pretty In Pink?

And the moment with the little girl read to me not as a paean to the pleasures of purchasing but as something mothers and daughters do actually enjoy doing together. What else are they gonna do - bake? Talk about that not-so-fresh feeling? Read Plath? Come on, it's a freakin' movie looking for a moment of character bonding that audiences will dig - not some kind of consumerist brainwashing technique. (Sweet Jebus, as if Americans needed any encouragement in that department.)

I really liked that Dempsey's character bought books on feminist icons to make his daughter stronger - and that Giselle read it too. I liked that Giselle set forth some demands to make her relationship with Edward more equitable. And I liked that - SPOILERS AHEAD, oh wait, Stevens already spoiled it for everyone - Giselle is the one who runs out with the sword to save her true love at the end. Plucky as heroines like Ariel, Belle and Jasmine may have been, they never did any rescuing.

I dunno, but when Giselle ditched that glass slipper and went to kill a dragon, I considered it progress - credit cards or no.