The Princess Diaries.

A couple of years ago I wrote about The Princess Diaries as one of my guilty pleasure movies. I watched it again last night and decided that I really needed to blog about it. :)

I was ten when this movie came out. I think I got it on VHS for Christmas that year, because I remember watching the tape at my grandparents' house. It was one of my favorite movies when it came out, and I still love it.

The Princess Diaries brings back so many memories from my preteen years. You have to love the cheesy pop music soundtrack, complete with songs from the Backstreet Boys and Aaron Carter! {I definitely did the BSB fangirl thing when I was younger. I liked N*Sync, too, but the Backstreet Boys were probably my first music obsession. For Christmas in 1999, I got my very first CD player, a huge black boom box (ha :), and the BSB Millennium CD. Good times.} And I love that at the very end of the credits, it says that the soundtrack is available on cassette and compact disc.

I was basically Mia (I still am). The frizzy curly hair, a tendency for nausea in public speaking ("Are you feeling confident?" "Not really."), a love for slightly overweight cats, complete lack of athletic ability, and all of the general awkwardness. All I was missing was a soap opera writer neighbor named Mr. Robitussin and a grandmother who was queen of an imaginary European country.

I've quite often looked into the mirror while getting ready and thought something similar to, "As always, this is as good as it's gonna get," and then cracked up when I realized I'm echoing Mia.

Not only was Mia the secret heir to a country, but she and her mom has the coolest house ever. In a refurbished fire house! Mia had a tower! And a spiral staircase! It was quirky and cluttered and I love it (almost as much as I love Penelope's room).

And Michael. Goodness. How could Mia ever want Josh when she could have Michael? He was perfect. It makes me want to cry when he stops by her house after she ditched him and he's all hurt but tries to brush it off as nothing.

And how awesome and classy is Julie Andrews? As if she's ever anything else. I can't imagine anyone else other than her in this role!

I might not love this movie so much if it didn't make me feel so nostalgic. But it is sweet and hilarious. {Did you know that the part where Mia slips on the bleachers was unscripted? Anne Hathaway accidentally fell and they left it in. I love that because her laugh is so genuine- that laugh you do when you've done something embarrassing and find it hilarious.} And very quotable. Some of my favorites:

 

"We don't shlump like this." {The only time you've ever seen Julie Andrews with less than perfect posture.}

"You have thick hair, by the way. Like a wolf."

 

"I have never worn pantyhose, but it sounds very dangerous."

 

"Shut up. Shut up, shut up!" "I beg your pardon?" "Oh, your majesty, in America, it doesn't always mean to be quiet. Here it could mean, "Wow, gee whiz, golly wolly"... "

 

"You broke my glasses!" "You broke my brush!"

So yeah. I'm almost twenty-two years old and I still love the Princess Diaries. And I don't feel too awfully embarrassed about that. :)

 

{P.S. The second Princess Diaries movie? Eh. I saw it in theaters with my mom and I've seen it countless times since. It has its moments, but overall it's disappointing. Mostly because: what happened to Michael?? They can't just dismiss him with "Oh, he's touring with his band." As for the Princess Diaries book series...I used to love them when I was about 11 or 12- I still have numbers one through five, probably? The third one used to be my favorite. I'd like to reread them all eventually, but I don't think I'll like them as much now as I used to.}

Until next time,