The Prince and Me

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details about The Prince and Me's classification and consumer advice lines
• a review of The Prince and Me completed by Young Media Australia (YMA) on 13 July 2004.

Overall comments and recommendations

The Prince and Me is a fairly light hearted fairy tale romance where an ordinary girl and a real Prince meet and fall in love. However it does show that the ‘happily ever after’ is more difficult to achieve. At times it is a bit slow but will probably appeal to teenage girls.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) and the associated consumer advice lines.

YMA review

This review of the movie The Prince and Me contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• use of violence
• material that may scare children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie's message

A synopsis of the story

Crown Prince Edvard of Denmark likes fast cars and women and is not particularly interested in the affairs of the country. When he sees a racy advert on television describing the women of Wisconsin as only too happy to take their tops off, he decides to travel there to see for himself. He convinces his parents that he’s going there for a course of study and they reluctantly agree to let him go; however he has to take Soren, his ever faithful bodyguard along with him.

He enrols at college without giving away his identity. There he meets Paige, an independent young woman who’s only concerned with getting into medical college. Paige works part time as a barmaid and their relationship gets off to a bad start when he asks her to take her top off. Paige replies to this by squirting him with soda. To her dismay he becomes her lab partner for the semester and they have to form a working relationship. Paige soon discovers that she is more capable than Edvard at science but he’s able to help her with English, in particular Shakespeare. At first Paige sees him as a spoilt rich kid who’s just spending time in America. However she soon sees that there is a nice side to him and for the first time in his life Edvard meets a girl who likes him for who he is rather than as the future King of Denmark. They fall in love but when Paige discovers who Edvard really is she feels like she’s been lied to. Edvard has to return to Denmark because of his father’s failing health but Paige realises that she really does love him and follows him there.

After their initial horror at the idea of their son marrying a commoner, the King and Queen of Denmark come to accept that this is good for Edvard. What happens next is a shock induction into the reality of royal life. Paige is told that she, as a person, no longer exists and she must prepare to be the future Queen of Denmark. It all becomes too much for Paige and she returns to America prepared to abandon her love. However Edvard isn’t quite so ready to abandon her.

Use of violence

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

The only violent scene is when Edvard wins a ‘ride on mower race’ and his opponent comes up and hits him. Paige’s brothers all get in on the act and there’s a bit of a fight.

Material that may scare children

Children under eight are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations, the death of a parent or child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

There is nothing particularly scary in this movie.

Product placement

Research shows that children, particularly children under the age of eight, are vulnerable to product placement in movies. Even if the child doesn’t recall seeing a particular brand in the movie, they will choose that brand in preference to another, if they have just seen it used or displayed in a movie. This effect may be exacerbated if the product is highlighted as part of the story or if an actor or character they admire is seen to endorse or enjoy the product.

The following products were displayed or used in this movie:

• Pepsi
• Pringles
• Cheez-its.

Sexual references

There are a few sexual references:

• Edvard watching the girls on television taking their tops off – nothing actually shown.
• Paige and her roommate discuss sex and how that the library stacks are a good place to go.
• When Paige and Edvard are trying to study but are obviously distracted, Paige’s roommate suggests the stacks to her.
• Paige and Edvard kiss passionately in the library and she takes his top off but they are interrupted by the arrival of the media and flashbulbs.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is no nudity or sexual activity.

Use of substances

There is quite a bit of alcohol use: at a wedding, at the pub, at home.

Coarse language

There is only occasional use of ‘kick arse’.

The movie's message

There is no real take home message in this movie. Paige does mention the advantages of a meritocracy where anyone can succeed if they put their mind to it.