Damsel Avoids A Classic Princess Trope, But Still Wastes An Exciting Character

Netflix’s Damsel successfully diverted several standard fairytale tropes, but it could have taken one exciting character so much further. The fantasy movie turns the idea of a damsel in distress on its head and twists expectations around every corner, and it makes for a fun and entertaining story. However, there were several ways in which Damsel didn’t take its premise as far as it could have. One of the side effects of this is that one character—and a phenomenal actor—went entirely wasted.

The primary way in which Damsel twists princess cliches is that the protagonist, Elodie, isn’t a damsel in distress but instead the hero of her own story. In fact, she isn’t technically a princess. Millie Bobby Brown’s character was only a crowed princess so that she could be thrown into a dragon pit and satisfy the beast’s requirement of being fed royalty every generation. Still, Elodie came complete with many of the benchmarks of a classic princess, including what is assumed to be an evil stepmother, Lady Bayford (Angela Bassett).

Damsel Avoids The Evil Stepmother Trope With Angela Bassett’s Character

As the central princess of Damsel, the reveal that Elodie has a stepmother immediately leads audiences to believe that this character would be, in some way, evil. However, the Netflix movie successfully diverted this trope. Though there is some tension between Elodie and Lady Brayford at the beginning of the story, it quickly becomes apparent that this is a kind and courageous woman. Bassett’s character in Damsel winds up standing up for her stepdaughter even when Lord Bayford would not, and this was a refreshing angle considering the overuse of the evil stepmother trope.

How Damsel Still Wasted Angela Bassett’s Potential

As great as it was to see that Lady Bayford had Elodie’s best interest at heart, it was frustrating come the end of Damsel that there wasn’t more to this character. Bassett is an iconic actor known for her powerful performances in movies like What’s Love Got to Do with It (1993) and The Black Panther movies. Therefore, the moment it became clear that her character in Damsel would support Elodie rather than fight against her, it was assumed Lady Bayford would have a spotlight moment in which Bassett could shine.

Unfortuantely, such a moment never came. Aside from offering Elodie some minor assistance, Lady Bayford was an otherwise negligible role. This comes despite the character being set up as the antithesis of Robin Wright’s Queen Isabelle. Since the evil stepmother would typically be the central antagonist of a princess story, and Elodie’s evil mother-in-law filled this role instead, it makes sense that a movie like Damsel would set the two against one another. It would have been a treat to see Bassett overcome Wright’s character, but Netflix left its best actor on the sidelines.