Despite featuring some of Disney’s most iconic fairytale couples, doesn’t explore love and romance very much. Sora never really mentions or comments on ‘love’, either. That is, until Kingdom 🐠Hearts 3.

In the Pirates of the Caribbean world, Davy Jones sees Will Turner and Elizabeth Swan, and moments later says, “Ah… love. A dreadful bond. And yet, so easily severed.” Sora jumps in and responds, “That’s not true! I may still have a lot to learn about love, but I know what it means to share my heart with others.” At this point in the series, Sora has met 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:a lot of Disney couples - Belle and the Beast, Ariel ꦑand Eric, Aladdin and Jasmine… the list goes on.

And yet, for some reason, Sora still has “a lot to learn about love”. Going by the most common fan interpretation of the series, he should, at the very least, have a fully-fledged crush on Kairi by this point. So why are we now bringing up the fact that Sora doesn’t know a lo🐷t about love?

Sora is aged 15 in KH3, so of course he’s not going to be an expert in all things love and romance, but in fiction, everything is written with purpose. You don’t have a main character exclaim they “still have a lot to learn about love”ꦜ without that serving some sort of narrative purpose.

Something There

Sora’s confusion about love is continued in a short story in the King🌠dom Hearts Cꦰharacter Files book, where he has an internal monologue after having watched Belle and the Beast dance.

The short stories in the Character Files are set sometime towards the end of KH3, as Sora reflects on th꧟e series’ events so far.

Thinking back on Cogsworth saying Belle and the Beast are in love, Sora asks himself, “What the heck is ‘true love,’ anyway? What even is ‘love’ to begin with?” Belle and the Beast are pretty much the epitome of a fairytale romance. They're a man and a woman; they’re in love with each other. What else is there to get🙈 here? That’s what our heteronormative society wants everyone to think, but that’s not al🐻ways the case.

Growing up as a deeply closeted lesbian who didn’t evꦺen really know gay people existed until I was in my teens, not knowing what ‘love’ is or what it should ‘feel’ like is something I have all too much experience with. I watched a lot of animated Disney movies growing up. Just like Sora, I saw these couples fall in love. But something just wasn’t clicking when I watched them. I could never see myself in the position of Belle, Ariel, Jasmine, Aurora, or any of the princesses who fell in love with a prince. ‘Love’ just felt alien 💃to me.

Sora’s Confusion About Love Might Be Because Of Compulsory Heterosexuality

As an adult, I know now I was experiencing ‘compulsory heterosexuality’ - an unconscious societal pressure to conform to heterosexual norms - which is what led me to feel isolated, confused, and like something was missing when I looked at a heterosexual couple, but I hadꦉ no idea what that missing ‘thing’ was.

Sora’s confusion continues throughout the short story in the Character Files: “I get that Belle and the Beast love each other. In the end, though, I still don’t get what ‘love’ is.” When you’re unknowingly in the throes of compulsory heterosexuality, you get what love is in theory, but that’s as far as it goes. You see it happening for others around you, or in movi🌟es, books, and games, but it feels like something that’s off the cards for you, something you’ll just never get.

You even feel the need to try to conform to it yourself, despite not understanding it. I ‘chose’ crushes on boys based on inane things. I was tall for my age, so if there was a boy taller than me, I’d think, “That must mean I have to like him, right?” All ෴while denying that, deep ꦍdown, the idea of spending my life (or even just five minutes) with a man made me feel physically sick.

Looking at Kingdom Hearts through a queer lens, this could be what Sora is experiencing. He’s surrounded by what society deems as the very definition of true love; as the main protagonist, he naturally fulfills the role of the male hero/prince, so the next thing on the list must be a female love interest… right?

Sora tries to fit that mould, but interestingly, it’s rarely by his own volition. In KH1, it’s Riku who suggests Sora should share the paopu fruit with Kairi. In Chain of Memories, Donald and Goofy claim that Sora always acts differently around girls, despite Sora never actually doing so in their presence. It’s always something external pushing him in that directဣion, rather than Sora taking the reins himself.

The Paopu Fruit Scene

Eventually, Kairi does share the paopu fruit with Sora, and yet he still doesn’t understand what ‘love’ is supposed to be. Sora and Kairi are finally spending some time together, but 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:tꦍhe first thing Sora asks i🔴s about Riku. “Hey, why's Riku all alone?” Not exactly wha🌌t should be on your mind when🌌 you’re spending time with the girl you’re supposed to be in love with.

When Kairi presents the paopu fruit to him, Sora physically recoils, and Kairi has to explain that she ✃wants to share it so they won’t be separated in the final battle before Sora relaxes and finally accepts. After all this build up, something that Sora perceives as romantic is finally happening between him and Kairi, and all he can do is… look visibly uncomfortable?

Sora was fine daydreaming about telling Kairi he was able to fly in KH1 and imagining dancing with her in KH2, but when it comes to actually spending time with her? It’s a completely different story. He has all the pieces for a heterosexual ro🙈mance 🅷right in front of him, but something still isn’t clicking into place. Perhaps because he doesn’t have any examples of what love could look like, other than Disney’s cookie-cutter heterosexuality.

Sora only starts to feel comfortable around Kairi again in ReMind, after th✅ey share the paopu fruit and Kairi clears up her expectations behi♛nd it.

Sora’s beh🐠aviour in this scene reminds me exactly of myself when I was 15. I could daydream and picture the heterosexual life that I thought I was supposed to lead, but the mere possibility of anything happening beyond that? Absolutely not. Tꦗhe pressure of compulsory heterosexuality affected a lot of my interactions with my peers, even without me knowing it, and it seems to be the same for Sora.

As the series stands right now, I have no idea whether Sora’s misunderstanding of love is inꦛtentionally mirroring compulsory heterosexuality or not, but I know I’m not the only one seeing my experience reflected in his journey.