DW Couples: Moses and Tzipphorah

First thoughts right after watching the Movie

My first thoughts right after watching the movie is that I wish the two were given more than two scenes to develop as a couple, and they were a lot more underutilized than the couples I have covered already. They’re still nice, and while most of their dialogue involves them starting in the rough patch, when they are silent, it speaks for itself. Definitely not one of the best, but they are still pretty pleasant.

Summary

We are introduced to Tzipphorah in a less than pleasant manner, as she has been kidnapped to be the concubine of Ramses. She is trying her best to get out of that situation, as she is being humiliated by everyone in the kingdom. Ramses notes how “bite-y” she is, so he gives her to Moses, only for her to demand that she will not be given to anyone, especially arrogant pricks like them. Moses demands that she shows the royal family respect, while Tzipphorah rebuttals that she is giving them all of the respect they deserve. She almost unties herself, and ends up falling in the water when Moses lets go of the rope, laughing about it. Moses only ends up feeling bad because his mother gives him a disapproving look.

He enters her chambers so they can have sex already, and is shocked to see that she escaped. He makes it down to where she is, and allows her to escape. Moses ends up following her down the village, as she asks two people to feed her water before she goes back. He can’t help himself but look at her since his mother makes him come to his senses, so he clearly likes her sassiness and resourcefulness.

It;s been a day or two, and Moses leaves home, only to be stranded in the middle of the desert. He ends up near the village of Midian, where he saves three girls from having their sheep taken. Moses falls into the well, and Tzipphorah asks her sisters what has happened. They tell her that a man fell in the well, and she rushes him to pull him out. Once it is revealed to be the arrogant prince who humiliated her, she dumps him back into the water. After Tzipphorah walks away, her sisters mumble about how her attitude will be why she never gets married.

It was interesting that the sisters mentioned that, because it gives her another struggle and something that has clearly been hanging over her head. Her father welcomes him to their people, as he is being welcomed in a ceremony. Moses claims he has done nothing noteworthy, which causes her to look at him in shock and interest, clearly seeing a different side. The High Priest of Midian claims that he saved Tzipphorah from being a concubine, and his other daughters from those others. They hook up through a montage song called “Through The Heaven’s Eyes”.

His hair grows through many stages in the song, and in the first stage, we see Tzipphorah teach Moses how to be a shepherd, and there’s some sort of playful banter between the two. In the second stage, she forces him to dance with her (which he has tried to avoid since arriving), and then we see them in a tent talking to her father. He scopes them up in a big hug, so I am assuming they are telling him about their relationship or engagement. In the final stage, we finally see them get married.

The song ends, which is pretty much showing and explaining to us how he has learned the values of becoming a man. He grows more confident within himself, and she becomes a lot less bitter.

Moses is given his destiny by God, and he rushes to scope up his wife. We don’t get to hear it, but he is clearly explaining to her how God spoke to him about what he must do. We finally get to hear them, and she has her worries, since he is just one man. He expresses that he wants his people to be free and have a future where they can accomplish their dreams, just like her family currently has. Tzipphorah finally understands, and claims that she is going back with him. For her to go with him says a lot, because Midians clearly does not see Egypt in a positive light, and her personal experience with Egypt was horrible. The song could have taken place within months or years, so clearly a lot of time took place.

Their relationship pretty much gets no focus for the rest of the film, but we do get little pieces here and there. All of the slaves are mad at him for unintentionally causing their work to increase double-ford, while his wife hates how they are treating him. We learn that they are staying in his brother and sister’s house while this is all happening, and they are all thrilled that the Hebrews will have as much freedom as the Midians, as they will rejoice together. I have to say that while there’s not many scenes of Tzipphorah interacting with his sisters, it’s interesting to see how new in-laws interact in animation. Tzipphorah reminds him that he did a good thing in accomplishing god’s quest, and the film ends there. It is weird that we don;t get to see the Midians again though.

Final Thoughts

So my final thoughts is that it’s interesting that he likes her spunk, and almost instantly felt regret for their first meeting, and to see her slowly fall for him while he reveals a more insecure side was pretty cute. They were still very underutilized, but it was not their story to really focus on. They are the second couple right after Z and Bala, which was a blatant ripoff from Aladdin and Jasmine, so these two were definitely a  lot more refreshing with the way they were executed. Despite that, there is still not a whole lot to really say about them. DreamWorks has never been good with their romances, and it’s something they are still struggling with this to this day.

 

Next week, we will be vising a non-Toy Story Pixar couple, and we will deal with friendships for the month of February.

Advertisement