Jasmine was kind of too forgiving and Anastasia was perfectly within her rights. She didn't easily forgive him and even gave him a big and well-deserved SMACK!

That slap was so awesome.

Anastasia: *slaps Dimitri*
Me: Oh, thank you, movie.

Let it be noted that the two men lied about different things, with different consequences.

Aladdin lied about being a prince and being the boy in the market, but it was only to try to win Jasmine because he loved her and wanted her to like him, and she had only known "Prince Ali" for one evening. When she finds out, she's understandably pissed, but at this point what's the real damage?

Dimitri took advantage of a homeless, nameless, memory-less, lost, lonely orphan who earnestly came to him seeking help to find her past, conned her into thinking she might be the only surviving family member of the Dowager Empress, and intended to use her to trick an old, grieving woman into thinking the last of her entire slaughtered family has been returned to her. From Anya's perspective, he had fed both her and the dowager false hope and used them both as pawns to get money. And he had kept up the charade for several weeks! Fed her a whole identity that he had believed was bogus, got her to fall in love with him, etc.


THAT SAID, I prefer Jasmine's reaction to Anya's.

Just the way it's presented, Anya's comes across as the cliche "third act misunderstanding" (link) where a character who has been lying to another eventually realizes it's true or they really do love them, then in the third act the deceived character learns about it in the most contrived, incriminating way possible (like overhearing someone who only knows part of the story tell it in the worst way possible; like the Dowager Empress saying "Dimitri, I've heard of you. You're that con-man from St. Petersberg who was holding auditions to find an Anastasia lookalike!" having no way of knowing that he had realized the girl he found really was Anastasia), and then the deceived character goes through the angsty "You used me?" "You lied!" ordeal, and then the deceiver has to work hard to set things right, then the WHOLE rest of the film rests on clearing up the misunderstanding. (Like how Anya still believes Dimitri only wants the money, then realizes he didn't take the money, then realizes she loves him anyway, then "will they or won't they?"--UGH!)

Jasmine's is short and sweet. She's understandably pissed that he lied to her and think she was stupid enough to see through his paper-thin disguise, but the writers don't dwell on it for the rest of the film. She calls him out on it ("You are the boy from the market. I knew it! Why did you lie to me?!"), calls him out on it ("Did you think I was stupid?" "That I wouldn't figure it?") demands the truth (then again, he lies again anyway), then lets it slide. ("Why didn't you just tell me?")

It doesn't turn into the "Liar Revealed" cliche that tends to take up the whole third act of a film.

i found it hard to feel happy to see another liar revealed "YOU LIIIIIEEEDDD TO MEEEEEE???? HOOOOWWWW CCOOOOOUUUULDDD YOUUUUU?" that i've seen done a dozen times. is jasmine forgiving? sure but honestly her reaction was refreshing as she tried to get to the bottom of why the lie took place and avoid making it a "HHHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE LLLLLLLLLLLLLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEE­DDD­DDD­DDD­DDD­D&q­uot­; GOOMIES LANA FROM SMALLVILLE SUCKED ANY SYMPATHY I COULD EVER MUSTER FOR THAT LINE.

Definitely.

Hitting someone is physically abusive. Just because some characters do it, it doesn't make them righteous for doing it.

He was grabbing her by the arm and trying to force her to stay when she didn't want to, so she had every right to hit him. It's just as abusive to try to grab someone and force them to stay when they don't want to and don't have to, especially after finding out this person had been lying to them and just using them.

In my book, Anya could have wrenched her arm away, or stood on Dimitri's foot with her high heels, and then left.

I still think Jasmine chose the high road ( forgiveness and trying to find out Aladdin's real motive for lying), and Anya didn't ( physical assault, fuming, rejection).

Stepping on his foot with her heel would still be in the same category as assault/physical abuse as you say slapping Dimitri was and just wrenching her arm away wouldn't stop him from continuing to grab her by the arm until she did what she wanted him to do. She was completely within her rights because if someone lies to me, used me, and then tries to force me to stay when I won't want to or have to, chances are, I'm going to get violent and they deserve it just like Dimitri did. Some of us have trust issues and forgiveness isn't as easy for us as that and sometimes just forgiving so easily just doesn't help you and you have to take action.

@tygers_eye-- except that if Jasmine had NOT found out that Aladdin had lied, he would have married her without ever revealing himself and Jasmine would be stuck in a marriage under false pretenses until the truth finally unraveled. Pretty shitty!

@wavesurf--Anya DID try to wrench her arm away and Dimitri kept hold. She is definitely within her rights to enforce a physical act if he is literally physically holding

i hate this thread for making me defend anastasia, but yeah she had every right to strike out like that against someone who was physically restraining her, especially after she already tried to break free. i can't stand gratuitous strong female character violence like the thing earlier in the movie where she accidentally hurts dimitri and she's all "sorry, my bad!! oh wait it's you?? lol nvm" but this is different.

all the same, i prefer jasmine's reaction - she tries to sort out why, gives him another chance, blah. that she keeps forgiving him later on? not so much.

@KL and PL: Anya's physical violence to me is similar to Anna punching Hans in the face. For my money, I like Anya and Anna, but don't love those two girls as characters because the first thing they go for is aggression.

What the others said.