Cinderella: A Woman's Tale

Have you heard the news? Cinderella is out on BLU-RAY in its Diamond Edition!

It just brings me back to the days of wishing I could be a princess.

Wait, I still do that.

As it's well known that most-if not close to all- Disney Princess films are produced, directed, written, and designed by men. It still amazes me that a group of middle-aged men made the fairy tales that I so live up to today. And they did a spectacular job, I don't recall seeing that many feminine stereotypes in such movies as Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast.

That being said, I want to break down the story of Cinderella from a woman's perspective. Well, a "woman" with eighteen years of experience under her belt, at least. Because you see I have noticed some coincidences between Cinderella and society as it was in the 1950s.

Let's start at the beginning, shall we?

The 1950s was the dawn of the modern association of the phrase "housewife". Women stayed home, watched the children, cooked, cleaned and still had time to *cough* 'take care' of the man of the house at the end of the day.

Phew! I'm getting tired just thinking about it.

Cinderella might not have had kids or a husband at the time, but she still had a full days workload.
Her stepsisters probably should count as children, right? They certainly acted as much throughout the entire film. But anyways that's beside the point.

Cinderella had to get up at the crack of dawn-not even talking mice could get me out of bed that early- make breakfast, feed the animals, clean the foyer, the curtains, mend the laundry AND to top all that off give the cat a bath. (Who even bathes cats?)

She did all this with a smile on her face and a pep in her step. Just like housewives of the sock hop generation were supposed to act. Like doing all that busy work fulfilled something special in their lives.

But even though Cinderella had to succumb to all these menial chores she didn't fully succumb to being a complete housewife. When the evil stepmother (*cough*society*cough*) makes it so Cinderella can't go to the ball, she made her own destiny.

She took her fate into her hands and molded it into something different. Something more.

Something better.

My favorite quote from Walt Disney pretty much sums it all up, "She believed in dreams, all right, but she also believed in doing something about them. When Prince Charming didn't come along, she went over to the palace and got him." 

In the end it wasn't the Prince that saved Cinderella... she saved herself.

The End of Something Good and the Start of Something Better

At the end of every tale there is, well, the ending of course.

It can be heart wrenching, making tears fall down your cheeks like the rain from a hurricane. It can be beautiful like the sun setting from a distance. But it can also mean the promise of a greater future.

Take Ariel for instance. Her ending was the start of her life as a human. It was the becoming of her dream, and the start of a better life. Her ending was bittersweet. Not quite a sob-wrenching tale, but it wasn't all rainbows and butterflies either. But her ending was the start of her being apart of another world.

That's what everyone hopes of when they have to go out and start being apart of the real world. Actually bringing something of quality to the table, making society a better place.

Maybe that's why the idea of college is so scary. It's one step closer.

Speaking of college, take Toy Story 3. Now that was a heart throbbing, make you and your father weep, full of unwanted closure kind of ending.

That's what happens though. You grow out of old things- no matter how much joy they brought to you at one point. Why do you think they come out with a new IPhone every six months?

I thought it was really going to end. That I would never see Buzz and Jessie and Mr. Potato Head again. But even though it was gut wrenching when the toys you grew up with sat there in the trash heap and held hands; Woody and the gang got to live out another whole life. A new life with a bright, young future.

Don't give up looking for it either.

Rapunzel never gave up. She saw what she wanted, and did everything in her power to get that. She went through dams breaking, caves flooding, horse chasing and not to mention that band of ruffians lead by her so- called "mother".

Yeah, she had her doubts. "Is it really better out there in the real world?" "I'm safe up here in this tower. Will I be safe out there?" She had all these questions and concerns, yet she still leaps off that tower. "And with every passing hour, I'm so glad I left my tower!" She kept going back and forth, from being happy to the worst daughter in the world.

Doing something you've longed to do for your entire life is what I imagine to be spectacular.
There might be initial doubt or shadowed guilt at first, but it's always worth it in the end.

Always leap off the tower.

That's what Rapunzel showed me.

That's what Disney taught me.

The Beginning

Has anyone ever had a dream?

Some have dreams of great stacks of million dollar bills, private islands filled to the brim with genies in bottles. Some have dreams of fancy red sports cars, dresses dripping with diamonds and  long carpets in front of the them the color red. Some have dreams of castles, and Prince Charmings, and pumpkins that grow into dazzling carriages. Now that's what I dreamed of when I was little... heck I still have dreams that center around that clock striking midnight.

So I guess my point would be that, of course everyone has dreams- even if they don't want to admit to them. Well, this blog was created on the idea that teens and adults- generally people older than the age of seven- can have dreams about castles and pirates and princesses, without being ashamed of them. To me, Disney is the epitome of dreams- for both sides of the age group- come true. I mean, can anyone else think of any other place in the world where kids and adults alike have their fantasies come alive (and Never Land does not count 'cause we both know that's not the type of fantasy I am talking about). There is a secret to my way of thinking. I always think in terms of everything being related to history, for instance, The Lion King is loosely related to Hamlet. I also love how everything Disney came to be. So that probably means you should expect practically anything from me on this blog.

Please... Enjoy!