Friday 3 April 2015

Cinderella reaffirms my belief in dreams, courage and kindness



The 2015 Cinderella movie is the talk in town now, at least in my Icha-town. I’ve seen it once, loved it so much that I plan to see it again tomorrow. But actually, before I went to see it for the first time, I was quite apprehensive.

And it was actually quite difficult not to, these days. What with wars here and there, difficulties to get a permanent job that makes you happy, murders at many places (the Germanwings crash is still in my mind), I have to admit, my psyche was not really cheerful when I entered the cinema last week. 

I was also sceptical about the whole old-fashion (read: 1950s) fairy tale idea. I mean, who got her Prince Charming without doing anything these days? Don’t get me wrong: I love Disney. But I have long decided that my favourite princess is actually Belle, with the Beast as my favourite prince. Beauty and the Beast is my all-time favourite Disney movie that I’ve watched, followed by Alladin (I said so because I have not seen Frozen – yes, sue me. The DVD is on my lounge desk, ready to be viewed after I went to the rental last night). But the old, classical Disney movies? “Meh” is my most passionate answer.

Of course I love the idea of Prince Charming. I love Cinderella’s white ball gown in the 1950s animation (it was white, not blue). I love her sparkling glass slippers; I even had one when I was but a little girl, and I did run around the living room wearing the slippers. But that was my childhood. After I became a woman, a few years after watching Beauty and the Beast, I started rewatching Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty... and I was like... okay... so what is it again that we loved about these movies?