The Greatest Story Ever Told

I've found myself humming the opening song to Cinderella all morning.  Cinderella, you're as lovely as a rose, Cinderella... it's the greatest story ever told...

What a huge claim to make, and yet I'm struck by how true it is, at least for a certain set of the movie-watching crowd.  Cinderella is a staple in our house.  Just as it was a staple for me a short twenty years ago.  Lou can't get enough.  We do Friday Night Movie Night at our house, which just means that we watch Cinderella each Friday.  And to be honest, I really don't mind.  It is a great story about a girl who has lived through the death of both parents and abuse by the individual responsible for caring for her.  Yet despite all of this she is kind and compassionate.  She has not been destroyed by her experiences.  Cinderella is naturally beautiful, and she's modest. There's no cleavage, no leg, no skimpy outfits. She's so well loved becuase she is so kind.  It's a simple story line, easy to follow, with a herione who is poised, graceful, and determined.  And these are all qualities that I would love my daughter to posess.  There's no violence, unless you count the scene where Bruno the dog snaps at Lucifer the cat, who has certainly earned this treatment, causing him to jump out of a tall window.  The bad guys are just bad people.  They're not witches or dragons; they're mean-hearted, not evil in nature.  No one tries to poison anyone and no one gets killed. 

What more could you ask for in a movie aimed towards young girls?  The whole "Princess" theme is huge in our house right now, but Cinderella is the only princess move that is really appropriate for my three year old to watch.  Sleeping Beauty is too scary for her, and the story lines of Mulan and Alladin are too complicated.  Snow White is scary.  But even more alarming to me is the way that Snow White, as a character, is portrayed: she's meek and dependant.  I was shocked when we watched Peter Pan a few weeks ago.  I had forgotten the sexist way that women are portrayed in that movie.  Tinkerbelle is jealous of Wendy, as are the mermaids.  And Wendy is jealous of these women as well.  The female characters in this movie spend the better part of their time fighting for Peter's attention (ironic?).  During a celebration, Wendy isn't allowed to participate becuase, as a woman, she's expected to serve and clean at the party, not enjoy it.  She is important becuase she is a maternal figure; and while she takes the lead as a mother, she's leaves every important decision up to the men in her life, clinging to them for protection.  The Little Mermaid could be construed as a cute story tarnished in the minds of parents becuase of Ariel's lack of apparrel.  But I'm more bothered by the fact that this movie poses as a story for little girls when it's the story about a love-stricken sixteen year old who sells her soul to a witch in order to leave her family and try to make a man she doesn't even know fall in love with her.

I have no idea what I will do if Lou starts acting this way when she's sixteen.

I don't mind the princess fantasy.  It's fun, it's girly, it allows girls to dress up and pretend to be someone else.  But how come the movies we choose for our children don't teach our daughters that being a princess doesn't simply mean that you are a well-dressed, well-cared for woman?  A princess is a woman of the ruling class, an individual in line to govern a country. 

But a Princess story doesn't need to be that serious, she was also at one time a little girl with little girl concerns.  Why are there no princess stories set during childhood?  Do their adventures as little girls warrant no documentation?

I want my daughter to believe in fairy tales.  Fantasy is central to childhood.  It's fun to prented to be a princess; great to imagine being swept off your feet and having all your problems disappear with one fateful kiss.  But I'm still going to remind her that there is no such thing as Happily Ever After, and snagging the Prince does not guarantee happiness.  That part is up to you.

Until then, I'm banking on Cinderella.  Let's hope her kindness, resiliency, and inner beauty make the most lasting impression.