Can you even call it a series when it's been a million years since the last post? Yeah, I guess. Because I decided so.
But honestly, it is definitely time for another Disney Princess post. Firstly because summer is killing me and I oftentimes find myself lacking a lot of purpose. Nothing like writing to fix that. Not to mention Disney has all of the happiness and magic I'm pretty sure I need right now. *insert agonized emoji*
But before we get into that, shoutout to all of y'all because you're so dang nice and supportive of my writing that I am trying so hard for. You are perfection.
Well anyway, this Disney Princess post is about the girl that is responsible for saving Walt's company, so shoutout to her for keeping magic alive. (But for those that refer to her as the leader of the Disney Princesses, I'm not totally okay with that because Snow White's my original girl, and... she was Disney Animation's original girl too. That's all.) She's an insanely famous fairy tale, and I don't know, something about her is just absolutely beautiful. My sister's and my mom's favorite. Here's for my girl Cinderella!!!
*readers applaud madly*
I honestly think that Cinderella is so appealing to everyone that loves her for the same reasons that she is off-putting to those that don't: she is so sweet and beautiful while still being relatable and realistic. Which might sound kind of crazy. But hear me out.
This girl starts out with a picture-perfect life. She's got a family and they live in this beautiful house with a bunch of animals and they're rich and everything is perfect. She's not anything apparently special, but she has all of those things that make her happy and she doesn't really have anything to complain about.
Here's where things get real. Her life is perfect, and she thinks so too. And then her mom dies. Oh, sad.
Her father remarries because he believes that a girl deserves a full family. That's so great! (And super true. Everyone deserves a complete family.) She not only gets a mom, but she gets two sisters and cat that is literally named after the devil. But everything is still great! Of course everyone will miss their real mom. But Cinderella is not one to complain. Just one reason she is so loved.
And then her father dies. See, guys? Bad things happen to people that you would never expect them to happen to. Picture-perfect lives are not perfect. That's all. That's just really important to me, because you can't always judge what's going on with a person based on what you see.
Okay, whatever, death. That happens to everyone. Of course people die in a perfect person's perfect life, because it's just part of everyone's life.
But beyond that. Then her stepmother and her stepsisters show their true selves and start being unkind. They order her around and are super rude and they make her do everything without thanks. They make her feel worthless. It's not okay.
Would anyone from the outside even know? Of course they would pity Cinderella for the death of both of her parents. But after that, wouldn't they just assume that life with her stepmom and stepsisters would just go on the same? No, Cinderella was really being mistreated. Don't ask me why I'm bringing this up, I guess it's just important to me to not judge a person's strength when you're not even certain that you can judge their situation.
But besides all of that, passing judgement on her situation or whatever. How does Cinderella even react to that? Wouldn't the average person fight back, be angry and bitter? Or at least be miserable and sad for themselves. Why would you not be sad for yourself? The people that loved her died, and the people she thought loved her didn't actually care about her at all. That's dreadful.
Cinderella did the right thing in my eyes. She was honest with herself about her situation, but in a positive way. She knew that the people she lived with were mean. She knew they were doing her wrong. She admitted it. (If you don't believe me, remember the time when the clock tower rang in the morning and she said, "Even he orders me around.") But she also said shortly after that they wouldn't be able to stop her from dreaming. Cinderella was going to be herself no matter how worthless everyone made her feel. She was going to be happy with her life, because being sad about bad things is no fun. So instead she chose to be happy about all her sweet animal friends that she takes care of. (Honestly, of all the Disney animal pals, the mice in Cinderella are probably my favorite.) And about all the things she hoped for the future. (Hope is okay, guys. It really is. It gets people through a lot, and hanging on to joy that isn't yet present but someday can be is totally fine, because joy is still joy whether or not the cause of it is yet existent.)
That's the way she reacted personally. But what about the way she reacted to her family? She did not get angry or bitter like most people would want to. She decided to be kind. Killing with kindness really is effective. It can change the way people treat you; making a choice to be the better person can also turn someone else into a better person by example, which is why it's always important to be the best version of yourself that you can, even if someone else is making you want to be unkind, angry, or sad. In Cinderella's case, it didn't change them. They were still rude and condescending. But in that case, being angry about it would only make Cinderella unhappy in the end. It would only change her, and not for the better. So she did the thing that kept her happy.
Not to mention, anyone who takes in a bunch of mice and makes the clothes and talks to them and is super nice to them is perfect. Not to mention all the birds and all them. That's all.
Cool. So while all of that is happening, Cinderella's sisters get invited to the royal ball so the prince can find a wife. Here's where I think things start to get misinterpreted with Cinderella. She wasn't desperate to have a guy save her or whatever. She was literally stuck in the house doing chores with only her beautiful animal friends to keep her company. Naturally she would get lonely and want to get out! The girl wanted to go to a party. And at the prince's castle? Gosh dang it, this was going to be the party of the century. Cinderella was going to be there.
Her family, as they naturally would, made fun of her for thinking that anyone like her could go to the ball. But Cinderella pointed out that every eligible maiden in the kingdom was invited, and she was pretty sure that included her. So her stepmom said she could go if she got a bunch of chores done. Like, a lot of chores done. And if she could find something nice enough to wear.
Cinderella is so hyped at this point. Cinderella goes up to her room right away because her mother has an old dress that will be perfect for the ball. (Guys. She just wants to have a good night out and wear her mother's dress and be beautiful and have fun. What about that isn't so dang sweet?) Cinderella wants to make a few adjustments that will make it a little more in style, but she isn't sure how she'll have the time to do that with her family already getting on her with all the chores they have for her to do before the big evening comes. Cinderella being the beautiful girl she is, she gets right to work. She isn't one to give up easily any day, and especially not on a day as important to her as this one.
People hate on Cinderella for doing nothing and waiting for a man to rescue her from her troubles? Oh heck no! Cinderella took action! Cinderella wanted something, so she worked hard to make sure she got it! She wasn't going to wait for someone to make things better for her! She knew the only way she was going to get her dream night was if she went and got it herself.
However, even if she didn't ask for it, she did have some help. Cinderella is kind to everyone, so naturally she has a lot of friends, her friends being the mice and birds. They know that Cinderella's family will never give her a break; they are not looking for opportunities for her to go to the ball. So since their friend is so sweet and beautiful and kind, they want to be that great for her too, and help her get her dress ready for the big party. They fix it up and add some things that her sisters threw out. So when Cinderella comes back from her chores, feeling disappointed that her dress won't be ready in time, she is happily surprised by her amazing friends that fixed the dress and made it absolutely beautiful. Someone as kind as Cinderella is nothing but grateful for everything her friends have done for her.
It's time to go to the ball, so Cinderella gets herself all pretty super quick and gets downstairs. She's done all the chores and found a beautiful dress. Obviously, her family was immensely unhappy that Cinderella had done all the things required to go to the ball. They didn't want anyone like her getting in their way. Not to mention she looked stunning. They were jealous, and they especially didn't want the prince noticing her. So when they noticed the things they had thrown out as a part of her outfit, they tore apart her dress. Her stepmother didn't intervene until Cinderella's dress, previously owned by her mother, was completely ruined. "Oh no, what a tragedy, I guess you can't go to the ball anymore." And they leave without her.
Even perfect people need to have moments of sorrow. That is absolutely okay. Cinderella never drowned herself in sorrow, so having one little moment of sadness was completely appropriate. She went outside and cried pretty hard. She had done everything they asked and gotten ready in time and still she wasn't enough for them. They couldn't even give her one night in the prince's castle.
But whether you believe it or not, there's always someone looking out for you, even if it's not apparent. Cinderella's fairy godmother came to her and helped her out. She gave her a carriage, coachman, footman, horses, and a beautiful new dress complete with glass slippers. Cinderella was ready to go to the ball! She again thanked her friend for all the help she had been given.
The only condition was that everything would go back to normal at midnight. But hey, no problem, right?
Cinderella goes out to the party all by herself. Takes some courage for a girl who hasn't been out of the house for a few years. But she gets there and everything is beautiful, she's ready to have a great time. She wasn't expecting to meet the prince. But she caught the prince's eye. When a person is kind and sweet and beautiful, it shows. So he went and sought her out.
Here is where things get most controversial with Cinderella. People hate on her for falling in love in one night.
Am I going to deny that? No way.
But how can you even know if you fell in love with someone in one night? How reckless and stupid! She's never even met anyone else; she can't know if she's actually in love.
Well, why not? Why can't she know if she's in love? Doesn't true love feel the same no matter when it happens?
Here's how I think it's possible for Cinderella and our dear friend Prince Charming to fall in love in one night. The prince sees her and he can tell that she's different from everybody else, in a very good way. He approaches her and talks with her. All night. He didn't really pay attention to anyone else.
Think about it, guys. The party lasted for hours and hours. You can't show that in real time in a film. So they shortened it to a few minutes. We don't actually see all the time that Charming and Cinderella spent getting to know each other and talking. But it did happen, all night, in fact. And I think that's very possible.
Guys, what's even wrong with that? In the end, what's actually wrong with that?
So they spent the night talking and dancing. It was clear to everyone that they were very fond of each other.
So they're talking, and suddenly it's midnight. And Cinderella's got to go, right away. The prince is devastated; he wants her to stay, he wants to know her name, he wants to be able to see her again. But Cinderella has no time for any of those things to be an option. So she runs away. They try to stop her; Prince Charming has finally found a girl he likes, and they can't just lose her without even knowing who she is. Cinderella doesn't have time for any of it. Not even to grab her slipper that falls off as she's running down the staircase. She runs, and no one can catch her. She starts home and eventually everything turns into what it was before the fairy godmother transformed it. But Cinderella still has a glass slipper to remember her perfect night by. And everyone at the palace also has a glass slipper to find the girl it belongs to.
The Grand Duke gets around to everyone in the kingdom and asks all of the girls to try on the shoe. It fits no one.
While this is happening, word gets out to everyone else. Including Cinderella's stepsisters. They're talking about it around the house, and they say that whoever fits the slipper will marry the prince. Cinderella is so excited! That's her! She's the one that the prince fell in love with, and she will now be reunited with her true love and marry him. If that's not enough, that makes her a princess. Oh my gosh, so cool. And doesn't someone as nice as her that has gone through so many hard times deserve a happy ending?
Sadly, Cinderella's stepmother figures her out. She catches her humming the tune that was played at the ball, and suddenly recognizes the girl that the prince spent the entire night dancing with. That means that Cinderella will marry the prince. And why does Cinderella deserve it? She wants one of her daughters to be a princess. That would be even better than having a rich husband. So she locks Cinderella in her room so there's no way she can try on the slipper and be determined as the prince's love.
Cinderella is devastated. But has devastation ever stopped our girl Cinderella? No!
Here's the thing. Nobody just goes and approaches a prince, even if they are said prince's true love. You just don't do that. Not to mention her family would've never let her out of the house, no matter how hard she tried. The prince wasn't saving a Cinderella who decided she was helpless. It was a team effort between both of them.
Cinderella did what she could, asking her mouse friends to get the key and unlock her door so she could meet the Grand Duke downstairs and try on the slipper. It was a close one. But right before he left, in absolute defeat, Cinderella ran down the stairs, tried on the slipper, and was brought to the prince to be married to her true love. After all her sorrows and all her hard work, she got what she really wanted.
And that's probably the best part about the story. Bad things happen to great people. But great people can get out of those bad times if they work hard, don't give up, and stay positive. In fact, they can get everything that they ever wanted and more.
Doesn't that mean there's hope for all of us, my dear friends?
I hope you all enjoyed this. I hope someday to be able to write a story as beautiful as that one.
Love ya, mean it!
--Lizzo
