Cinderella was too weak to fight for herself...AND THAT’S OKAY!
I cannot believe we’re still tearing Cinderella down! 2018 only has a few months left and we’re still doing this, we’re still painting her as the weakest Disney princess and we’re still painting her weakness as a bad thing?
Why?
Why are people so caught up on bashing this princess?
“The movie is so simplistic—”
In what way is it possibly simplistic?!
“She didn’t work hard—”
YES, SHE DID!
“Well, okay, but the fairy godmother still had to come in—”
Yep, I remember the movie too, and the countless stories on which it’s based.
“So the fairy godmother was the one who caused the happily ever after.”
She sure was, now, what’s your point?
No, really, what’s your point? Is the point that Cinderella is somehow weak because she wasn’t 100% in control of her own life? Seems like a pretty disgusting opinion to have when the whole movie is about an abuse victim finding a way out of her horrible situation. So Cinderella wasn’t the one who got herself out. So what? Instead of looking the movie at its bare surface, maybe try analyzing it with a bit more thought and tact. You might see something a little different. A magical transformation, if you will.
Because Cinderella did work hard.
And guess what we learned from that?
You can work
and work
and work
And there will still be people out there who will try to tear you apart:
Literally.
And that sucks. It’s a horrible lesson to learn but it is something we will all face in our lifetimes. There will always be people who will try to tear us down, there will always be people who will try to rip us apart, until we’re in a low place:
Until it seems like there’s no hope…
Until it seems like you’re too weak to get out on your own…
And maybe you are.
Maybe you are too weak to get out on your own. Maybe you’re not the strongest woman in the world. Maybe you’re not capable of screaming at the top of your lungs or brandishing a weapon or throwing a punch. Maybe you’re not able to get out of something on your own. Maybe you hit a low point and maybe you have no way out of it. Not alone. But that’s just it.
You’re not alone.
Even at your lowest point, someone will come help you.
You don’t have to do it all alone.
It’s okay to have a little help when you have nowhere else to turn.
Cinderella is the story about an abuse victim who is unable to get out of her toxic situation by herself and just when she begins to lose all hope, is able to get help from an unlikely source. It’s the story about a girl who needs help getting to her happily ever after and that’s okay.
Give us advocates:
They deserve their happily ever afters!
Give us warriors:
They deserve their happily ever afters!
Give us fighters:
They deserve their happily ever afters!
Give us girls who are not advocates, girls who are not warriors, girls who are not fighters, girls who still deserves their happily ever afters:
This reminds me of that quote that Mr. Rogers said his mother told him: “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”
YOU might be the magical fairy godmother in someone’s life and not even know it. Something you said to somebody could have saved their life, or given them the courage to ask for help.
people miss the point that the whole reason cindarella was a sympathetic character was that after all that abuse and being crushed she was still determined to be a good kind person who was nice to animals, sang to herself, and didnt lash out or get spiteful early disney princesses may not have been actively controlling their own destiny but they were still trying to convey that remaining a good person paid off, despite the temptations of giving up or becoming cold and hard had she gone to the ball being mean spirited or bitter, or actively looking to wed into money, the story would not have been the same as the one where she only wanted one night of magic to break the monotony of her servitude
Also, she got out of the situation and got her happily ever after because of her own active kindness. The mice helped her because she was kind to them. The dog helped her because she was kind to him. Everything worked out because her kindness gave her allies who helped her. She didn’t just sit on her ass waiting to be rescued, she made connections with everyone she could and got them on her side. She wasn’t just rescued, she created her rescuers.
