Cinderella was Weak
My first movie in America was Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Since then, Belle has been my favourite princess. Even when I stopped liking yellow because my mom told me it yellow was for old people. Now that I’m older, yellow is for Asian people.
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People always talk about how watered down Disney’s stories are of the original European folk tales, which often contain a lot of violence (Just for reference, there weren’t a specific “set” of originals. They were pretty much word of mouth tellings that varied according to region.) I don’t think watering down horror stories is really a bad thing. Little kids can’t always handle the grotesque as well as adults, nor should those themes play the same role today that it played in the lives of kids who lived 600 years ago. People seem to think the originals were more honest and brutally moral but it was definitely more than that. The originals tales contained strong elements of the fear and danger that were everpresent in the lives of the people who told them. I’m okay with children today hearing more pleasant stories that have a substantial moral of their own.
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Belle was a pretty strong role model for girls. Maybe the strongest that Disney has ever presented. Belle is a modern lady 
- Ariel was a little silly. But who could blame her? She was a stereotyped redhead and she was 16.
- Jasmine was into finding her own place in the world. But let’s face it, Aladdin had to keep saving her from a greedy eyeliner man, who stuck her in a freaking hourglass (where Aladdin saves her again).
- Snow White was gullible. Her singing voice was also annoying (warbling?)
- Sleeping Beauty was more led into her end, rather than doing anything on her own. And she slept through the whole thing!
All these people keep waiting for someone to save them! But the worst has got to be Cinderella. The moral of the story is to be kind to everyone (eg being a doormat is okay). In the end, you will get your dues. I’ve never liked this story. Ever! It always leaves me with the feeling that I was helpless and useless as a girl.
Sure, it’s wonderful to be a good person and believe that no matter how people treat you, you should always do what’s right. But it’s another thing to rely entirely on others to make your dreams come true.
Girls who do well today, in any way, are the people who believe in themselves and proactively do something about their situation. Whether its the career, education, social, or family areas that someone chooses to focus on in their life, it is important to address these parts of your life as your own. What you get is what you give.
Oh yeah…and I think Belle is prettier.
Well, if you think Belle’s prettier, then that’s all that matters :p Completely unrelated—-> Are you a part of the scandalous forum which I’ve heard about? The one where students are talking about the hottest Freshman and best place to have sex, on campus? LOL It’s been on the news!
Personally my favorite Disney Princess is Princess Mia from The Princess Diaries. She is smart and realistic.
[...] Paperdreamer wrote an interesting post today on Cinderella was WeakHere’s a quick excerpt Maybe the strongest that Disney has ever presented…. [...]
Disney » Blog Archive » Cinderella was Weak said this on May 12, 2008 at 7:21 pm |
Belle was and still is my favorite Disney princess. I related to her a lot as a kid, since I was (still am) a bookworm.
Even the story of Beauty and the Beast is my favorite fairy tales because the main point was that love is blind and that the person’s character is what is important.
Steve – I made new posts addressing that
Dee – haha I like the new ones too. Mia Thermopolis is pretty cool. But I wanted to do the classics.
ARainyDay – I think that’s what drew me to it also. It is a true fairytale. And not one where you settle for less.