Why I Hate Cinderella

After seeing Roger's and Hammerstein's Cinderella tonight, I got to thinking about what a terrible story Cinderella actually is. Now, don't get me wrong, I love Roger's and Hammerstein's Cinderella. The movie, starring Brandy, is one that I could watch over and over. But I am convinced that the reason I love the movie so dearly is because of the music and the delightful characters, which just barely make up for the ridiculous story.

Disney's Cinderella, however, is far from my one of my favorites. When I shared with a friend of mine recently that this movie was my least favorite Disney movie, she acted appalled. Well, friends, let me explain to you why this story is NOT a favorite of mine.

I think the number one reason why I dislike the movie so much is simply that Cinderella is the Disney Princess with the least personality. Compared to the other Disney princesses, Cinderella is the most bland, and least heroic.

The number one reason why I dislike the story of Cinderella is that she doesn't do anything. Sure, Cinderella's life initially is no fantasy. Being treated like a slave by her step-mother and step-sisters leads to understandable unhappiness. But what does she do about it? Nothing. Does she fight for her freedom? Nah. She sits around and whines about her life and merely wishes for it to change. It isn't until she is rescued by her fairy godmother, and eventually, her prince, that her life begins to change. But what did she do to deserve that? Nothing.

Now, there is nothing wrong with wishing and dreaming. A dream is a wish your heart makes... yadda yadda... but we, unlike Cinderella, don't have fairy godparents to change those dreams into a reality. We must act and create our own destiny. What does Cinderella know about that?

The next problem that I have is the shallow love between Cinderella and Prince Charming. Sure, it's supposed to be a sweet, innocent love story. But I, for one, find nothing whatsoever romantic about this story. For one thing, they profess their love to one another after having known each other ten minutes. They know nothing about one another except that they are good-looking and are attracted to each other. Sure, Cinderella is beautiful, but how does the prince know that she's not a complete air-head? The "love" between Cinderella and her Prince Charming is superficial and vain.

Now I'll ignore the annoying fact that apparently Cinderella is the only girl in the whole kingdom with her shoe-size, because, it is after-all a fairy tale. But what drives me crazy is the fact that she and the prince are supposedly so in love, yet he can't even pick her out of a line up the day after. The only way he can identify her is by her shoe? Really, Prince Charming? Some love...

Now, I know I may be a little harsh. It is, afterall, only a harmless children's story. But why is it so lame? I'm just saying.

I would like to say, however, that Cinderella is not the only beloved Disney movie that has some twisted messages if you look hard enough. Take a look:

To conclude, we all have our favorite fairy tales, but I don't think that I am out of line one iota by saying that Cinderella is not a princess we should admire and emulate. She is, afterall, merely "meh". Sorry, Cinderella. But it's true.

Spring Cleaning

Welcome, April. Glad you could finally make it. This month, my project is going to be Spring Cleaning!!! I am hoping that if I fake enough enthusiasm, I can make it not so terrible... We'll see...

Last semester, when I got home from school, I was so busy getting ready to go to Costa Rica, that I didn't have time to clean up and put away all the stuff I had moved out of my dorm. Well now I'm back, and the combined mess from everything from my dorm and also from my trip is driving me crazy. ME. And I'm a slob. Trust me.
So this month, I have made it my goal... No, my mission... to clean out my room, closet, etc. Also, as this may be the last summer that I live at home long term, I am going to really try to do some good old fashioned clean sweep. Time to get rid of the poster I still have rolled up in my closet from when I was a toddler, the mountain of earrings that I collected when I finally got my ears pierced in Junior high, clothes that I haven't worn in years but just can't bear to part with, and, well, pretty much everything that I don't need or use. Time to let the pack rat go and take control.

But I am not just trying to organize the physical things around me. No, this year, spring cleaning is all about cleaning up and cleaning out every area of my life. Time to prioritize. Focus. Make right the wrongs in my life. Stop procrastinating. And really just take care of all the things in my life that need to be taken care of.

I know these sound like new years' resolutions. And maybe in a way they are. Who says we can only make new years' resolutions in January? These can be my spring resolutions!

I am hoping that by blogging about my goal to really clean, I will have to hold myself accountable for this goal I have placed before myself. We'll see. Cleaning really is my least favorite thing in the world. So, wish me luck!

--Aubree--