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.