One of my favorite feel-good movies is the 2015 live action of "Cinderella," and for some reason I always felt guilty for loving the movie so much; I felt as if my love for the movie was a representation of my weak character. I thought, "My love for 'Cinderella' only illustrates my lack of understanding on problematic content. A social activist would not love this movie!" However, I do not think passion for social change and appreciation of a Disney movie have to be mutually exclusive. Yes, I am aware that Disney has it's issues with racism, sexism, classism, etc. However, sometimes searching for the problems in everything can hinder your appreciation and ability to see potential beauty.
This movie actually offers great life lessons!
One of the first and most important messages the movie promotes is, "Have courage and be kind, and it will see you through all the trials life has to offer." Though it's a very simple phrase, kindness forces us to detach ourselves from our own self ego. With our focus on helping others, we not only positively contribute to our environments, but we also foster our emotional satisfaction. Through kindness, we lose ourselves in a quest to empathize with others.
In the beginning of the movie, you can see that Cinderella has an incredible imagination and natural curiosity. Her youthful curiosity later contributes to her empathetic abilities. In this day in age, especially with the bombardment of technology, I think promotion of an exploratory personality and interaction with nature is needed.
Cinderella is very grateful. She finds incredible joy in the simplest things. A pretty paper butterfly makes her ecstatic. She finds the beauty not only in the individual gift, but also in the act of her father giving it to her. Her immense gratitude helps her to keep an optimistic outlook.
Cinderella remains kind to her stepmother and stepsisters, not out of weakness, but out of strength. She is able to keep her heart tender by refusing to mentally dehumanize her stepmother and stepsisters. Her empathy towards their mistreatment allows her to maintain a more positive and forgiving outlook. This is most beneficial, not for them, but for herself. She refuses to harden her heart towards the world.
Lastly, she demonstrates immense courage when she unknowingly meets the Prince. The first thing she says to him is, "You've scared the life out of him" referring to the Stag. She unconditionally stands up for her beliefs, in this case, promotion of animal rights and speciesism. She prioritizes her personal beliefs over winning a boy.
In a time period where dissatisfaction and open complaints seems to be popular methods in progressing some our society's oppressive norms, I do think this movie offers an outlet to recognize the simple joys and positive things that life has to offer, if only you choose to look at it with a more "Cinderella"-like perspective.
