Saturday afternoon in a southern town in a movie theatre with every mommy date with little girls dressed up in sweet dresses and little giggles and movie trays, and here I am... 20 years old... crying my eyes out watching a movie about a girl who falls in love with a beast. I recognize this as completely irrational but find myself uncontrollably tearing up at the beauty of this story. Why is that I keep asking myself? Why is it that I have spoken about and seen over and over that this movie has sparked such deep emotions in young women? I think it has a lot to do with our relational realities and the ones our hearts dream for.

Regardless of how you feel about the movie, a lot of us I think relate most to this fairytale. This simple girl is eager to succeed, eager to learn, and eager to get out in the world. She is strong in her beliefs and longs to get out of a town that is confining her. I for sure think Belle is one of those girls that I'd be friends with. She is misunderstood. If that doesn't sound like most us, I don't know what does. Then, of course, there is the guy. Gaston is the guy that'll not talk to you for 3 years then want to talk when he wants to talk. Or that guy that hounds you to push your boundaries and won't take no for an answer. Gaston is the guy who is drop dead gorgeous, has a good job, and looks like a semi-descent decision. He is the one we settle with. I've seen this happen so often in my life and in my friends' life. We want a relationship. We want the picture perfect. We want the strong man and the one all our girls freak out even spoke to us. But why? Why would we base our future on those mundane things? Because of culture. Because we are told to be good wives and if you get a hot one, good for you. We have in our heads that if he gives us attention, we should just go for it because he may be all we get. But like, what is that? It is settling. Belle knows her worth. Belle knows her dreams. We should be like Belle.

Then we get to the part where Belle has to work to make something work. Woah, work on a relationship? I fall short on this. And so does the majority of our generation and generations ahead of us. If it isn't easy, we jump out. If the circumstances don't line up just perfect, it is easier to abort the mission and move on.. usually to find the next isn't lining up just how you wanted either.. the cycle just keeps on going. I think I love this story so much because it is relevant. As kids, we grow up with the idea of a love that is certain as the sun, just like the sun says. Then life happens. Families divorce, people leave, things fall through, our hearts get broken, and we give up. Our hearts are hardened and we decide love isn't what it is cracked up to be, so we settle. But what if love is real? What if we tried to love? What if we put in work to know, truly know, somebody else? I think we'd remember the tale as old as time. We'd remember that love is messy. That love is getting deep with someone. Love is knowing its true. Love is appreciating the beauty of getting to love. Love is unexpected. Love is adventurous. Love is still alive. Fight for it.