As a child I was exposed to animated movies that almost
always ended in a happy ending. As great and positive as these movies are, they
do not go further than that when it comes to actually teaching about how life
really is. They mainly emphasize how good things will always happen, and all of
our problems will be resolved instantly. That is why I wanted to take a story
that was made into a positive, unrealistic representation of what one desires
for reality, and twist it to match how life really works.
I feel that society is becoming too passive and unoriginal
with storytelling. Most movies have the ideal resolution, everything just seems
to fit into place, similar to the reading, “How Texts Become Real” when the
author is describing people’s desire to just have the TV on. People just want
to watch TV just like they want the perfect ending, it’s not edifying in any
way, just a way to pass the time.
Cinderella is the epitome of happy endings being the result
of “magic.” It is not just the fact that everything turns out well in the end,
it’s the point that everything will turn out perfect that bothers me the most.
The original story was published in Grimm’s Fairytales before Disney ever came to
be. Their stories, even Cinderella, have darker themes to them with gruesome
events. Specifically for Cinderella the step sisters mutilate their own feet in
an attempt to fit the slipper to win the prince. Though even the Grimm tale of
Cinderella has a happy ending where the girl gets the perfect man. I do
understand that the underlying theme of the story is that patience and hard
work will pay off in the end, however, the implications of this are
dramatically exaggerated with the ideal yet unrealistic outcome.
In my edit, I twisted the ending so that she does not get
what she desires. I believe this ending is tragic, but there is still an
important lesson to learn. That is that we need to know how to cope with
problems, even when we come so close to ridding ourselves of them. This new
edit may not be as enjoyable to watch, but there is much to be said about how
it turns out and how that can relate to the audience.
Now you may be wondering what Cinderella has to do with me.
I connect with Cinderella because I have been and am working hard to obtain the
ideal happy ending. I have noticed that this just isn’t probable. More than
likely I will find a girl to love, a job to earn money, and a life that is
meaningful. But this future most likely will not involve an elaborate castle
with the most beautiful princess. The realization of this has upset me in the
past, and others should be aware that these stories are not realistic for us.
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