When I write the title with Cinderella, I mean the live one.
Not the animated version.
We could easily get caught up in the Ariel discussion.
Yes, I think this whole discussion about Ariel is stupid. I adore that Disney embraces and promotes diversity as we all should.
I am going back to Cinderella.
A student I taught last year commented that the prince and Cinderella were very naive. I agree. How do you not know the girl’s face with whom you danced?
But, I thought about a simple phrase from the movie:
“Have courage. Be kind.”
It seems extremely naive like a college student who believes she will find the love of her life when a fraternity guy invites her to “mountain weekend.”
I personally believed fairytales were created to keep young girls in a dream state lesser place until I walked through a version of hell.
The phrase, “Have courage. Be kind” seem like words writers would avoid.
When you go to a place in your life during which you witness violence and hitting is played off as playful, you change.
The question is: How do you change? I’d been in a dark place for a long time until I was given time to heal. I shut down, and my health suffered.
I am naturally a happy person, and I love to laugh with others. I have done three forms of therapy to help me:
1. Write
2. Yoga
3. Renovate a house.
My poetry has helped, and I also believe in its quality. In one poem, I write about a girl who has experienced a hard life. She’d asked me to rewind a scene in the live Cinderella where the character walks down the stairs.
I saw a child, who could be hard and disrespectful to some, respond to a dream.
“See fourteen transform into a dream.”
This taught me: Girls still need Cinderella.
She is the original. She has lost everything only to gain everything.
“When do we get to the ‘Be Kind’ part?”
When you walk through whatever version of hell, you can react with anger, depression, or heal.
I have depression, and I am strong. I walked through hell, and I did not stay angry.
I chose to become kinder.
I will cook for or with you. I find kindness in the little things, such as saying thank you to the janitors in our school. One day, I held out my bucket of candy to the janitor, and he took two handfuls. He deserved it.
He cleans after kids who break pencils, punch a locker, and think “thank you” is a dinosaur.
Guys, I will stick up for myself in a heartbeat. I still flinch and prepare to respond immediately when I hear certain sounds or see things because of my former environment. But, I want to be kind.
Awe. (Not, so corny!)
Cinderella gives us many lessons as people and writers:
- Don’t be obvious.
- People do recognize faces.
- Talk to the guy beyond one night because the prince might be a control freak.
- What was wrong with the Drew Barrymore version?
Be kind does take courage because some people think they can walk all over you.
Have courage. Be kind.
By Rebecca T. Dickinson
Corrie's Season 