"And because these daft and dewey-eyed dopes keep building up impossible hopes impossible things are happening everyday." - The Fairy God Mother
For as long as I can remember the sweet but captivating story of Cinderella, whether it be in the form of the old Greek folklore, the cartoon Disney adaptation or the live stage adaptations, has always captured me more so than any other story. I've always rooted for the underdog in every aspect of life and Cinderella is the true underdog. She is the "plain country bumpkin" with a broken past who finds herself caught up in a whirlwind romance with a prince who doesn't know her true identity.
I don't think that as a young girl I've ever been more on the edge of my seat than I was when the Prince slipped the glass slipper onto Cinderella's dainty foot. And I don't think I've ever fallen more in love with a Broadway song than I did with "Impossible" from the stage version of Cinderella or "Ten Minutes Ago" from Rodger's and Hammerstein's live action made-for-TV movie version.
The story has stuck through me for all of my life, making me remind myself that no matter how low down the underdog is, everyone can get a happy ending- all you need is some faith and a dash of magic and with a quick bippity-boppity-boo anything can happen. In truth, there is no magic and there are no fairy god mothers to tell you to spin around so they can fix you a beautiful dress out of thin air, but that doesn't make the story any less "real." It is a metaphor or sorts, telling little girls everywhere that every girl can find her prince, no matter how worthless she might think she is.
Thousands of years ago when this story was first told, I'm sure no one would have imagined how important the message it held would be in society in the future. However, it is that important. Every girl has a chance to shine and she should never forget that.
Not to mention, aside from all of the "after school special" morals in the story, it's a rather entertaining tale. I have to admit, that more than fifteen years after the first time I saw this movie, I still love popping in the DVD on a snow day and letting it take me back to the days when I was five or six years old, telling my daddy that I could be anyone I wanted to be when I was in my own little corner in my own little chair, or telling my mom not to worry about mice in the basement because with just a touch of magic they could be beautiful horses. It is the one story that I have carried with me through my whole life, without any of the details fuzzing themselves around the edges even the slightest bit.
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