Dear future husband, if you want me to say yes to your marriage proposal don’t buy me a big diamond ring because jewelry is not my thing.  The way to my heart is a glass slipper and if you spontaneously bust into a dance, even better.  Recently, I saw Disney’s live action version Cinderella which explained a lot of things like, why the step sisters and stepmother didn’t recognize her at the ball?  Why Cinderella stayed with that horrible family after her father died?  As well as what happened to her mother and why her father married the horrible stepmother.

Let’s be real, the best Cinderella is the 1965 made for television musical version with Lesley Ann Warren, Stuart Damon, and Ginger Rogers.  Granted the set design is a little cheesy, but Rodgers and Hammerstein music is perfect and Lesley Ann Warren was an excellent lead.  Her first song, “In My Own Little Corner” helps her deal with her awful home life by bringing her to imaginative places and a better life.  I mean who doesn’t dance around with kitchen ware and duck around furniture while vocally singing?

I’ve been thinking a lot about fairy tales in general lately and how they relate to real life.  Cinderella is really about oppression, treating others how you want to be treated, and that karma always comes around.  The song “Impossible” that Cinderella and the Fairy Godmother sings touches on how anything is possible.  The lyrics say, “But the world is full of zanies and fools, Who don’t believe in sensible rules, And won’t believe what sensible people say…Impossible things are happening every day.”  This song gives Cinderella the confidence she needs to go to the ball.

The one thing I don’t’ understand that is in every Cinderella story is how can you fall in love with someone in ten minutes?  Granted, I am not a believer of love at first sight, and I don’t think the prince and Cinderella talked about their values, morals, children, or careers either.  Every fairy tale has its positives as well as its flaws and we can’t take everything in these stories literally.  Being a girl and being swept off your feet by the love of your life is something that we all dream about, plus I love getting lost in fairy tale movies.  An escape from reality is never a bad thing, and what a movie to get lost in like Cinderella.  For those of you who haven’t seen the 1965 version, come out from under your rock and get educated because it’s the best version out there, and we can all use a little 10 minutes ago…