MovieQuote Meditation #2: Have Courage and Be Kind

Growing up a Disney girl, I liked the original animated Cinderella but I was never super crazy about it. The remake that came out last year, however, is currently one of my favorite movies. I love that the characters are deep and three-dimensional. I love the music score by Patrick Doyle (because nobody can compose a waltz like he can).  I’m not a huge fan of the dress but the transforming scene is above and beyond equivalent scenes from other versions of the story. I love the all-star cast and being a huge MCU nerd I loved seeing Hayley Atwell and Stallan Skarsgard. I love, love, LOVE the fairy godmother because she’s a boss.

Via cinematiccrashcourse

But one of the things I love the most about Cinderella is the message:  “Have courage and be kind.” In the year that has passed since Cinderella came out, I have had a lot of time to reflect on the meaning of those words. In fact, they got me through some difficult times.

To have courage means to keep going in spite of opposition. Life isn’t perfect.  It is too easy, the moment we are confronted with something difficult, to just turn around and walk away, give up, and stop trying.  But when we have courage, we continue doing what we know is right. We keep on trying in spite of the odds.

Via playbuzz

One of my favorite parts of Cinderella is probably one of its darkest moments.  After her stepmother and stepsisters leave for the ball, Ella runs out to the well in front of the house and cries.  She is at the end of her rope.  We do occasionally give up and burn out, and that’s OK. When those moments come--not if, when--ask for help.  Don’t worry about the things you can’t control.  Just get back up.

Kindness is treating other people the way you want to be treated.  It is showing courtesy and respect to everyone in spite of the ways in which you are different from them.  You don’t put others down because you don’t know them, or because you don’t like them. And you have a cheerful, positive attitude about life, and not give in to the despair even when that seems like the most reasonable thing to do. When you are kind, you share your positivity with others. You see things, in the words of the narrator, “not as they are, but as they could be”--you see the world for everything that can be changed for the better, you see people for their potential. It is looking beyond appearances, because, as any lover of stories knows, appearances are often deceiving. It is withholding judgment.

Via thehunchblog

Ella first meets Kit when he is out hunting in the woods.  She’s having an awful day, she’s hitting her breaking point with how her stepmother and stepsiblings treat her.  She could have treated Kit with resentment or complained to him about her problems. She could have back-talked him because he looked like a rich snob in the same category as her stepfamily.  But she only rebuked him for hunting an innocent stag.  She recognized that he was showing gentlemanly concern for her and she showed him respect in return. Ella saw him for his goodness and didn’t balk at his manners and his dress. She saw that he only wanted someone to treat him as “Kit” and not a prince.  Being kind to Kit was what helped Ella to win his affections--not just her good looks, but her sensitivity. It is being kind and showing respect to others that opens doors and creates opportunities.

Via ABC news

‘Courage’ and ‘kindness’ aren’t words that are used very often together. But having courage isn’t just about facing things that are scary to everyone: it is facing things that scare you. Being kind is not allowing the threat to have power over us, it is not downplaying the threat, it is being considerate of others in how we respond to a challenge, not just worrying about what’s in it for yourself. 

Ella never stood up to her stepmother until the very end, because Lady Tremaine trying to keep Ella apart from Kit was neither right nor fair.  Before that point, Ella had nothing to gain from fighting back. And after that, Ella forgave her stepmother because she had no reason to hold onto a grudge--isn’t holding onto grudges and grief what poisoned Lady Tremaine’s heart in the first place?

Via whatsonnetflix

Lady Tremaine thought, perhaps because of her own upbringing and because of her own personal losses, that the only way to get what you want in life is to take what you want by force.  But Ella understood that if you have courage and be kind, then you will have what you need, and then the rest can take care of itself.  It is not the material things like ball gowns and titles and wealth that mean anything in the long run.  It is things that aren’t measured or counted that make the most difference.

Next week: Til the end of the line