Fairy Tales

Last night I went with a friend and her younger brothers to see The Princess and the Frog. Some things you simply never outgrow. And although it had its usual talking animals, witty dialogue and imaginary license; it also made me think.

I grew up listening to and reading fairy tales. The first movie I remember seeing was Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Now fairy tales are so called for very good reason. Obviously, they are not real. No one has a fairy godmother that makes a coach from a pumpkin. Young ladies do not go around literally spitting out jewels or disgusting insects. People don’t change into animals or vice versa. And not every “Prince Charming” in the world has twinkling eyes, great teeth and looks like he works out in a gym every day.

But fairy tales do have morals. Have you noticed that? I’m not talking about life lessons like Aesop’s fables. I’m talking about what use to be the standard: marriage, sacrifice, hard work, selflessness and bad people who get their just punishment. In a fairy tale, lessons are learned. If someone is selfish, they learn to be selfless. And if someone does evil, they get punished. We all know most “princesses” start out doing manual labor, but have you noticed that the princes don’t sit around on a throne all day? And all fairy tales end with marriage – not living together until who knows what.

One of things I noticed about The Princess and the Frog is the rings. If you watch it, notice them. Tiana’s parents wear wedding rings. After Tiana and Naveen are married, note the rings on their fingers. And there isn’t any question about marriage. Naveen falls in love with Tiana, and there’s a very sweet part with his attempted proposal and the ring he makes – even though he’s a frog. Lottie is going to marry her prince, whoever he is. And Naveen will marry Lottie if that’s what it will take to get Tiana what she wants. Aladdin marries Jasmine. Belle marries the Beast. Cinderella marries Prince Charming.

And what about the other lessons fairy tales bring that don’t seem to be taught in this world anymore? Naveen, at first a selfish prince/frog who only wants to have fun, becomes willing to sacrifice his own happiness for Tiana’s. Lottie is willing to kiss her frog prince and yet allow Tiana to marry him because they’re friends. In Beauty and the Beast, the Beast must learn to be kind and control his temper. Cinderella suffers quietly under her stepfamily. Aurora obeys the fairy godmothers, and when Ariel disobeys she brings tragedy to more than just herself. In fact, evil is always punished. Jafar is put into a genie lamp, the Shadow Man is destroyed by the powers he thought he could control and Ursula, Malificient, and Gaston all perish.

There will always be people who declare that fairy tales are a waste of time and give children ideas that are silly and unreal. Children are more than capable of understanding the line between reality and imagination. They are also able to comprehend the lessons of friendship, sacrifice, selflessness and true love that ends in marriage which fairy tales teach. So don’t brush off yet another Disney princess story, talking animals, or a bedtime story from Grimm’s. Who knows what valuable lesson you – and your kids – might receive.