My opinion on this question is that Cinderella, like so many other classic stories that end in true love and perfect happiness, is inspiring to people of all ages, for it is an archetype that encourages one to follow their dreams and take risks. Young children (especially girls) make a role model of Cinderella because she is a strong, beautiful, young woman who finds her prince charming and lives "happily ever after"; the dream of almost all little girls. Tweens and teens also are inspired by Cinderella's sense of knowing who she is and what she wants in life, and her strength in pursuing those dreams even with the risk of her life crashing down on her once again. Adults, young and old, see Cinderella as someone they once were: lost without direction and confused about life in general. This older audience appreciates her struggle and finally her success, because even if they have or haven't found their "prince charming" (symbolizes not just true love, but also success and goals achieved), they know that they will and when they do, it will be every bit as perfect as it is in the story. Cinderella, in this way, truly makes life a little more hopeful and a little more romantic, because even though it is slightly unrealistic (the magic and singing mice and such) the story really portrays a happiness that everyone dreams of. This is why, I believe, Cinderella is such a big pop culture phenomenon: people want to believe the happiness and true love in the story, and everyone loves a happy ending - and big media companies love it when people love things because those things sell well!
Which archetypes in this story resound with us? Is the "damsel in distress" an archetype that women today identify with?
ReplyDeleteI think that women who read/watch these kind of archetypes like to think that they relate to archetypes like "damsel in distress" or "feminine hero" or even "temptress", but in reality, they are fairly average. I believe that movies and novels really over-dramatize the lives of so-called average people to the point that people desire to be those people and lives those lives so badly that it almost feels as if they are. I think that this is why Cinderella and so many other "feel-good" stories are so popular because they help people to feel almost as if their ideal life is real. Then again, maybe it can be.
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