Blog #4

Cinderella is one of the most popular fairy tales in the wold. Little girls everywhere dream of being Cinderella and finding their own prince charming. Disney World even offers the opportunity for couples to have a Cinderella themed wedding. Cinderella is also something known as a "rise tale." A rise tale is a story that features a narrative arc of "rags to riches through magic and marriage." In these stories unfortunate and impoverished heroes/heroines become rich and successful through hard work, kindness, and faith. These types of fairy tales usually also include the her/heroine being aided by magic and ultimately become rich or royal through marriage.

These types of stories are extremely popular because they provide every day people with the hope that one day they too could be rich and successful. As a hard working country boy who rose through the ranks of the elite movie industry, Walt Disney is a huge fan and pioneer of these types of stories. He made sure to accentuate this theme within all of his fairy tale movies in order to boast his life story and inspire a struggling America. These tales continue to be extremely popular today because they have the power to convince child and adult alike that absolutely anything is possible.

It is well established that these stories are popular, but are they realistic? Can someone really reach success or riches with magic or marriage? Are these dreams really attainable? For a character within a fairy tale they are completely attainable. The formulaic styles of fairy tales means that the traits of a character can be used to predict their fate. Characters that are faithful and hard working will get help from magic creatures, objects, or people and eventually rise to the top and have their wishes fulfilled. Characters who are selfish, lazy, or cheating will experience a downfall and be punished. These rules are always in place in order to teach the reader that good and pious actions will have good results while selfish actions will lead to punishment.

Real life, however, is never this simple. Fairy tales can be easily predicted, but real life is impossible to predict. It is true that hard work usually results in a more successful outcome, but relying on the help of a fairy godmother a marriage with a wealthy prince is foolish. We all want to believe that dedication and persistence will propel us through life, but it is impossible to deny that those who already have wealth and power are given excessive advantages. It is very rare that a very poor person becomes very rich. In the real world it is most common for the rich to stay rich and the poor to stay poor. Fairy tales exist in a universe of perfect organization that does not exist in the real world. Good people do not get lucky chances or opportunities just because they are good and bad people do not get punished just because they are bad. Success is hard to find in the real world. It relies on chance and circumstance and cannot be influenced by magic.

Sources: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwj7396wpuPkAhUPh-AKHRTNB0UQjRx6BAgBEAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fdisneysmulticulturalism.wordpress.com%2F2016%2F03%2F12%2Frags-to-riches-the-classic-cinderella-story%2F&psig=AOvVaw0sw3gwaShZgwMOBjDVd33t&ust=1569202839360411

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