“And I am done with my graceless heart, so tonight I’m going to cut it out and then restart.” – Florence and the Machine
I love Kenneth Branagh. He is cinematic gold; between his talent, his skills as a director, and his over all silver foxiness he’s it’s hard to deny his cinematic expertise. (What does silver foxiness have to do with cinematic expertise? I don’t know but it adds to the flavor.) I love what he did with Cinderella.
To be honest, for a long time Cinderella was my least favorite Disney heroines. I just never connected with her, despite my love for fairy tales and the Walt Disney company. It probably has a lot to do with my general lack of patience for cruel people and Cinderella, as we all know, was incredibly patient. I am far too much of an internal fire cracker to sit and wait on someone who is cruel to me. To me, Cinderella was weak. I hate weakness and I especially hate weakness in myself. I didn’t want to relate to her, despite feeling the same way she had many times in life.
Before watching the 2015 movie, my main concern was how Branagh would handle the wicked stepmother story line. Once Upon A Time already did a wonderful job fleshing out Snow White’s Evil Queen, giving her emotion and back story. I wondered if the movie makers would take time to give Lady Tremaine a complicated, wounded heart back story.
Well, they didn’t give her a complicated back story but they did give her a back story. It was simple, but it was gutting. She had a selfish heart. Lady Tremaine claims that her first husband was the light of her life but perhaps this was because he loved her as much as she loved herself. Cutting off her emotions from others she enjoyed being cruel to Ella because Ella was everything she wasn’t. Ella was kind and courageous. Lady Tremaine was too in love with herself to have any desire to be kind to someone else. When you only love yourself, how cold and heartless does God and life become? No one lives up to your standard because you are your own standard. No one should love the way you love yourself. Love is a refining fire. How cold and heartless do you become when you only love yourself? You become Lady Tremaine cold. You might be beautiful on the outside, but just a glimpse of your character spoils the whole portrait.
I have thought about that line from Florence and the Machine for a while now. “I am done with my graceless heart.” Sometimes it’s easy for us to see the effect other people have on us. Our hearts are so malleable, they are so easily bent out of shape because of the hammering of another person. This week I found myself repeating that line while thinking of someone else, “You are my graceless heart. You make my heart want to be cold and graceless. I want to cut you out and restart.” I wonder if Ella ever thought the same thing. Cut it all out, cut off her step mother and step sisters and start afresh in town, where she had friends who loved her and life was bright again.
Have courage and be kind. Oh, those words are so convicting. How much courage does it take to be kind to someone who is repeatedly cruel to you? It takes the most courage you can manage in that moment, I reckon. It would be easy to see Ella as weak but in reality she is strongest character because she manages to protect the spirit of kindness and courage inside of her, despite the constant hammering of the Tremaines. She remains true to herself and her loving parents, because she knows what real love is and she is not afraid to stand up for it. The clearest example of this is her desire to protect the prince, even if it means losing him forever.
Sometimes we cannot cut out the gracelessness of the world from our lives. We can however, remember the spirit we are called to live by and live that way, even when it is hard. We may not have a handsome prince carry us off but we have the knowledge of the truth we are living in, and ultimately, the Lady Tremaines will not win. While they sink further into misery, we rise further into strength able to say, “I forgive you,” to even the worst of foes.
So, Sir Kenneth Branagh (He’s a knight! Seriously.This man is gold.) I thank you for your wonderful telling of Cinderella. I thank you for the beauty and the truth you spoke to us all. Whenever I watch that movie I remember what it means to be kind and courageous. I remember what it is like to want to be kind and courageous. That, in itself, is a wonderful gift.
Many waters 