My mom used to put me to sleep reading fairy tales. I always enjoyed those stories, especially the one about Cinderella and Snow White. As soon as I was old enough to pick out my own clothes, toys, and accessories, I always made it a point to have my mom buy me things that had a picture of Cinderella or Snow White on them. I became obsessed with and wanted to be like these princesses to the point where I grew up knowing that at one point or another I would meet my own prince and find my true love.
I’m all grown up now and I’ve matured. Despite that, my love for fairy tales never wavered. Now I have children of my own and I feel that now is their time to love the fairy tales that I once loved as a child. I bought a handful of these classic stories on CD and asked my son to watch them when school is out (my son is not allowed to watch TV on school days). He loved them and I like the way my son responded to these stories. I see myself in my childish back during the days when he was still a gullible child.
One night, my husband and I decided to do a fairy tale marathon with our daughter. We started watching fairy tales after dinner and continued until we finished three: Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, and Mulan. We go to bed happy and dreamy. We feel like little children.
As I lay in bed that night, I began to reflect on the fairy tales we had just seen. That night, it was a cross between being a child and being an adult. I started to think about the plots of the story and how the characters went from being the underdogs to being the most beautiful princess in the kingdom (like in the case of Snow White), or getting closer to the man of your dreams (like that of Ariel) . Finally, I came to a conclusion. These three princesses or ladies that I liked so much as a child were basically identity theft criminals!
I wanted to laugh at myself that night, but just so you understand, this is how I came to the conclusion.
Cinderella: She was a house helper who, with the help of her friends and her fairy mother, was able to assume the identity of the most beautiful girl in the kingdom. She was able to fool the prince, but when the clock struck 12, she was forced to revert to her original identity.
The Little Mermaid: Ariel was so in love with the prince she rescued that she was so willing to give up her status as a mermaid to be with the human being she loved. She drank a potion that allowed her to be a “normal” human with legs and lived with the identity until the prince married someone else.
Mulan: This is a clear case of identity theft. Mulan assumed the identity of his father because he didn’t want his father to join the army because he was too old.
It’s okay, I know. Their motives were noble, but they’re still identity thieves, right?