From a very young age, we are taught to idealize fairy tales and believe in happily ever after, princes, princesses, and true love’s kiss, but Disney’s Disenchanted gives us a refreshing tale and shows us how happily ever after isn’t always how it seems.
The movie shows us how even royalty can face dissatisfaction in their life, a disconnect from loved ones, and even from themselves. It shows that even princes and princesses are human just like us, and don’t wake up in the morning and have perfect makeup ready to go. It shows, too, how we’re all vulnerable to life and the reality in front of us, whether we like to admit it or not, and how we so often wish for the life of our dreams but it may not always be the answer we’re looking for.
Disenchanted is the sequel to the much beloved Enchanted movie starring Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, and Idina Menzel. In Enchanted, we meet fated princess Giselle who is from the magical storyland world of Andalasia and who believes in the magic of true love’s kiss and a prince perfect for her. After a run-in with a troll in her home, she meets Prince Edward and falls in love with him at first sight, however, upon their wedding day she’s pushed into a fountain by her unbeknownst would-be mother-in-law and enters the real world of New York City.
Here in this new less-magical land, she learns the reality of love and how love is never found at first sight but instead develops by getting to know someone and falling in love with them over time. After conquering all and meeting her new true love in this magicless land, she is supposedly left to live happily ever after, or so we were led to believe many years ago.
Many years later, we’re fortunate to experience a new story in Disenchanted, telling us what happened to Giselle and her true love after their happily ever after. Unfortunately for her, it’s not as easy as it seems. Now, Giselle faces the biggest challenge yet as her teenage daughter feels out of place in New York City, so she uproots her family to the lovely land of Monroeville in hopes of finding her fairytale in the real world. But after she moves, the sudden solution she hopes for is not to be, and she instead faces trouble with her family, especially her teenage stepdaughter Morgan. Giselle has a big blowout that results in her making a wish for her life to return to the perfect fairytale she remembers from back home. And in doing so, creates a butterfly effect she would’ve never imagined.
Here are some of the biggest lessons I saw displayed in this magical tale with a twist:
- Growing up is more than the fantasy we have in mind for ourselves
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So often on social media, we see this fantasy or these trends of an idealized life for ourselves. The “that girl” who gets up early and does about ten million things before she starts the day, that corporate girly who always works overtime, and other trends that show people doing it “all” can lead us to feel insecure about ourselves. But I’ve learned that these trends aren’t something that can easily be accomplished and something that can work for everyone, since we’re all different people.
In Disenchanted, Giselle had in mind for herself and her family this idea of her perfect life. But by thinking this way she found that her worldviews clashed and it did more damage than good. Yes, it’s a great thing to have dreams of having everything you’ve ever dreamed of. However, assuming that once we do have this “perfect life” everything will fall into place isn’t the truth.
- dissatisfaction in life is common
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I’m sure from time to time we’ve all had dissatisfaction, stresses, and worries that life is just passing us by. Life is harder than the fairytales we see on the big screens. In Enchanted, we see how it’s important to grow and develop in order to find ourselves and to truly be happy. In that film, we also see how, by growing as a person, we sometimes fall out of place with what once made us happy be it old friends, partners, or even careers.
In the new film Disenchanted, we see a family unfulfilled. We see how Giselle feels out of place as a mother with her now teenage daughter in a world where concepts are still foreign and happy endings are harder to find. We see how Morgan is struggling with her new baby sister, a feeling of abandonment, and like she isn’t as important as the “true daughter of Andalasia” seems to be to her mother and father, and how this new baby takes over their lives. We see Robert dissatisfied in their marriage and in his work life as he shifts to be a commuter with new trials of their own. Having these slumps from time to time is normal and should be, in my opinion, normalized just like in Disenchanted.
- We All grow up and see reality for what it truly is
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This lesson hit me very hard since I recently moved away to college. I felt growing pains in adjusting to a new lifestyle and distance from what felt safe to me of family, friends, and more. Although previously I was a commuter and had issues of my own similar to Robert in this new tale, I thought that all my issues would be solved if I lived closer. No more traffic, no more late nights driving, and the freedom of having my time to myself again. Though in reality, I knew that this was wishful thinking.
By moving to college I’ve learned so much about what it means to grow up and the reality of what lies in store as well as finding ways to take care of myself and what makes me happy. By moving closer I found a bittersweet reality. I was able to get involved more but am still learning how to balance my time and in a way and parent myself to do the things I don’t want to do. But in other ways, I have found fulfillment and peace. I’ve found I liked my independence and quiet, and I found happiness to be involved in a school that is so full of life and has so many possibilities available.
Though my journey and Giselle’s in Disenchanted are different, there seems to be a lot alike between her story and mine. Although we often idealize characters on the big screens and even princes and princesses from a young age, we’re human and have lessons to share and be seen through our stories. Even though I wasn’t entirely a fan of the new reiteration of this story, I found commonalities in both Disenchanted and my reality that made it enjoyable to me.