WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS
We all know the story of Cinderella, right?
Fairy godmother uses magic to transform the disheveled, neglected step-daughter-turned-slave-girl into a beautiful princess so that she can go to the royal ball. However, like all good magic, the transformation only lasts til midnight. So Cindy, who has gotten caught up in the whole 'the prince is falling in love with me' thing, suddenly realises that it's 11:59pm. So she does what anyone out past their curfew would do: runs.
Prince is left with an unrequited love and a mysterious girl's shoe. A glass slipper, to be exact. But Prince is smart (as well as handsome and rich and powerful) - he uses said glass slipper to find the one person that fits it perfectly - our mate Cindy. So they're reunited, get married, and live happily ever after.
#truestory
or is it?
I spent most of my life believing this tale was fairly (yes, pun intended) logical and watertight.
Assuming, of course, that magic exists. No biggie.
However, a recent realisation single-handedly shattered my entire childhood:
Why didn't the glass slipper change back at midnight??
I can never look at this story the same way again.
I don't even know if I can believe it anymore.
Heck, I'm starting to doubt whether I can believe any fairytales anymore.
We need to right the wrongs and re-write the record. We need the real Cinderella story to be heard. We need to stop making up happy endings that did not, would not, could not happen. We need kids to know that you can't expect to marry someone if you don't tell them your name. Oh, and also that the underdogs don't always get a visit from magical flying people who transform them into the absolute pinnacle of beauty so that they can not only have a great night out, but also capture the heart of the heir to the throne.
Why have we been lied to?
It's obvious: feels.
The 'happily ever after' ending provides substantially more warm-fuzzy feelings than the more likely outcome:
Once Cindy disappeared, a heartbroken Prince looked for her everywhere, to no avail. He did find her glass slipper lying on the ground, undoubtedly kicked off in an effort to make a quicker getaway. An idea that had started forming in his head was interrupted by the clock striking midnight.
Prince watched in absolute shock as the only clue to the girl's identity slowly morphed into a banana peel.
The End
Image credit: walesartsreview.org