“There’s a lot of beauty in ordinary things. Isn’t that the point?”

That was the final line from the final episode of The Office. It was also the line that had me up late at night, once again reading about the guy who wrote Our Town. I’ve always felt a bond with Thornton Wilder. He wrote the famous play wrote in his 30s. I am in my 30s now. He spent time living in New Hampshire. Our family moved to New Hampshire when I was 5. The play was set in a small town in New Hampshire, just like the one I grew up in. But even though Our Town was set in a fictional town in New Hampshire, its themes could be applied anywhere – like Scranton, Pennsylvania.

According to Wikipedia, Wilder drafted the entire third act of Our Town in one day after a long evening walk in the rain with his friend. I wonder what it was that Wilder and his friend talked about during that long walk in the rain. Did they talk about life and love? How about the beauty and trauma in the passage of time? Perhaps the sacredness of ordinary life?  I would imagine they touched on Psalm 39:5 – that each of us, at best, is but a breath.

One of the most famous lines in Our Town comes when Emily declares, “Oh, earth, you’re too wonderful for anybody to realize you. Does anyone ever realize life while they live it… every, every minute?” The stage manager replies, “No. Saints and poets maybe… they do some.” It isn’t until Emily looks back at her life from the grave that she “becomes agonized by the beauty and transience of everyday life”. Only in death is she able to notice the wonder of living that had been with her all along.

Wilder continually and almost desperately pleads for the audience to open their eyes. Elsewhere in the play, he writes:

Yes, now you know. Now you know! That’s what it was to be alive. To move about in a cloud of ignorance; to go up and down trampling on the feelings of those…of those about you. To spend and waste time as though you had a million years. To be always at the mercy of one self-centered passion, or another. Now you know — that’s the happy existence you wanted to go back to. Ignorance and blindness.

As the Spark Notes put it, Wilder’s main message in the play is that people should appreciate the details and interactions of their rather ordinary lives while they live them. If not, they might end up like Andy Bernard lamenting, “I wish there was some way to know that you’re in the good old days before you leave them.”

* * *

The only problem I had with Pam’s quote is that it didn’t seem fully baked. There’s a lot of beauty in ordinary things. Yes – I fully agree. But then she says “Isn’t that the point?” This is where she loses me. What is the point? Is she saying that the point of life is to find beauty? Is she saying that the funny thing about beauty is that it is often simple and easy to go unnoticed? Is she remarking that the paradox about ordinary things is that they’re really extraordinary?

If I had to guess what the point is, I would say that the point is to wake up and pay attention. The point is to take nothing for granted, realize all your blessings and hold them tight before they are gone. The point is to focus your time and attention on what really matters. It is to live life in the present in a way that brings the least amount of regret in the future. The point is to realize life while you live it… every, every minute.

Is anyone able to do this? According to Stage Manager in the play, Saints and poets maybe… they do some. Perhaps one of these was Elizabeth Browning, who wrote:

Earth is crammed with heaven,
And every bush is aflame with God
But only those who see, take off their shoes
The rest sit around it and pluck blackberries.

And, first a show about nothing and then another about a mundane job are able to point out that truth that sometimes it isn’t the devil that is in the details, but earth crammed with heaven.

So, as Clarke wrote in his commentary on Psalm 90:12, Let us number our days. Let us deeply consider our own frailty, and the shortness and uncertainty of life, that we may live for eternity, acquaint ourselves with God and be at peace; that we may die in His favor and live and reign with Him eternally.

Shoe makers hang out a gigantic shoe; jewelers a monster watch, and the dentist hangs out a gold tooth; but up in the Mountains of New Hampshire, God Almighty has hung out a sign to show that there he makes men. – Daniel Webster

There were 3 things I always could count on as a kid:

1)   If I peed in the public pool nobody would know it was me.
2)  All my pencils would be lost by the end of each school day.
3)   If our family drove an hour and a half north, we would get to see the Old Man on the Mountain. We might even stop at the little candy store to buy some taffy.

Taffy is actually the first thing I ever bought in my life. My parents gave me money and I shyly went up to the counter to make my first purchase. What I didn’t realize is how exact change worked. I thought the cashier always gave the buyer money in return.

Maybe taffy is one of the reasons I loved seeing the Old Man so much. It wasn’t just about seeing the landmark. It was about everything that went along with it. It meant that our family was together for a special outing. Sometimes it meant that we were on our way to go camping and I might get to play ping-pong and possibly an arcade games at the camp rec room. It always meant that my father would go on and on about how glorious New Hampshire’s “White Mountains” are, in the same sort of way he always gushes about my mom’s cooking.

I always thought my father was a little too crazy over those mountains. Yeah, they were pretty. But they were nothing compared to taffy, ping-pong and candy. I couldn’t figure out what made them so special to him. Maybe I was just too used to all that beauty to pay it much attention.

Despite not being as taken by those mountains, there was always something about the Man on the Mountain that captured my imagination. It was just so cool that a mountain formation would be in the same shape as a man’s face. For a kid who never ran out of questions, this was almost too much to handle. There were things I just had to know, like who was this man on the mountain? Where did he come from? What did he represent? Why was he there?

Part of the reason the Old Man was so great was that he reminded me of a Church worship song my Dad always used to sing:

I hear a sound coming from the mountain,
I hear it louder each day.
I hear a sound coming from the mountain
And it says, “Prepare ye the way”
“Prepare ye the way, prepare ye the way, prepare ye the way of the Lord”.

I see the King standing on the mountain,
I see Him clearer each day.
I see the King standing on the mountain,
and He says, “Prepare ye the way.”
“Prepare ye the way, prepare ye the way, prepare ye the way of the Lord”.

As a six-year old boy, a man on the mountain that folks came from everywhere to admire and King on a mountain were basically the same thing.  In my imagination, the Old Man was the King on the mountain from my Dad’s song. Somehow, this rock in the shape of a man symbolized my own personal John the Baptist – a voice of one calling in the wilderness – “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight paths for him”.*

* * *

I had a hard time dealing with change as a kid. I hated it when we moved – even though it was into a much bigger house and only two blocks away. I was completely devastated by the death of my Grandfather. I had a hard time adjusting to how different life was at home after my older sister went to college. There was nothing I could do to stop the changes that were happening all around me. I was like a leaf swept up in rapids – always wishing to get further upstream and back to the way things used to be, but powerless to fight the tide of an ever-changing world.

The Old Man was an exception to the rule. Nothing ever changed up there in northern New Hampshire. Those mountains my father admired was I was a little boy were still there when I started to appreciate them more as a young man after attending an ugly college. Even the little shops stuck around. And, that Old Man on the mountain was always looking down on us. Not only was he looking down on us, he was looking down on me. He was a rock in every sense of the word – a steady thing in an unsteady world.

I was finishing my second year of graduate school when the Old Man collapsed. I was completely unprepared. There isn’t much precedent for a mountain that looks like a man. So, it’s not like I was ever expecting him to go away. I assumed he would continue to be there in the future, just like he had always been there in the past. But the man who had looked over us for so many years was gone. Like the real John the Baptist, he was beheaded. One of few constants in life was no more.

* * *

It’s amazing how important the Old Man was to the state of New Hampshire. I wrote in a previous post:

The most famous person from New Hampshire wasn’t even a person. It was a rock formation on a side of a mountain that looked like a man. Everyone was so excited about rock man, they put it on the license plates, driver’s license, interstate signs, state quarter, state documents and Lord knows what else. This was all well and good until he crumbled to his death back in 2003. The face of New Hampshire disappeared. Now, there is no face of New Hampshire… There is no identity. The only thing left is our state motto: “Live Free or Die”. It gives us a toughness. It makes us sound bad. We may have a lot of cows, but at least we know how to drive in the snow.

When the Old Man died, a major piece of our identity – a major piece of my identity as a kid from the Granite State -  died with him.

In the immediate aftermath, there was talk about what to do now that the Old Man had died. There was even talk of reconstructive surgery – a sort of nose job and resurrection for our fallen hero. Eventually, those talks died down. Now, there is just emptiness where the Old Man used to reside. The viewing area is still there. The place to pull off on the side of the road is still intact. But the main attraction is gone.

It has been 10 years since the old man crumbled. It almost feels like 20. Sometimes, it feels like these things that happened so long ago never happened at all.

Each time I’m up in Franconia Notch, I look to the old spot of the Old Man. These times, rather than view his dwelling place, I view his grave. I remember the crowds that gathered in awe to gaze upon the Old Man. I reflect on the curious little boy who still lives inside of me – always in need of assurance. Then, I think about the promise of the day all the longings in my heart will finally be satisfied. I remember that John the Baptist was not the final answer. He only pointed to what was to come.

Psalm 121

A song of ascents.

1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord watches over you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

*Mark 1:3

For one of my conversations with a friend about the Old Man, go here.

His consistent banging on the drums of God’s unconditional love sounded at a time when many of us had about ‘had it up to here’ with religion and church and, probably most importantly, ourselves. We were the tired, poor, self-hating huddled masses yearning to be free, and along came a patchwork preacher who grinned and said, ‘You already are. Abba loves you. Let’s go get some chocolate ice cream.’ – John Blase

I was introduced to Brennan Manning in college. I had just completed what was easily the worst year of my life. It was a year when a number of events cut me so deeply, I wasn’t sure I would ever recover. I did try though. As part of those efforts, I read just about every Christian book I could get my hands on and went on to receive a Master’s in Counseling. Out of all of those books, there are only a few that I can still remember.

One of them was “The Ragamuffin Gospel” by Brennan Manning. The subtitle of the book was, “Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out”. Now, there was a tagline I could relate to. The book was like medicine. Never before had God’s grace been communicated in a way that I actually started to believe it. Manning wrote:

For those who feel their lives are a grave disappointment to God, it requires enormous trust and reckless, raging confidence to accept that the love of Jesus Christ knows no shadow of alteration or change. When Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy burdened,’ He assumed we would grow weary, discouraged, and disheartened along the way.

He continued:

Suffering, failure, loneliness, sorrow, discouragement, and death will be part of your journey, but the Kingdom of God will conquer all these horrors. No evil can resist grace forever.

Manning’s message was the same for over 50 years: “God loves you unconditionally, as you are and not as you should be, because nobody is as they should be.” It was a message Manning also had to preach to himself on a regular basis. John Blase, the co-author of Manning’s memoir “All is Grace”, had this to say:

…while Brennan preached and taught of God’s furious longing for us and the joy that comes from the Abba experience, that message often seemed elusive to his own grasp. I have no doubt there were bright mornings and luminous afternoons for Brennan, but there have also been many, many dark nights. I suppose the preacher always preaches the message he needs most. I believe that is true of my friend Brennan. That his message has been the one we needed most too is something extra. Or to use one of Brennan’s favorite Cajun words, lagniappe—compliments of the house. Grace.

Despite being a powerful preacher, Manning struggled with alcoholism much of his life. In the foreword to the memoir, Phillip Yancey wrote:

“As you read this memoir, you may be tempted, as I was, to think, Oh, what might have  been… if Brennan hadn’t been given in to drink. I urge you to reframe the thought to, Oh, what might have been… if Brennan hadn’t discovered grace.”

Yancey continued about how Manning communicated that grace so well and kept getting up after he kept falling. He progressed, “not by always making the right decisions, but by responding appropriately to the wrong ones.” Yancey ended his section with a poem by Leonard Cohen:

Ring the bells that still can ring.
Forget your perfect offering.
There is a crack in everything.
That’s how the light gets in.

Manning passed away on Friday, April 12 at 12:10AM. His alcoholism no doubt contributed to years of declining health. “He is now resting safely in the arms of Abba”, says the obituary on his website.

I’ll end this post with one of my favorite Brennan Manning quotes: “The Christian with depth is the person who has failed and who has learned to live with it.” Manning was a great failure. But this is exactly what made him a success. He was a sinful and broken man who came to rest in Christ’s sufficient and vulgar grace. In learning that it is okay not to be okay, I was one of the many he helped along the way.

Blessed are the poor in the spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. – Matthew 5:3

The combination of winding roads, high elevation and Mario Andretti wannabe drivers made me super nauseous every time we got in a cab. Incidentally, if I ever drive a cab, I’m going to have “Who’s Gonna Drive You Home Tonight” playing on loop and will periodically wink at the passengers via the rear-view mirror while it is playing.

We ate all kinds of delicious foods. My favorite was a hot Arepa in a remote village. Part of me wishes I never ate it, because now I want to be able to eat more of them whenever I feel like it. It’s like that song about a taste of honey being worse than none at all. It’s the same reason I wish I had never gone on that date with Jennifer Love-Hewitt.

On the topic of women, I heard a lot about the city of Metagene, which is where many of the models come from. Every time I heard that word, it reminded me of the Michael Jackson song “Billie Jean”. You know – about the one who would dance. On the floor. In the round.

Also on the topic of Colombian women, I learned from a co-worker today that when he visited the country his tour guide pointed out Shakira’s house! BUT, my tour guide never took ME to see Shakira’s HOUSE! Are you reading this Goofus? This is unforgivable. I take back every kind word I said about your hospitality.

My friend (aforementioned Goofus) has a cleaning lady (not sure what the politically correct word is here) who comes twice a week. I was the only one home during her first visit. She is a very kind lady, who enjoys loooong conversations – even if neither person can understand what the other is saying. After a while, I just started pointing to myself and repeating the words “no comprende” and “estupido”. The communication barrier was really frustrating, though more Spanish came back to me as the week went along.

The most heartbreaking part of the trip was all the pimps we encountered. One night, four separate men solicited us for encounters with their “chicas”. From my understanding, many of the girls are forced or tricked into this line of work.

Another surprise was the police officers with assault rifles everywhere. More worrisome were the two men with assault rifles who weren’t in any kind of uniform that we passed by on the other side of the road. (Don’t worry mom. I’m okay. I know you’re reading this.) Certain areas of the country are Guerilla territory and it isn’t like you can go wherever you want. At one point we wondered if we had gotten closer to this line than we thought.

On my return trip to the US, I had a layover in New Jersey. I was called out to have my bags hand checked. When I asked what made me so suspicious, I was told that I look like a normal guy and it is usually the ones you least expect that are involved in drug dealing. I guess he watches “Breaking Bad” too.  As he was searching through my backpack, he caught me red-handed with an “Aladdin” DVD and wanted to know what I was doing with it. Hey, if enjoying princess movies is a crime, I plead guilty. Incidentally, lunch at the Wok n’ Roll broke my calorie counter.

I’m having an easier time adjusting to life back in the USA than my smartphone, which keeps displaying the weather for the Tan Binh District. I’m guessing this explains why my sister keeps getting a “subscriber is not available” error when she tries to call. Basically, my phone thinks I’m in Vietman. Maybe it’s a sign telling me where to go next.

1:30 – This movie opens with a sinister looking man singing “Arabian Nights”. I’m not sure if it was intentional or not, but I don’t think this guy would even make it past the first round of American Idol.

2:05 – Sinister man mentions something about a city of mystery and enchantment and then tries to sell a coffee maker that doubles as a… hookah!

2:42 – Sinister salesman references a genie lamp and tells us that it isn’t what is on the outside but on the inside that counts. Sure. Buy his products and what will be on the inside is caffeine addiction and lung cancer.

3:03 – Sinister man tells of a tale beginning with a “dark night, where a dark man waits with a dark voice.” I think it is only fitting that I eat some dark chocolate.

3:13 – First glimpse of the movie’s villain and it a dude. Stepmothers around the world rejoice.

5:56 – Villain man finds a “Cave of Wonders”, which I think just ate somebody.

6:29 – Apparently only a “diamond in the rough” can enter the “Cave of Wonders”. Such a mysterious movie we have going here.

6:48 – Enter Aladdin, who we find stealing a loaf of bread! At least he wasn’t stealing the combo coffee-hookah machine.

8:41 – Aladdin only steals what he can’t afford, which is everything. Meanwhile, a monkey friend named Abu helps Aladdin escape mean looking dudes who have swords, knives and watermelons. Not sure if the punishment fits the crime on this one. At this point, a rather large lady mentions that Aladdin is “rather tasty”. Huh? Does she want to practice cannibalism? We’re not even 9 minutes in and I already have no idea what is going on.

9:11 – They play the same song the girl in the library sang for me when I tried to check out these movie. She even did some hand gestures.

10:43 – Aladdin gives the bread he stole to hungry children. Then, Aladdin saves a child from being whipped by an evil suitor. So far we’ve met:

Evil merchant singer guy
Evil villain
Angry men with swords, knives and watermelons
Evil suitor

The men in this movie could use a hug or father figure or something. Actually, the guy without parents (ALADDIN) and only one friend (Abu) is the nicest of them all.

11:08 – After being called “Riffraff”, “Street Rat” and “Scoundrel”, evil suitor says to Aladdin, “You are a worthless street rat. You were born a street rat. You will die a street rat and only your flees will mourn you.” With enemies like that, who needs friends?

11:41 – We come to Aladdin’s “I Want” song. I learned about the “I Want” song after reading about “Part of Your World” on Wikipedia. Here is what it said:

Believing that, in a musical, it is necessary for the heroine to at some point sing about her goals and what she hopes to achieve in life, (Howard) Ashman wrote the lyrics for “Part of Your World”, which he referred to as the film’s “I Want” song”.

12:42 – Jasmine arrives on the scene. True to princess form, the first time we see her is with some animals – including a pet tiger named Rajah. While Disney still can’t disrupt the animal to princess connection, they’ve come a long way from bunnies and hummingbirds.

13:06 – According to the law, Jasmine must be married to a prince by her birthday and only has 3 more days. The problem is that all the suitors have been “self-absorbed” and “overdressed”. I get the first part, but is being overdressed really that big of an issue? Has a woman ever rejected a guy for dressing too nice?

13:09 – Jasmine PETS A BIRD while stating how she hates being forced into marriage, thus removing any doubt as to whether she belongs on the list of official Disney princesses.

13:35 – Father mentions that he isn’t going to be around forever and wants to make sure Jasmine is taken care of and provided for. The big issue here: Father TAKES THE BIRD out of Jasmine’s hand and PUTS IT BACK IN A CAGE. What self-respecting princess relative takes a bird out of the hands of Disney princess?

13:42 – Jasmine is miserable. She’s never done anything on her own or had any real friends. She says this while she is PETTING FISH IN A POND.  She then mentions “except you” to her pet tiger. Phew! Have to be real clear here – just because the princess wants friends, it does not mean she doesn’t love her animals.

13:48 – Jasmine also states that she has never even been outside the palace walls. Talk about overprotective parenting! Doesn’t her father know that one of the biggest needs for Disney princesses is adventure? Let’s recap:

Sleeping Beauty – Cooped up in a secluded house with her fairy mother maids
Cinderella – Can’t go out because of her endless list of chores
Ariel – Lost at sea
Belle – Imprisoned in her provincial life.
Snow White – (Thinking…) Actually, from what I recall Snow White just seemed to wander around in the forest. Now there was a princess who couldn’t be tied down.

13:52 – Fed up, Jasmine stammers “Maybe I just don’t want to be a princess anymore!” Whoa! Slow down Jasmine. Millions of girls want to be like you. Now, you want to be like the millions of girls? It’s like Ariel, who wants to be a regular girl while millions of regular girls around the world want to mermaids. Meanwhile, as Jasmine considers how it might not be such a bad thing to be poor, Aladdin wants to be rich. Isn’t anybody happy with what they have or who they are?

14:11 – Jasmine’s father vents his frustrations to Rajah about how hard it is to raise daughters. Maybe he should get together with King Triton and form a support group. Meanwhile Jasmine, with a devious and slightly deranged look on her face, LETS OUT ALL THE BIRDS FROM THE CAGE. Take that Daddy!

19:24 – After running away, Jasmine takes an apple and gives it to a poor child. In response, the merchant tries to slice of Jasmine’s arm! Thankfully, Aladdin comes to the rescue. Goodness me. Is that really cause for getting your arm hacked off? Whatever crime you commit in this town, just make sure it doesn’t involve stealing food.

21:43 – Jasmine and Aladdin do some bonding. Aladdin wonders what it would be like to live in the palace, not also be scraping for food and have servants and valets. Jasmine wants to be free from all these aggressive men who look like a Men’s Wearhouse advertisement.

26:30 – Jafar comes between the love that is building between Aladdin and Jasmine. For an alleged kidnapping, Aladdin is given the sentence of “death by beheading”. Is any crime not given the death sentence in this town? Now, like Snow White and Cinderella before her, we have another sobbing princess. I can’t remember if Ariel shed tears, but do remember her having a full-fledged meltdown.

32:13 – Aladdin, who we now know is the “diamond in the rough” is tricked into finding the genie lamp for Jafar. Abu is stalked and terrorized by a magic carpet. They are all almost killed by a tidal wave of lava. All this takes place in the Cave of Wonders, whose name continues to not disappoint.

35:50 – Jafar’s plan to get the lamp is foiled by Abu. Now, Aladdin has three friends: a kleptomaniac monkey, shapeshifting spirit and magical rug.

36:58 – Aladdin is given 3 wishes from Genie man. Other than not being about to wish for more than 3 wishes, Genie has some rules:

1)      You can’t kill anybody
2)      You can’t make anybody fall in love
3)      You can’t bring people back from the dead

The first wish would obviously be that the Genie loosen up on his terms of service.

45:23 – Aladdin describes what he likes about Jasmine. She is smart and fun and beautiful and he likes her eyes, hair and smile. I’m tracking with Aladdin until he gets to her hair. Unless her hair were missing or some color of the rainbow, I don’t think it would be so high on my list.

58:36 – After some missteps in his attempt to woo Jasmine, Aladdin offers her the chance to leave the palace and see the world. You know what that means, don’t you? That’s right, one of the best Disney songs of all time.

61:56 – Aladdin and Jasmine share one of the longest kisses in princess history. Normally I would say they are moving too fast, but they did have quite a night with the floating carpet ride through the city and all. Beautiful song. Major kiss (all Disney princess movies end with a kiss). Where can this movie go from here? I think it should just end.

 I’ve included my thoughts on the rest of the movie below.  

Closing Thoughts:
When I asked my friends to name their favorite Disney princess movies, one of them immediately crossed off Aladdin. When I asked why, she said it was because the movie was about the prince and not the princess. But that is also what makes this movie special compared to the others so far (save Beauty and the Beast). To this point, we’ve mainly only had a princess going through trials before finding their already perfect prince.

Family Background:
Like others before them, Aladdin and Jasmine come from incomplete families. We don’t know what happened to Jasmine’s mother, but do know that her father is very protective of her, perhaps too protective.

Aladdin’s issues are of an entirely different nature – he has no parents at all. Aladdin longs for a life more like Jasmine’s. He wonders what it would be like to live in a palace, not needing to always scrape for food and having servants and valets. If he were rich and lived in palace, he wouldn’t been seen as a worthless boy.

The only thing Jasmine and Aladdin have in common is that they both feel trapped. Still, they can learn from each other. Jasmine knows Aladdin is mistaken when he believes that being rich would solve all his problems. Aladdin knows not to take for granted all the luxuries that come with wealth.

Jasmine’s Conflict:
Jasmine’s character is fairly consistent. She has had enough with “stuff shirt swaggering peacocks” who have an inflated sense of their own worth and only want to marry her for her money or fame. (The very type of person Aladdin believes he needs to become to win Jasmine.) She has no control over where she goes, what she wears or who she marries. It is enough to make Jasmine wish she were never a princess in the first place. Jasmine sighs, “I can’t stay here and have my life lived for me.” In her case, running away from her problems are actually a legitimate way of solving them. “A Whole New World” makes perfect sense in its context. Given how badly she wants to see the world, it is no surprise how her bond with Aladdin is solidified after the magic carpet ride.

I found myself liking Jasmine more than I thought I would. She’s is strong-willed, but that will is for what is right and true. She is not afraid to stand up to Jafar or her father and does so for good reasons. Like Belle before her, she is able to look past external appearances. While her father looks for safety and Jafar for power, she looks for kindness and goodness and finds it in Aladdin. If anyone is able to spot the “diamond in the rough” in this movie, it is her.

Aladdin’s Conflict:
While Jasmine’s struggles are more with her external environment, Aladdin is fighting an internal war. He is given the identify of riffraff, street rat and scoundrel. In the beginning, he fights back, declaring, “I’m not worthless and I don’t have flees” He will not accept the identity others have chosen for him and laments that if only they would look closer they would see more to him than just poverty. Despite his bravado and resistance, it is clear that these labels eventually find their way into his heart.

Though Jasmine already loves him for he who is, Aladdin believes that he was a fool for thinking a princess could ever love him and that if she were to find out he is a “crumby street rat”, she’d laugh at him. Thinking it to be the way to Jasmine’s heart, he tries to be “smooth, cool and confident”. When Genie tells Aladdin to just be himself, he counters “that is the last thing I want to be”. Because his true self is not good enough, he needs to create a fake one. Even if Jasmine were to want to marry him, he believes that she deserves better than anything he has to offer.

As their magic ride concludes, Jasmine calls Aladdin “handsome” and a “prince”. This is no doubt the most affirmation he has ever received in his life. The thought of losing this affirmation makes his decision to open up about his true background that much more difficult. In his mind, there is no way Jasmine could continue to care about him if she knew the truth. For now, the object of his affection loves him back. In a land with genies and treasuries and magic carpet, this is no doubt the greatest wonder of them all.

As their wonderful carpet ride concludes, Aladdin continues to pretend to be something he’s not. Jasmine asks Aladdin, “Who are you? Tell me the truth”. It’s not an easy question to answer. Is he a street rat? Is he truly a prince thanks to the wish Genie granted?  Though Aladdin isn’t forthcoming with Jasmine, a major part of the problem is that he doesn’t even know the answer himself.

Aladdin’s cognitive dissonance reaches a climax when Jasmine’s father praises Aladdin for his upstanding moral character. He decides that he has to come clean. Before he can do so, Jafar exposes him to be a liar, con and fraud. Even Genie, who is essentially Aladdin’s father figure at this point, confronts him for not keeping his promises.

Aladdin is able to save the princess from Jafar’s evil advances. Next, he has the even more difficult task of facing the junk that has formed in his own heart. As his secret is revealed, Aladdin apologizes to Jasmine about lying about being a prince. For her part, Jasmine is quick to forgive and very understanding, stating she understands why he lied about being a prince. Jasmine even tells Aladdin that she loves him – something he possibly never heard in his entire life.

Unfortunately, Aladdin can’t marry the princess because he is no longer a prince and promised he would use his last wish for the benefit of the Genie. Whereas earlier he selfishly didn’t keep his promise, now he does so at a great cost. However, after having proved himself to be worthy, the law is revised and Jasmine is free to marry Aladdin, even though he isn’t technically a prince. Jasmine and Genie get their freedom and Jasmine and Aladdin find love.

More on Identity:
Given how so much of the movie revolves around Aladdin finding his identity, I thought I would share one of my favorite quotes and songs on the topic.

I have come to believe that by and large the human family all has the same secrets, which are both very telling and very important to tell. They are telling in the sense that they tell what is perhaps the central paradox of our condition – that what we hunger for perhaps more than anything else is to be known in our full humanness, and yet that is often just what we also fear more than anything else.  It is important to tell at least from time to time the secret of who we truly and fully are – even if we only tell it to ourselves – because otherwise we run the risk of losing track of who we truly and fully are and little by little come to accept the highly edited version which we put forth in hope that the world will find it more acceptable than the real thing. It is important to tell our secrets too because it makes it easier that way to see where we have been in our lives and where we are going. It also makes it easier for other people to tell us a secret or two of their own, and exchanges like that have a lot to do with what being a family is all about and what being human is all about. Finally, I suspect that it is by entering that deep place inside us where our secrets are kept that we come perhaps closer than we do anywhere else to the One who, whether we realize it or not, is of all our secrets the most telling and the most precious we have to tell.

Frederick Buechner

I learn firsthand something I’ve suspected for a long time. There are, indeed, people who live outside of the United States of America. The life is different. So different, I feel as though I might as well be on another planet. In this case, that planet’s name is “Colombia”.

I come to visit a friend who works for the US embassy. We tool around in a borrowed car, see the countryside and catch up on life. One of the first things that stands out to me is men on the side of the road going to the bathroom in plain sight. I witness this about 8 times in two days. I don’t only ask about cultural differences, I experience them.

We talk about the last time we took a vacation together. It was at the end of 2007. My friend says we are five years more experienced. I say we were five years younger. Five years better looking. Five years more hopeful about what our lives would look like in five years.

When we stop, my friend does all the talking. Contrary to what some might think, Colombia does not have a high percentage of English speakers. I listen, smile and then wave goodbye. At the end of each conversation, I ask my friend to repeat the conversation in English. I comprehend certain things, but only fragments.

The only word I use is “gracias”. I say it timidly at first, but with more confidence as time goes on. When my friend speaks to the people, I pretend to know exactly what they’re saying. It is like the times I used to walk around Harvard as an underclassman at Boston University. I didn’t go to Harvard, just like I don’t speak Spanish. But for all anyone I encountered knew, I went to Harvard back then just like I speak Spanish now. If all the world’s a stage, I want to be sure to do my part.

We pass by restaurant after restaurant. These are not chains, but local folks trying to make a living. In some cases, uncooked meat hangs in the open as if it is a decoration. It is enough to make anyone want to become a vegetarian. I don’t know what I’m eating, whether by title or sight. I trust my friend when he tells me something is good. Most of the time, he is right.

Even the fruit is different. I try at least a handful of fruits I never knew existed. Each fascinates with its textures, taste and appearance. Eating one is like seeing a new color when you thought you had already seen every shade.

The creativity of God is also on full display in the landscape. We see rolling hills and mountains with features I don’t have the vocabulary to describe. Like my father when we visited the White Mountains as kids in New Hampshire, my friend can’t stop commenting on what he is witnessing. “Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful“, he repeats.

There are cactus plants, museums with Dinosaur artifacts and even Ostrich farms. There are random cows, horses and donkeys on the side of the road everywhere. The livestock is unguarded, unfenced, in the middle of nowhere and seemingly way too easy to steal.

The people find different ways to entertain themselves. One man, having no other desirable alternative, lays down in the front of his lawn to watch the cars go by. It’s like he is looking out at the ocean, only the cars are the ocean and there is no sand or water.

We end up at a town 5 hours outside of Bogota. The square is one big party. A mother kicks a soccer ball with her two boys. Bands sing and dance. Merchants peddle their wares. Girls walk around no doubt looking for boys. Boys walk around no doubt looking for girls.

I am a complete and total stranger. I look different from everyone else. I talk different than everyone else. The people look at us and wonder how we ended up here and what we’re doing. I wonder the same thing. I don’t feel lost, I am lost. Somehow, knowing how lost I am makes me feel less lost at all. There is a newfound focus to my existence.

The church is the center of every community and shrines to the virgin Mary can be found at almost every corner. The poor come filing into church looking for hope. Given the conditions and massive unemployment problems, I wonder what hope there is for some of them, what hope they are able to find and what it is that keeps them going.

There are different sections of the country. One is known for its cheese. Another is known for the bricks it produces. Still another is full of handwoven baskets from the fields of reeds nearby. We stop to buy some of these baskets from one of the locals.

At first, the seller is apprehensive and maybe a little afraid of us. We are both well over six feet tall. We are white. She is alone. For all she knows, neither of us speak the language. Instead of bartering, my friend pays full price. He knows he can get the items for less, but wants to bless the maker of these gifts. He pays that equivalent of about $30 for an assortment of hampers and baskets. As she sees that we mean no harm and don’t wish to take advantage, her countenance lifts. This is clearly a fantastic sale for this woman. As we leave, she gives us a handful of cattails as free gifts. She keeps telling us “God bless you” in Spanish. We have made her day. Or, has she made ours?

We enter a hospital in one of the rural towns, looking for a friend of my friend. Like the hotel we stayed at the night before, the hospital is stripped of all luxuries inside and bears little resemblance to anything I’m used to. The people inside the waiting room stare at me, trying to figure out why I’m there and what I’m all about. I stare back at them, trying to understand who they are. We don’t even hide the fact that we are staring. We are each searching for something. What are we searching for? I’m not sure. Like babies and parents looking at each other or deer looking at headlights, maybe we are all just trying to figure out what in the world is going on.

* * *

One question in particular eats away at me: Why would God pay any attention to my prayers when he has so many other billions of people to worry about – most of whom are much worse off? What is it about me that would attract God’s attention?

I think about how God’s love for us is personal. C.S. Lewis wrote, “Why else were individuals created, but that God, loving all infinitely, should love each differently?” Perhaps God’s love for each individual is as unique as each culture and countryside He created.

I thank God for his creativity. Though the mountains here don’t look anything like the mountains in New Hampshire, they are both majestic. Though the fruit here doesn’t taste anything like the fruit in New Hampshire, each is delicious in its own way. Though the people here are different than the people back home, the image of God remains.

I remember praying in college that God would open my eyes to beauty in the world and “sweep His colors through my life”. Looking back, I see how God has continued to answer that prayer in different ways than I would have expected. I have been given the gift of live. I am a unique member of a strange and unique world. I play a part in history and God’s story, no matter how small a role.

I comprehend certain things, but only fragments. As the Apostle Paul once said, “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.” All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God knows me completely. The earth is full of His glory.

(It feels so good typing that, I’m going to type it again.)

I LOVE CYNDI LAUPER!

(Oh yes! The freedom in professing my love! I know girls just want to have fun, but I’m coming right out with my feelings, Cyndi. You know where I stand. I’m not playing any games!)

Why do I love Cyndi Lauper so much? That’s hard to say for sure. I suppose it is a combination of a lot of things. First off: I love the 80s. Some of my first memories of music were Cyndi Lauper songs (and Amy Grant singing about names of God in other languages and angels watching over me). I dreamed of the day when those lyrics from Lauper songs would apply to my own sweetheart. I remembered learning in Sunday School that Jesus could return at any time and the world as we knew it would come to an end. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that and didn’t really want Jesus to randomly arrive – at least until my career in the NBA was over. Cyndi represented an era when life had so much promise.

Then, there was her music. Her songs were so passionate, tender and emotional. They were full of longing, pain and beauty. I even loved “Girls just want to have fun” – a song which pretty much had nothing to do with me, but was so full of life I could help but to want to be part of it. I never got the sense that Cyndi was singing a song for the heck of it. Rather, I felt like she poured her heart into every word.

It wasn’t only about the music, but also the person. There was just something about Cyndi Lauper. Perhaps it was mostly about her looks (I had never seen anyone with pink hair before), but I think it went deeper than that. The title of her debut album summed it up perfectly: She’s so unusual. Despite how different she was, I never felt like she was putting on an act. I felt like she was being herself no matter how weird she came across. I loved her for it and still do.

Having said all that, here are my five favorite Cyndi Lauper songs in reverse order.

5. True Colors

Strange video aside – in this song it’s almost like Cyndi’s arms are reaching out from the airwaves to give the listener a big hug.

4. The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough

Goonies, WWF and Cyndi Lauper - what more can you really ask for?

3. Girls Just Want to Have Fun

How much does it say about this song that a guy would like it so much? Knowing the guy is me – maybe not so much.

2. All Through the Night

Another song that absolutely tears at the heart-strings AND Cyndi does it while looking like a zombie on “The Walking Dead”.

1. Time After Time

One of the most beautiful and memorable music videos of all time.

If you watched any of those videos, I hope you enjoyed them! Also, if you are able to do a better job of putting your finger on what made her so fabulous, I would love to hear your thoughts!

But what about when Jennifer isn’t so fresh? What if she experiences so much success, people stop rooting for her like they stopped rooting for the Yankees and Patriots? How about if all the pressure to be perfect gets to her and she starts to crack like what happened to Britney Spears? How will people feel about her in a couple decades when she’s possibly just a footnote in American entertainment history and “Hollywood Old” like they started calling Julia Roberts a few years ago at the age of 41?

I think it is good to love Jennifer Lawrence and good for Jennifer Lawrence to love every last moment of her fickle fame and preciously fleeting life. Love the hell out of Jennifer Lawrence. Just don’t stop loving her in 25 years when her beauty has faded or even in 5 years if she has to kill more innocent children in the final “Hunger Games” movie.

Right now, Jennifer is like someone who has just been widowed. She has all the love and support in the world. But as days, weeks, months and years go by, others forget. But Jennifer won’t forget. Maybe in 40 years she’ll pop in a tape from last Sunday and remember the way it used to be. That’s especially when it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to send her some fan mail and tell her how much she meant to you.

In other news, Michael Jordan just turned 50.

Once upon a time, in a faraway land, a young prince lived in a shining castle.  Although he had everything his heart desired, the prince was spoiled, selfish, and unkind.  But then, one winter’s night, an old beggar woman came to the castle and offered him a single rose in return for shelter from the bitter cold. Repulsed by her haggard appearance, the prince sneered at the gift and turned the old woman away, but she warned him not to be deceived by appearances, for beauty is found within. And when he dismissed her again, the old woman’s ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress.  The prince tried to apologize, but it was too late, for she had seen that there was no love in his heart, and as punishment, she transformed him into a hideous beast, and placed a powerful spell on the castle, and all who lived there. Ashamed of his monstrous form, the beast concealed himself inside his castle, with a magic mirror as his only window to the outside world.  The rose she had offered was truly an enchanted rose, which would bloom until his twenty-first year.  If he could learn to love another, and earn her love in return by the time the last petal fell, then the spell would be broken.  If not, he would be doomed to remain a beast for all time.  As the years passed, he fell into despair, and lost all hope, for who could ever learn to love a beast?

* * *

00:01 – All I know about this movie is that Belle is the princess I can never recognize and Beast reminds me of the singer Meatloaf.

1:58 – I don’t blame this guy one bit for being mean to the old beggar lady. Being a prince, he has obviously studied up on his princess history. You know the last time a haggard looking elderly lady showed up unannounced on someone’s doorstep? Ever watch Snow White?

2:45 – A magic mirror is the beast’s only window to the outside world. Best not be asking that mirror who the best looking prince in the world is, Meatloaf.

3:40 – We have a morning. We have birds. We have a PRINCESS! Do we have singing? I need singing. Come on, Disney, we can’t have a princess in the morning without singing…

3:49 – SINGING!

4:27 – Belle is singing about a “little town full of little people”. Obviously, she studied up on Snow White too. From the lyrics, apparently every day is the same in this poor little town full of midgets.

5:28 – Belle checks out a book from the library with “far out places, daring swordfights, magic spells and a  prince in disguise”, even though she’s read it twice. Another princess longing for adventure! Singing to the birds every day gets old, you know?

6:12 – It’s confirmed that singing to birds gets old because Belle is now singing to some sheep. Just like any addiction, there is always escalation.

6:55 – A fellow named Gaston just showed up on scene and the first thing he did was to, get this… KILL A BIRD! This guy is obviously bad news. How dare you kill a bird in a princess movie?

8:45 – Gaston declares that because Belle is the only one in the town as beautiful as he, he is going to woo and marry her. In his pursuit, the first thing he does is steal Belle’s beloved book and throw it in the mud! This guy has the charm of a skunk.

16:26 – Belle’s father (Maurice) gets lost on his way to a fair and ends up at the cursed castle. He is greeted by a warm candlestick and ticked-off clock (see what I did there?)

17:30 – Beast arrives on the scene looking tall, dark and ugly and demands to know who Maurice is and what he is doing there. This is all followed by a “You’re not welcomed here!” Apparently Beast still hasn’t learned his lesson about being nice to old people.

17:56 – Back in the small town with short people where nothing ever changes, Gaston has arranged a wedding for he and Belle, before even proposing. However you feel about this dope, you have to admit that the whole inviting-your-bride-to-her-wedding-before-actually-proposing-to-her thing is kind of romantic.

19:09 – Gaston just slammed his muddy boots on Belle’s precious book and is getting uncomfortably aggressive in his advances. This guy needs to take a time out and cool off for a little bit in the corner.

19:47 – Let’s talk about the men in this movie: One is a cruel and tortured beast, while the other is all brawn and no brain. These guys are woofully inadequate! The only likeable man is Belle’s absent-minded father who can’t even make it to the fair without getting lost in the woods.

20:35 – Belle is singing again, frolicking in open meadows and looking for adventure. Basically, she needs to join this family. .

22:32 – Everyone keeps remarking how there is a GIRL in the CASTLE. These folks act like they haven’t hung out with a girl in 10 years. Well, me neither. Too busy watching princess movies.

23:20 – Scary beast just appeared out of nowhere and growled at Belle, “What are you doing here?” Apparently, that is his first question to everybody. I guess the days are over where you can just drop into a haunted castle unannounced and expect to feel welcomed.

23:24 – Belle calls to the Beast: “Who is there? Who are you?”

Let’s recap the conversations we’ve had between the Beast and other characters so far:

• 17:30 – Beast to Maurice: “Who are you? What are you doing here?”
• 23:20 – Beast to Belle, “What are you doing here?”
• 23:24 – Belle to Beast, “Who is there? Who are you?”

Is ANYONE going to ask a different question or maybe answer a question that has already been asked?

24:11 – After initially telling Maurice that he isn’t welcome to stay, Beast decides to keep Maurice as his prisoner. That’s the kind of all-or-nothing thinking that will get you in trouble in life.

25:30 – Beast seems touched when Belle offers to take the place of her father as prisoner in the castle. Now, he is about to show Belle to a nicer room. Still, he is a jerk to the poor candlestick. What is up with this guy? Does he have a heart? Does he not have a heart? I haven’t felt this confused by my emotions toward a person since I started developing feelings for Tom Brady.

27:00 – After her conversation with the Beast, Belle throws herself on her bed and breaks into tears. Meanwhile, Gaston is still licking his wounds after his proposal was rejected. Obviously, he doesn’t know that the real way to woo Belle is to kidnap her father, force her to stay in his home and then command her to join him for dinner.

29:36 – Gaston is a violent man. Who is going to come to melt his troubled heart? Disney was going to send Bambi, but they were afraid that Gaston would shoot him too.

32:08 – Belle is still sobbing. She doesn’t have any dwarfs to pour out her heart to like Snow White, animals to sing to like Aurora or fairy godmothers to confide in like Cinderella. She does, however, have a singing teapot set, which is a lot more than I ever had as a kid.

41:13 – Candlestick is singing “Be Our Guest”, which I vaguely recognize from a commercial. The Beast could learn a thing or two from all this dancing Tupperware on hospitality. Meanwhile, after all that preparation, Belle does not appear to take a single bite of her food.

Favorite YouTube comment: I sang this song to my neighbors. The following week they put up an 11 foot fence against my house!

46:56 – Beast finds Bells in the forbidden part of the castle and starts yelling at her. Meanwhile, a frightened Belle books it for the exit to the castle. I honestly can’t figure out what took her so long to attempt an escape – I suppose the enchanted castle thing with the dancing silverware had her intrigued for a little while there.

47:29 – Oh, there is a pack of hungry wolves chasing Belle. Maybe that is why she didn’t leave earlier. Yo Beast, the princess is about to get eaten by wolves. Maybe you should come out and scare them away. This movie is more than halfway over and you need to start getting your act together fast.

50:20 – Beast came to the rescue and was wounded pretty badly. Belle has the choice between saving the Beast’s life or taking off and chooses the former. The episode with the wolves prompts what I think is the longest conversation anyone has with the Beast in the entire movie:

Beast: That hurts.
Belle: If you’d hold still it wouldn’t hurt so much.
Beast: If you hadn’t run away, this wouldn’t have happened.
Belle: If you didn’t frighten me, I wouldn’t have run away.
Beast: You shouldn’t have been in the West Wing.
Belle: You should learn to control your temper.
Belle: By the way, thank you for saving my life.
Beast: You’re welcome.

Thank God! We’ve finally gotten past all the “Who are you? What are you doing here?” questions, even though I still don’t think any of those questions were ever answered. Do they even know each other’s names yet?

56:30 – Beast is able to build on the goodwill from saving Belle’s life by giving her an entire library. Things continue to turn a corner as Belle and Beast share a meal, feed birds (of course), get in a snowball fight (thank God Beast’s snowball doesn’t connect) and read a book together in a cozy setting. The last time I saw a scene this romantic under a fireplace, it was one of those time life infomercials for a collection of love songs from the 70’s and 80’s.

60:00 – They just played the “Beauty and the Beast” song. I may or may not need some tissues.

61:53 – Beast finally gives Belle her freedom – even though it means the freedom to not be with him anymore. Just like Belle sacrificed herself so that her father wouldn’t be a prisoner, now the Beast is forgoing his chance to have the spell to be broken.

66:00 – Belle tells Gaston that the Beast would never hurt anymore. Though he looks vicious, he’s kind, gentle and her friend. She wraps it up by saying, “He’s no monster. You are.” I’m not sure what kinds of messages this movie is sending to children, but some of them are probably okay.

78:43 – Up until now, the village seemed blissfully unaware that the creepy castle even existed. Now, they’re behaving like the children in Lord of the Flies.

84:42 – After trying to kill Beast, Gaston falls to his death. Can’t say I remember too many people dying in these princess movies, but this guy certainly deserved it and had it coming from the start. The lesson I’m taking away from this: Never think you can kill a bird in a Disney movie and get away with it.

88:32 – Beast turns back into a prince as he has finally learned to love and earn Belle’s love in return. It isn’t until they kiss, however, that the castle and all its servants return to their former glory (I don’t remember that being part of the deal?) That makes five Disney princesses, four hugely important kisses and one this size does not fit all glass slipper.

89:40 – Dancing.

90:20 – Belle and the prince, who ends up looking a bit like Tarzan,  live happily ever after!

Closing Thoughts:

The point of this movie is made clear at the beginning: outward beauty can deceive, but true beauty is found within. Gaston is beautiful on the outside but a narcissistic jerk on the inside. The Beast has neither. What is great about this prince is that he can only be beautiful on the outside until he first gets there on the inside.

Beast isn’t able to change on his own. The animate objects like Lumiere and Mrs. Potts are there to help him along. They coach him to do things like act like a gentleman, smile, be gentle and sincere and learn to control his temper. In this sense, Lumiere and Potts are some of the first ones to love the Beast when there really isn’t much to love or even like. Despite all the encouragement, Beast remains hopeless, lamenting “I’m just fooling myself. She’ll never see me as anything… but a monster.”

Things could not look worse for the Beast, until he is finally able to demonstrate his love for Belle by risking his life to save her from a pack of wolves. At this point, Belle has the choice between leaving the Beast or caring for him. The tenderhearted Belle chooses the latter. This time, when she returns to the castle it is because she wants to be  there. Belle is now free to love rather than forced to.

As Belle cares for his wounds and they air out some conflict, Beast is once again touched by Belle’s kindness. Perhaps Belle is able to see Beast as a little less beastly too. Another breakthrough takes place when Beast gives Belle his library. Finally, he is learning what is important to her and how to speak her language.

While Belle has a lot of love to give, she initially has nobody to give it to other than some birds, sheep and library books. Like other princesses, she feels locked up in life and desires for adventure. However, Belle is unlike other princesses for a number of reasons. One of my friends put it this way:

Belle is by far the best princess by my standards, and here is why: 1) smartest girl in the village, and not afraid to read/educate herself despite the fact that it is considered weird by the townsfolk 2) She demonstrates a realistic way of falling in love… gradually over time and based on personality/character and compatibility, as opposed to love at first sight (which, we now know, almost always leads to divorce) 3) She’s fearless. First, she risks her life to rescue her father, then she rescues her boyfriend as well.

Unlike the town’s bimbos, Belle isn’t the kind of girl who places confidence as the most important factor in a guy or someone who will fall for the first handsome man she sees. If so, she would have married Gaston. She doesn’t even go for charm. Instead, she looks much deeper. Not only does Belle have a heart of gold, she is able to look past the surface and see gold in the Beast’s heart as well.

Along with the objects, Belle plays a major role in getting that gold there in the fist place. She learns to speak Beast’s language as well. She becomes undignified, eating her food like a slob, to get on the Beast’s level. She teaches him how to feed birds. And, when they touch, Belle doesn’t shudder at the Beast’s paw.

Things come to a climax during a dinner date. As Beast is preparing, he is a tangled ball of nerves, hope and insecurity. He loves Belle, but is still trying to figuring out how to express that love, questions how anyone could really love him and is sorely afraid of messing up what appears to be blossoming. For her part, Belle is surprised at the feelings she is developing toward the Beast and the good things about him that she never quite knew were there. She has fallen in love with him without even noticing until recently. Suddenly, it isn’t just Beauty and the Beast, but beauty in the Beast as well.

What follows is pure magic unlike anything I’ve seen in a Disney movie apart from Ariel singing “Part of Your World”. This time, however, it isn’t a song so much about longing as it is the surprising and nervous fulfillment of it. Here we have two young lovers, one very unsure of himself who wants nothing more than to love the princess and the other a dreamer finding herself in the middle of a story much greater than she ever could have imagined. Both a little scared. Neither one prepared. Beauty and the Beast.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AU6b9yRNfh4

I’m taking a break from all my princess posting to present… a princess post! This time, one of my friends approached me telling me I had to write about

I too have a niece who is enlightening me on the wonders of Disney Princesses.  Since my childhood was during the Great Disney Princess Silence, I was more captivated by Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears, Pretty Ponies and Holly Hobby than by Disney Princesses.  I do not remember the thrill of dressing up as Belle for Halloween, having Cinderella shoes or wearing wings like Aurora’s fairy friends at tea parties.

Mark has been able to pull back a metaphorical curtain and revealed that the larger-than-fairy-tale-lives of princesses may have valuable lessons for all of us living in the 21^st Century.  Disney sought to illustrate these lessons through princess Giselle (not to be confused with Tom Brady’s princess Gisele Bundchen) in the 2007 masterpiece “Enchanted” staring Amy Adams, Susan Serandon and Patrick Dempsey (aka. Dr. McDreamy). I will seek to discover how these lessons can impact our nieces and the lives they are dreaming to live.

_______________________

1:53 – Wow!  Not even two minutes into Enchanted we have an Evil Queen, The Prince on a White Horse, dancing and animal friends.  We can only expect that singing with birds and cleaning will soon follow.

4:17 – Giselle teaches us three important lessons through her song “True Love’s Kiss”:

• The reason why we need lips is so that we can experience true love’s kiss.
• To find a life of endless bliss – find who you love through true love’s kiss.
• Ahhhhh ahhhhhhh ahhhhh  ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

(Mark’s comments: I’m not sure what that third bullet has to do with true love. The best place to get your true love kiss is at the dentist? Doesn’t that violate some kind of practitioner/patient relationship agreement?)

5:05 – The Prince is first captivated by the princess’ voice and has a white horse – two attributes of Disney princes that we have already learned from Mark.

6:46 – This troll character must be Shrek’s estranged brother who knew that if he ever wanted to get an Oscar, he would have to ditch Dreamworks and work for Disney.

7:30 – Prince learns Giselle’s name and she does the next logical thing: begins planning their wedding!

9:40 – Giselle tries to run away from a curmudgeonly-old person who is tempting her with a wishing well. She exclaims “I don’t need a wishing well. I’m getting married! All my wishes are about to come true.” Unfortunately she is not successful and curmudgeonly-old person pushes her into a well where she experiences a time and space continuum that would baffle even Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory.

12:00 – Blair, Hide your man – another princess has inhabited your island.  Let’s hope she doesn’t make it up to the Upper East Side.  XOXO, Gossip Girl

(Mark’s comments: I don’t know what XOXO, Gossip Girl means, but like the sound of it and have made it my new email signature.)

15:06 – Why hello Dr. McDreamy!  Giselle is right . . . I think I know how to find a life of endless bliss!

(Mark’s comments: This whole time I thought “McDreamy” was the code name for the delicious, but seldom available Reese’s Flurry. I had better stop asking for the McDreamy at the drive-through window.)

16:28 – Dr. McDreamy doesn’t give his daughter (a.k.a. Daddy’s little princess) fairy tale books.  Instead he gives her a book of “Important Women of our Time.”  I wonder if I can find that book at Porter Square Books and if it includes great women such as Mary Kate and Ashley Olson, Lady Gaga, Jessica Simpson and the Kardashians.

(Mark’s comments: You forget Bette Midler. “Wind Beneath My Wings” brought me through some hard times. I like to pretend Bette was singing it with me in mind.)

23:56 – Blair, a prince is wandering the streets of Manhattan and he’s more pathetic than Lonely Boy.  He’s on a mission and not going away.  XOXO, Gossip Girl

26:28 – Yay!  Cleaning and singing with birds – we officially have a Disney Princess movie.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  Cleaning does not work this way – no matter how much you sing, dance and bring animals into your home.  I’ve tried and my roommate has not been pleased.

30:55 – Ruh-Roh!  Dr. McDreamy’s girlfriend, Nancy (played by Idina Menzel), is not happy with the Giselle Princess Intrusion.

49:00 – To my dear niece,

Countless hours of over-analyzation with your friends at slumber parties can be resolved by watching this clip.

Also take note of Dr. McDreamy’s jazz hands at 50:17 (2:35 in the youtube clip) – that’s how you know he’s falling for Giselle!

With Love,

T-T-M (My Auntie Nickname)

53:11 – Nancy proves that inside every girl is a love for flowers and balls.  Kind of like – inside every girl is a “Woooo!”.

(Mark’s comments: I have no idea what this means and just did a Google search for ‘inside every girl is a woo’ to get some color. The first hit was a website on how to meet & attract women. If I sign up now, I can get a free 10-part “Underground Report” – a $147 value.)

59:22 – While Giselle is having dinner with Dr. McDreamy, we receive some great character development that is unlike any other Disney Princess movie.

Dr. McDreamy:  Because love – the lovey-dovey version that you talk about – It’s fantasy.  And one day, you have to wake up and you’re in the real world.

Giselle:   What made you wake up?
Dr. McDreamy:  Well . . . she [daddy’s princess’ mom] left.
Giselle:  I’m so sorry for you both.
Dr. McDreamy:  It’s OK … I can handle it.  It’s her [daddy’s princess] I worry about. . . . I just want her to be strong . . .  To be able to face the world for what it is.  That’s why I don’t encourage the fairy tales.  I don’t want to set her up to believe in this “dreams come true” nonsense.
Giselle:  But dreams do come true. And maybe something wonderful will happen.
Dr. McDreamy:  Yeah, well, I forgot who I was talking to.
Giselle:  Well I hope you don’t forget.  I like talking to you.

63:57 – I can’t help but notice that The Prince has puffed sleeves that would even make Anne jealous.

(Mark’s comments: I don’t see anything about wearing puffy sleeves in my free, underground report.)

68:25 – The Prince comes to “rescue” Giselle! He starts to sing – but Giselle is not singing along!  Magic Kingdom – We Have a Problem!

71:00 – The Prince agrees to go on a date with Giselle, but there is conflict here between who will be her true love.  So let’s go back to what we know is true. Let’s see how Dr. McDreamy and The Prince measure up on the primary attributes for a Disney Prince:

74:30 – During the date Giselle asks The Prince to a ball.  This is the same ball that Dr. McDreamy and Nancy are going to – clearly disregarding what she may have read in her copies of The Rules, Passion and Purity and He’s Just Not That Into You.

77:23 – Blair, hold onto your Dior. Georgina was nothing compared to the Queen-bee-wanna-be that just arrived. XOXO Gossip Girl

80:02 – At the ball, it appears that The Prince scored a point for “Romantic” in Nancy’s opinion by his dashing good looks, charming wit and puffed sleeves . . . but isn’t is supposed to be Giselle who is noticing these things?  What’s going to happen?  Is someone going to find a life of endless bliss through a true love’s kiss?

82:30 – Giselle dancing with Dr. McDreamy + Nancy dancing with The Prince = My heart is melting.

83:00 –Nancy cutting in and dancing with Dr. McDreamy + sad Giselle with The Prince = My heart breaking.

85:10 – Oh no! I just want to scream “No Giselle!  Don’t eat curmodgeonly-old woman’s apple – No matter what she says!  Especially when she says you need to eat the apple before the clock strikes Twelve.”

88:45 – Giselle is dead.

88:50 – Giselle taught us that True Love’s Kiss will bring life’s eternal bliss.  Maybe a kiss will bring her back to life, but The Prince’s kiss isn’t working and the clock is striking Twelve.  Come on Dr. McDreamy –Nancy even says you can kiss her, even though you’ve only known her for a day – this could be True Love!

90:07 – CRAP!  Dr. McDreamy’s kiss didn’t work!  Mark – What’s going to happen?  You didn’t teach us about this!

(Mark’s comments: If this has anything to do with the final bullet on the true love song discussed at 4:17, I think what it means is that someone is going to jail.)

90:28 – OMG!  It did work!  Giselle is alive! Those tricky Disney people . . .

90:56 – Looks like Evil Queen didn’t get President Obama’s memo.  She has a bayonet and it appears to be pretty powerful.  Bayonets help Queens become dragons and The Queen/Dragon captures Dr. McDreamy.  Maybe we should reconsider our Defense spending.

92:27 – Giselle takes the bayonet and SPOILER ALERT! leaves her shoe in the ballroom.

95:20 – Long story . . . Giselle saves Dr. McDreamy and kills the evil Queen/dragon while using her bayonet.  I wonder if Eowyn is her favorite Lord of the Rings character?

95:55 – Giselle and Dr. McDreamy are KISSING!

(Mark’s comments: That dentist is a pervert!)

96:10 –Nancy finds the shoe and The Prince puts it on her foot – *tear*  He even says it’s a perfect fit.  They get married.

97:40 – Giselle starts a princess fashion company for kids.  Do they have a website?  I should really get a dress for my niece.

98:30 – Dr. McDreamy, daddy’s princess and Giselle running around the house in gleeful happiness. Julie Andrews says they all live happily ever after – so it must be true!

Young MC’s niece

Concluding thoughts:

I think Dr. McDreamy identifies a concern for many regarding Disney Princesses.  We don’t want to set our young girls up for failure when their dreams do not come true.  Instead, we would rather prepare them for the real world.  I think this is not only a struggle for people who are guiding young girls in their own life, but also (if we are honest with ourselves) a personal struggle for everyone.

It is often said that hope deferred makes a heart sick and a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.  But what does that mean for the multitude of people whose lives are filled with “hope deferred” instances?  It is easy to take the path of Dr. McDreamy and prepare for the hard-knocks and not allow one to dream about abundant trees.

One of my favorite stories in Scripture is in Daniel 3, when the king orders Daniel to bow before an idol and threatens the fiery furnace as punishment if he doesn’t obey.  Daniel declares that his God is able to save him from the fiery furnace, but even if his God does not save him, he will not bow before the idol.

I pray that my niece obtains the resolve and determination to do the right thing like Daniel.  However, I also hope that she continues to dream that her God can provide miracles in her life.  Sometimes I think it is tempting to be like Dr. McDreamy and focus on how to deal with the real world.  However, Giselle teaches us that miracles can happen and it is important to spend time dreaming.

My hope for my niece is that she will continue to dream a fairy tale life that is bigger than any Disney Princess could live.  Most likely she will have disappointments and heart-aches along the way.  However, I pray that I will be an Auntie who is reminding her that her dreams can come true, but even if they do not – she should continue to be faithful no matter how much she wants to harden her heart.

In the meantime, we’ll just have some fun laughing, giggling, dancing and singing – just like Disney Princesses!