When Kindness Triumphs
Somehow I missed seeing the new version of Cinderella until this week. I guess, truthfully, I thought it would be the same old story with a focus on the ultimate goal of finding true love.
Wrong.
Love figured in the plot, of course, but another word, actually two, took front stage: bravery and kindness.
You have probably all seen the movie, so I won’t elaborate on the gorgeous dress that floats by itself on the dance floor, the glistening glass slipper that feels comfortable (!), or the goose turned carriage driver who shouts, “I’m a goose! I can’t drive!”
Instead, I want to dwell on those two words: bravery and kindness.
As she is dying, Ella’s mother tells her a great secret that will see her through the trials life has to offer: “Have courage and be kind.”
After watching the movie, I kept mulling over the connection between bravery and kindness. Does one come first? Are they equals? Do they infuse each other and make each other stronger?
In a review of the movie for The Washington Post, author Kristen Page-Kirby writes,
Bravery and kindness make it easier to be hurt. Being hurt makes it harder to be brave and kind. This Cinderella has to make up her mind over and over again to do what is asked of her, and you can see that each time it gets a little harder for her.
The movie also shows what happens when people stop allowing themselves to be vulnerable — Cate Blanchett’s Stepmother isn’t cruel just because the story needs a villain; she’s cruel because she was kind in the past and paid for that kindness in pain.
(You can read the entire review here: http://wpo.st/lknI1.)
Interesting! The stepmother had bravely entered into a relationship, infused with kindness and love, but then she discovered disappointment and pain. At that point she made a choice: no more pain! And that meant no more kindness and therefore no more brave relationships.
Cinderella, on the other hand, chose to pursue kindness, which inevitably led her into brave relationships—with her stepmother and her stepsisters but also with the prince. Her decision brought her many days of an aching heart and moments filled with tears of anguish. But in the end, it gave her the ability to forgive and the ability to accept the love of the prince.
Kindness, in this movie, comes out looking like a powerful, effective tool for building brave, authentic relationships don’t you think? Much stronger than the tool of manipulation, wielded by the stepmother and stepsisters.
For those of us who love God, our call to kindness comes directly through the life and example of Jesus: “Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32, NLT).
Let’s be brave together and seek to develop relationships grounded firmly in kindness.
P.S. Just in case you want to see the swirly-twirly dress again, here is the movie trailer: http://wapo.st/1z2xQTd
