Maleficent

As always, use discretion in reading this post because there may be spoilers.

Maleficent is one of those new tales that not only reimagines a fairytale by changing what it means to be a villain, but it is also one of those which redefines true love. Starting the magnificent acting talents of Angelina Jolie, the story of Disney's Sleeping Beauty is told through the perspective of Maleficent.

In this tale, Maleficent is a sweet young fairy who falls for a poor boy named Stefan. However that boy puts his ambitions and freed above his emotions and betrays the fairy by cutting off her wings. For this reason, Maleficent learns to hate people and separates the magic creatures from the human world.

Then, as the classic tale goes, King Stefan and his wife have a beautiful baby girl and invite everyone in the kingdom, except Maleficent, to a celebration in the princess's honour. But Maleficent finds out and interrupts the other fairies giving her gifts and curses the girl. On her 16th birthday she will prick her finger on a spinning wheel and fall into a sleep that can only be broken by true loves kiss. This diverges from the original because Maleficent actually makes it that she will never wake, but Merrywrather changes the curse. I believe this was done in an effort to make her less of the stereotypical villain and more merciful and human. Furthermore, it is her way of sending a message to Stefan who claimed to give her true love's kiss before abandoning her for power and status.

Things change when Maleficent begins to interact with the lovely Aurora as she hides out in the woods with the three fairies. The girl never learns who Maleficent really is or what her fate will be. Instead, the two form a mother-daughter relationship. Despite who her father is, Aurora and Maleficent are able to fill the missing roles in their lives. Maleficent has felt unloved and is likely jealous that Stefan and his wife had a child instead of her, so Aurora becomes like her daughter. Maleficent fills the role of the mother that the fairies just can't fill for Aurora. This, the movie says, is true love.

The redefining of true love also manifests in the interactions between Aurora and Prince Philip. The two have a romantic meeting, but they do not claim to know each other well enough to be in love. Nor does his kiss work to wake the girl from her sleep.

This was a really beautiful movie and it put a very unique spin on the fairytale that I grew up with. Of course, this does make an interesting point about the nature of people. It seems to say that we are all good and that circumstances make us evil. While this is a nice thought, can we truly say this? Then again, Atefan starts out innocent and makes himself into a terrible monster of a man. So perhaps it is not what happens to us, but what we choose to do, which makes us truly evil.

Hopefully I haven't just bummed everyone out. So if you haven't yet, go watch the movie and just enjoy it for what it is, instead of ruining it by thinking about what I've said.