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Someday my Prince will come


I'm a lifelong fan of almost all things Disney. As a child Disneyland was my vision of Heaven. I would get excited and prepare for months when I knew our family was planning a visit. I would watch the movies and sing the songs eagerly awaiting the days to be spent at the "Happiest Place on Earth". Our family recently took a trip to the park in March. We hadn't gone as a whole family in years which made this trip all the more special.

We were having lunch one day in New Orleans Square where there was a jazz trio performing an array of tunes. For their last song the played "Someday my Prince will come" from the Disney animated feature "Snow White". Several small children instantly recognized the song and made their way to the foot of the stage dancing in the carefree way that children do.

I watched as a father danced with his very young daughter. It looked like the perfect picture for a Disney brochure. I could imagine years from now when that little girl gets married and she dances with her father, hopefully a little more coordinated. He will twirl her in her white wedding dress as she begins life with her new husband.

I know that there are views that pose the opinion that all the Disney princess movies skew young girls dreams and ideas of romance. The idea that you sit idly by and wait for your prince to come and take you away to his castle for a life of happily ever after. Feminism stands in pretty stark opposition to such a thought.

But what struck me this time was the thought that I as a man am waiting for my Prince to come. My Prince is the Prince of Peace and He is preparing a place for us. A perfect kingdom filled with more joy, beauty and celebration than anything Disney has ever dreamed up.

We are like the princesses in bringing nothing to our salvation, in fact it was our action that caused us to need rescuing. Think of Snow White eating the apple or Princess Aurora touching the spinning wheel.

I now have a different perspective when watching these Disney classics. I see the greater love story unfolding. The one that is true and has a real Happily Ever After.

Now we just need some popcorn.

Comments

  1. UnknownMay 2, 2011 at 10:12 PM

    This is a far cry from the kind of blog that would put me to sleep! This is great, Jonathan. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMay 2, 2011 at 11:28 PM

    Great post, Jonathan! You're a silly goose for thinking your written thoughts would put people to sleep! I think you have some great gifts.
    I've been thinking a lot about that great wedding day, too! It humbles me and brings me great hope.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AdriaMay 2, 2011 at 11:39 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. AdriaMay 2, 2011 at 11:44 PM

    The old Disney films are great at presenting Messianic metaphors. Cinderella lived like a slave to a family she did not belong to, and became a princess not by her own works or rights, but through the help of others. Snow White ate a forbidden apple. Sleeping Beauty touched a forbidden object. They needed a Prince to bring them back to life. Pinocchio wanted a new body, but was sidetracked by pleasures of the flesh (then spent time in the belly of a whale...). The Beast's inward deformity was manifest in his physical form (take that, gnosticism!), until he "died" and was raised with a new body by love.

    (Also, The Lion King has great parallels to Hamlet...).

    May we wait patiently for our Prince, never settling for less than His love and Kingdom.

    ReplyDelete
  5. BeccaDecember 9, 2011 at 2:06 AM

    I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that I... sort of.. disagree. I mean, I get it, you're making a metaphor, but I guess in my eyes, my Prince (and your prince) HAS come. His kingdom is happening now and He is the one waiting for us, not the other way around. This post was a bit of a jump for me, I'm afraid I can't make that broad of a connection from archetypal fairy tales to the teachings of Christ. I can understand it to an extent, I can propose that the fairy tales are perhaps a result of the gospel, but if I were to really engage with this post, I'd be curious what happened if you expanded more.

    that said, I realize this is a "here are my thoughts" blog... and this was written in May. I just felt compelled to comment.

    ReplyDelete

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