Hope from Maleficent

I love movies!  Just getting lost for a couple hours in a whole other world. If it's a great movie, I leave the theatre with this dreamy feeling of belonging to a Different Place for awhile. It's wonderful.

Maleficent was a beautiful world to get lost in. The movie is the re-telling of the Sleeping Beauty story. If you've ever seen the Cinderella story "Ever After" with Drew Barrymore, it's sort of like that! I loved that one too!!

Maleficent is a Faerie who lives in a completely different world than the "Kingdom of Man".  This Kingdom is close by and she can see it from her home in the Forest. You watch her as she grows up and has complete freedom and joy to live and frolic in this Mystical world. I fell in love with this child Faerie and her world.

A little boy wonders into the mystical woods. He is a poor boy without any parents. He and the Faerie form a wonderful friendship that continues to grow into Love. He shares with her that, one day, he plans to live in the Castle of the Kingdom of Man.
Eventually he stops coming to visit Maleficent and it makes her very sad.

Meanwhile, the Kingdom of Man continues to plot a way to conquer this Mystical Land. They finally attack and are beaten down with Maleficent as the head of the army of Mystical Beings. She is strong and her wings are her weapon with which she defeats the army attacking her. The soldiers flee and the King is consumed with killing Maleficent. He promises his daughter to anyone who can complete this task.

One day, the boy returns to the mystical forest. Only he is a man now.  Maleficent greets him with trust and open arms.  She believes that she has found her True Love and is happy again. However, Maleficent is deceived. She has been betrayed. He drugs her to sleep and she wakes to find that her beloved wings have been torn from her. Her abuser used iron which burns Faeries. (Iron, that which is crafted by man... thought that was sort of cool). He knows this fact, only because Maleficent TRUSTED him with it. Can I just say here that Angelina Jolie's acting is just outstanding in this role. The agony of having her wings missing... you could FEEL it! (even without the 3D glasses!).  haha

Her "True Love" has betrayed her and takes her wings to the dying King to claim that Maleficent is dead and so he wins the future crown. Leaving a raging, angry and vengeful Maleficent behind. Look out!  She is one pissed off Faerie!! Angelina Jolie also plays THAT role very well!!  

Sticking with tradition of the story... the now King who once was the betrayer of our heroine, has a baby girl. Maleficent comes to the Castle to place a curse on the King's daughter; that she will die on her 16th birthday unless saved by "True Love's Kiss". A little sarcasm on Maleficent's part since she knows that "True Love" does NOT exist!

The baby is hauled off to live in the woods with three fairies. Supposedly to protect her! Sort of a dumb plan if you ask me, but you know, it's only a Fairy Tale! Maleficent is able to constantly watch and interact with the baby girl who grows into the beautiful young princes Aurora. She is full of goodness, grace and open hearted Love for everyone. So basically, Maleficent gets to see herself! What she used to be! Maleficent's growing Love for Aurora, makes her try to revoke the curse while the girl is sleeping. The scene where she does this was so well-done in my opinion. It gave me chills. 

Sadly, she is unable to revoke the curse. She is heartbroken.

I'll try to sum up the ending here. Basically, it's the same plot line as Frozen.... True Love's Kiss does NOT have to be the love between a man and a woman. It can come from anywhere True Love lives. The Prince blows it. His kiss does not wake the Beauty. It was Maleficent's kiss to the one she looked on as a daughter. Okay, I DID get a little frustrated at the repeating of the same premise as Frozen... but at the same time, it's what I NEED to be reminded of.
I don't think I can tire of that plot line.
At least I pray I never do!!
Besides, I'm not one to throw stones since this blog is rather similar to my last one I wrote on Frozen. Whoops!

In the end, Maleficent discovers True Love and THAT is what "saves the day" and brings the "happily ever after"!

TRUE LOVE.
Is there even such a thing? Sometimes it's hard to believe, isn't it?

How many of us gave our whole hearts to something? How many of us were truly trying to be open and do our best to be loving and just be who we are?
How many of us have been betrayed by people who "said" they "loved" us or cared for us?
Whether we've been mistreated, betrayed and/or abused;
as a child
or a wife
or a friend
or a husband
or as an employee
or by a religion
or a corporation
or from gossip
or slander
or physical abuse
or emotional abuse???

There are many things that can "cut off our wings".

When these things happen, they can make us cynical. They can give us vengeful thoughts. They can cause us to not ever want to trust again. They can make us stereotype those who have harmed us.

Betrayal can consume the "child" that is inside of us. The ~One~ that loves freely trusts openly and cares not whether others feel she deserves that love or has to earn it by certain behaviors, beliefs or conformity. When those wings are ripped off it can hollow you out and leave only bitterness and emptiness.

Yet, Maleficent was able to... change her mind. She was able to BELIEVE in True Love again. In spite of all that had happened to her and how humans treated her! It was True Love that restored her wings to her.
Via a human.

Now THAT is a story that gives me Hope!

I have hope that every day when I feel my wings being pulled at from various sources... and I begin to doubt and mistrust and fear. I can continue to have hope!

Because True Love is real.  It's not a Fairy Tale.