Blossom

Every little girl dreams about growing up and blossoming into a princess. While viewing Disney’s new family friendly film Enchanted, at The Bridge Theater on 40th and Walnut, I began to think of my own family films made over the years and how those films captured key moments of my youth and helped me personally blossom into the person I wished to become. I must warn my avid male readers though, you may not be able to personally relate to this, but it may help you deal with and better understand your sister, mothers, friends, and/or girlfriend.
Birthdays are one of the most popular family filmed events. It is during this event that family and friends gather together and hope to grant the wishes of their valued kin. The lens focuses just in time to hear the final line of Happy Birthday. Immediately after the catchy tune ends sung by the voices old of old and young I begin the daunting task of blowing out candles. After several futile attempts it looked as if no matter how hard I blew and how much I accidentally spit on the cake, the candles would not extinguish. Finally, after the trick candles were snuffed, the smoke rose above our heads and the scent quickly filled the room crammed with family members. Another birthday wish was captured on film as clenched my tiny hand around the wooden handle of my mothers longest knife. I closed my eyes to allow myself to think of my final wish while cutting the first piece of cake. The piece of birthday cake with the purple flower has always been the most valued piece of birthday cake for a young child. The dye from the sugary purple delight turns the tongue of anyone who graces their spoon or fork near it an abnormal shade of purple for a minimum of an hour and a half. But times have now changed. At some point the once acceptable slip ups and mistakes caught on film are deemed inappropriate for an adult to do.
The real movie, Enchanted, begins at The Bridge Theater as we are introduced to the movie’s leading lady, Giselle. Trying to find her prince and true love, the “hopeful queen” follows the customs of her far far far away fairytale land and begins to sing in hopes of finding a prince and future husband. When Giselle sings this song the “hopeful queen” is able to break the sound barrier. Giselle’s prince, who is also actively seeking the love of his life, hears her song from hundreds of miles away and decides to follow her voice and marry the vocalist.
Fast-forward three years within the real world of my own home footage. As the lens focuses I see myself as a young toddler perfecting my English. While watching this footage I cannot help but laugh as I am caught on film saying the most ridiculous things: “gifa gific tit” (gift certificate), “dundella” (umbrella), and finally “sus sesssy fuw” (successful). I still do not understand why my parents would want to keep evidence on film that I, their favorite daughter of course, was not proficient in the English language. On the contrary, if I were to say these words in the same manner at my current age of 18, I would still be laughed at. Unfortunately nowadays this butchered attempt at English would not fall into the category of a cute mistake.
In Giselle’s fairytale world in Enchanted she soon realizes that just singing a song and wishing for a prince will not help you find your true love. For true love you must work hard at making your relationship succeed, and allowing it to grow. This requires putting both time and effort into the relationship. Giselle decides against her fairytale land customs. The leading lady chooses not to marry her prince immediately after meeting him, but learn about her supposed prince charming and see if the two of them are compatible rather than just marrying based on physical appearance and high rank in the government.
The home camera’s lens now is focused on the dance stage of my first ballet recital. I, like every child on stage, am standing in a ridiculous hot pink tutu. The sequins on my flashy costume reflect into the lens of the camera creating an intense glare on the screen. The song begins and unfortunately we, the dancers who have practiced once a week for the past six months, stand there, frozen, searching for a familiar face in the audience. Once we find this face we wave and smile. We each exit the stage with a curtsey causing the audience to burst into applause. In present day situations when giving an oral report to a group I will still look for that familiar face to soothe me. Unfortunately this time when I freeze I am not greeted with the same applause and praise.The water from my mouth runs dry as my palms are saturated. Stuttering and shaking the audience begins to talk amongst themselves and heckle from afar. I can do nothing but smile as I exit the stage with an audience filled with complaints.
The word fairytale is usually associated with happily ever after and predictable marriages. Giselle, like a grown woman, knows the difference between both right versus wrong and marrying for love versus marrying for convenience. This is due to her maturation. In the end she decides against marrying her so called prince charming. She has finally matured.
The final scene of my home movie marathon begins as I process across the stage at my high school graduation. Taken less than six months ago, the microphone is able to pick up the faint voice of my parents filming the event from their seats in the muddy wet grass. Thinking that the microphone wasn’t picking up their voices, my mother states, “I never thought our little Christina would grow up to be so ‘sus sesssy fuw’ in life”. It is at that moment, while watching my graduation home video, in which I realized I have finally matured. I, like Giselle, had finally realized that some choices were deemed appropriate for a lady like myself to make. The easy way out, marrying the supposedly perfect prince, is not always a smartest decision to make. We all grow up, although the times have changed and we all have lost a bit of our cuteness, it is no longer acceptable to spit on our birthday cakes, mispronounce words, or freeze in front of a group. Taking all of this into account there is still one constant childish behavior that remains, the fight amongst family and friends all wishing for that single piece of birthday cake with the purple tongue dyeing delight.