I Demand More Silly Movies

A little over two months ago (on April 11th) I went out and saw the new Cinderella movie, the one directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring an assortment of famous veteran British actors and up-and-coming stars of popular British TV shows. I've been meaning to write about it ever since.


Why?


Because it is so incredibly silly.


Everything about it is just ridiculous. There's a narrator who keeps coming back to unnecessarily narrate things every few minutes. The costumes are all elaborate and colorful and look like they're probably impossible to maneuver in. Cinderella is perfect and photogenic and delicate and feminine, without a dark side or a sarcastic streak or anything. When she's in distress, she exclaims, "oh my goodness!" The prince has a happy place, complete with tree swing. There's random slow motion sequences and singing and everybody's blond and the prince is adorable and he's a grown man who goes by the name Kit. And (and I hope I'm not spoiling it by saying this) the prince comes and gets the girl at the end and carries her away and she gets to live happily ever after, because she always remembered to have courage and be kind (incidentally, the phrase "have courage and be kind" is in the movie about eight hundred times; I think the writers are trying to tell us something).


It is the silliest movie I've seen in a long time.


I loved every minute of it. It is now my second favorite film adaptation of Cinderella, after the Drew Barrymore movie Ever After (random aside: if you've never seen Ever After, go watch it right now. Leonardo da Vinci is the fairy godmother. It's pretty amazing).


I'm not sure I can explain why. But really, why should I have to? I think that deep down, most people enjoy a silly movie every now and then. They're certainly preferable to movies that are trying hard to convince you they're not silly.


Take another of Disney's recent films: Frozen. Poor, poor Frozen. Frozen might very well be the most embarrassed movie I have ever seen. Watching Frozen feels like trying to have a conversation with a friend who keeps unnecessarily apologizing for things. I desperately want to provide comfort, and the poor dear just won't listen.


Frozen: Oh... oh my goodness... oh dear.... oh, look what I've done. Oh.... oh... look at all these movies about love at first sight!


Me: Hey, don't worry about it. We like those movies.


Frozen: No, no you don't, you're just saying that. Oh my word, I am SO EMBARRASSED. Um... um... here, I know! How about the guy she falls in love with at first sight is actually evil! That'll make it better! Can you forgive me now?


Me: You don't have to do that. I wasn't mad.


Frozen: No, you were, you WERE, I know you were. And oh... oh no, for seventy-five years we've been saying that romantic love is more important than familial love! Oh, I am SO SORRY.


Me: Stop apologizing. Really. It's okay.


Frozen: No, no, it's not okay! It's so not okay! And... and... I'm so embarrassed... the prince always saves the princess in the end!


Me: I promise I don't mind.


Frozen: YOU DO, YOU DO, YOU DO MIND. I HAVE TO FIX THIS.


Me: You really don't.


Frozen: I do though. SEE, LOOK KIDS, TRUE LOVE CAN HAPPEN BETWEEN SISTERS.


Me: Frozen, please calm down.


Frozen: NO I CAN'T I'VE RUINED EVERYTHING.


Me: I mean it. I swear I'm not mad about this. Just take a deep breath and come down from the table...


Frozen: Not until I'm done fixing everything!


Me: Oh my word, Frozen, RELAX. You are going to hurt yourself.


Frozen: LOOK LOOK LOOK THE GIRL SAVED HER SISTER ALL BY HERSELF. GIRL POWER! (Insane laughter which quickly devolves into hysterical sobbing)


Me: (Soothingly, while gently stroking Frozen's hair) Yeah. Okay. Yeah. You fixed it. We're okay now. Hush...


Frozen: (Strangled sob) Look at the cute snowman...


Me: Yep. I see him. Hush now. Shhhhhhh...


Compare this to Cinderella, which pretty much just says, "Yeah. I'm silly. What are you gonna do about it?"


So here's my question: why do things like movies and books exist in the first place?


Well, there are a lot of reasons. Some are made to call attention to problems or teach morals. Some exist to shock and disturb, or to reveal their creators' personalities. Some preach. Some exist to tell true stories and thus immortalize heroes. Frozen seemingly exists to atone for mistakes that Disney is convinced it's made.


But not all movies are like that, nor should they be. We experience enough moralizing and shocks, preaching and tale-telling and unnecessary apologies in our everyday lives to tolerate an endless barrage of them from our imaginary ones as well.


That's why we have fairy tales.


That's why we have movies like Cinderella, in which good triumphs over cruelty and patience and kindness alone are enough to bring about great reward. Maybe it's not terribly realistic. I don't care.


It's why we have movies like Ever After, which is massively historically inaccurate, but again, I don't care, because Leonardo da Vinci is the fairy godmother.


It's why we have books like The Three Musketeers (and movies like its film adaptations), which is about immoral people dashing about being drunk and swashbuckling and enabling other people's immoral behavior. There's no moral and no lessons to learn and again, I don't care.


And the thing is... I think stories like these are going out style.


Maybe I'm wrong. But I feel like more and more of the books and movies being made, and rewarded, and critically acclaimed are the preachy kind, or the "based on a true story" kind, or, worst of all, the overly apologetic kind. Heck, the kinds of stories I'm describing have been called "guilty pleasures" for years, like we should feel bad for enjoying them. There's a new trend of superhero movies stuffed with angst and thought-provoking dialogue and death, practically screaming, "Yes, I know none of this is realistic and that guy's wearing a cape, but I swear I am NOT SILLY". I've written recently about Georgette Heyer, who is well on her way to becoming my new favorite author. She wrote historical romance novels, and reportedly (according to Wikipedia, that is) wrote to a friend in 1944, "I think myself I ought to be shot for writing such nonsense... but it's unquestionably good escapist literature and I think I should rather like it if I were sitting in an air-raid shelter or recovering from flu".


Silly stories are looked down on, even by their own creators. But I think that quote also makes a good point. If I'm sick, or sad, or hurt, or lonely, I'm not going to watch Schindler's List or The Hunger Games or The Dark Knight. I'm going to watch Ever After. And I'm not going to read some Pulitzer-prize-winning book about pain and unfairness and the human condition. I'm going to read Georgette Heyer.


Sure... we need honesty in storytelling from time to time. But I believe we need silliness just as badly. And I think people need to stop apologizing for that. Embrace the ridiculousness. A little wishful thinking and imagination never hurt anyone.


So c'mon, Hollywood. Make me some more silly movies.


~Pearl Clayton