Fairytale Follies

Like many young girls growing up, I was obsessed with fairytales. Walt Disney was my own personal hero – the genius who made the magical world of Bippity Boppity Boo a major part of my childhood. Many a young girl spent her playtime daydreaming about singing chipmunks, talking mirrors and lands that were far, far away. But eventually, those girls grew up and “once upon a time” became replaced with the reality of “never gonna happen”. Well…most of those girls grew up…

For a handful of the Daydream Believers, images of dapper princes that swoop in on majestic horses to rescue them from an evil stepmother’s treachery and/or the basic monotony of life, are so overwhelmingly consuming, that they eventually turn into full-fledged beliefs. The line between Never Never Land and the Here and Now eventually becomes blurred and True Love’s Kiss actually seems like a plausible entity. Although consciously aware that such happy endings only exist in the wonderful world of animation, they subconsciously foster deep-seated hope that one day, their prince will come. Their world booms with harmonious melody and is completely devoid of heartbreak and pain. If the harm is relatively minimal, why not allow them to dwell in the land of delusion? Or should belief in fairytales only remain with the young and innocent?

I wonder: When should we let the fairytales go?

As someone who spends roughly 93% of any given day lost in daydreams, I’ve admittedly become disillusioned and disappointed with the tedium of the world around me. Love isn’t gleefully delivered with a nudge of a Fairy Godmother’s wand and the only thing gained from kissing a frog is a face full of warts. According to the countless articles and books about the subject, the only way to obtain true love is to actively seek opportunities and circumstances to make it happen. Doesn’t that sound like an enormous amount of work?!? In light of the tremendous effort needed and the immense vulnerability to rejection one is subjected to in the real world, the world of fantasy seems like a vastly superior option to anyone with a vivid imagination.

For those that denounce either extreme, I offer a happy compromise: realistic daydreaming. This basically permits daydreaming of circumstances and situations befitting motion picture glory, but only if the conditions are somewhat realistic. Dreaming of situations that are hopelessly doomed from the onset would be strictly forbidden. Whereas Disney princesses were forced to contend with demons, dragons, witches and sorcerers who stood in the way of their eternal happiness, none had to battle the debilitating disease of commitment-o-phobia. And even the evil Maleficent herself couldn’t concoct a potion that would make a married man leave his wife to live blissfully with his mistress. Those hallucinations are too unbelievable even in a world full of magic potions and wish-granting genies and thus, should be stricken from any thought, whether in the real world or that of fantasy. In the end, you allow the hopelessly delusional to indulge in elaborate fantasies, while still straddling the flickering line between it and reality.

As for me, I vow to continue regaling my inner child 93% of the day with tales of magical creatures, whimsical love triangles, unsuspecting heroes, and of course, alluringly remarkable heroines, all with the steadfast hope of obtaining Happily Ever After. If only the real world was as enchanting…