u/innocentlyignorant

It makes me sad to see that you seemingly despise me. I think I’ll always wonder what happened. I have a hard time putting into words how I feel about you, but the truth is, I care about you a lot. You cross my mind more often than you probably realize. I don’t reach out because I get the impression that you don’t want me to, and I want to respect that. I still find myself wishing someone would bring you up and tell me how you’re doing. At the same time, I worry that certain updates might be harder for me to hear than I’d like to admit. A part of me had hopes we would run into each other when we were both romantically unattached. Anyways, I just wanted you to know that despite the distance, I haven’t stopped caring.

Walt Disney,
Your timeless stories have provided generations of readers with hope for a fairytale ending. I not only see, but agree with, the intention behind your books.

My questions, however, are with the very virtues your stories revolve around: faith, hope, and love. The majority of your main characters are less fortunate women with hearts of gold who have grappled with defeat from an early age. In the end, they are always saved by someone with a like-minded heart. But I’ve started to wonder if such stories, while well-intentioned, create false hope that leads to continuous disappointment in the reality of your readers’ lives.

Cinderella would have never escaped the attic. It was three against one, and her stepmother had the money, authority, and control to keep her there. The prince didn’t even know she existed. Without a magical invitation, a lost glass slipper, and a prince determined to find its owner, Cinderella had no realistic way out.
But there’s no Prince Charming in real life.

Belle would have ended up married to Gaston. He had the entire town’s support, while Belle had only her father and her own convictions. No one else seemed willing to question Gaston or recognize what Belle saw in him. Without the Beast entering her life, Gaston would have remained the obvious choice in everyone else’s eyes, and the Beast would have died alone.
There’s no courageous Beast in real life.

Rapunzel never would have escaped the tower. Mother Gothel was a master manipulator who disguised control as love and protection. She had convinced Rapunzel that the world outside was dangerous and that she was incapable of surviving without her. Rapunzel wasn’t simply trapped in a tower; she was trapped by the belief that she needed the person keeping her there. Without Flynn finding her, she may have spent her entire life believing there was nowhere else to go.
But there’s no Flynn Rider in real life.

Ariel, in all her innocence, was no match for Ursula. She had spent her entire life sheltered beneath the sea, while Ursula understood exactly how to manipulate the desires of others. Once she took Ariel’s voice, Ariel had no way to defend herself or communicate her intentions. Without Eric and the circumstances that ultimately exposed Ursula, Ariel would have lost everything.
But there’s no Prince Eric in real life.

The truth is no one is coming to save you. Sometimes life sucks so much you can’t even save yourself.

So, Walt, are we teaching people to have hope..or teaching them to wait for a happy ending that will never come?

The saboteurs protested too much

If one thing had been different, would everything be different today?

Tangled tongue of love

Dear Disney