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keira knightley

Keira Knightley's Cinderella ban is as fantastical as the fairytale itself

The responsibility should be on parents, not princesses.

KEIRA KNIGHTLEY HAS decided to share a recent executive decision she made when it comes to parenting.

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She’s not letting her three year-old daughter watch ‘Cinderella’ or ‘The Little Mermaid’ because of the messages they send. (Slightly ironic, as she’s about to star in live-action remake of ‘The Nutcracker’.)

She doesn’t want her to see Cindy waiting around for “a rich guy to rescue her”.

Don’t. Rescue yourself, obviously,” Knightley said.

The same goes for Ariel, even though she is obsessed with the songs in the movie. 

“I mean, the songs are great, but do not give your voice up for a man,” she told Ellen DeGeneres on the show. 

Both absolutely fair points – neither story would stand in the real world. But isn’t that the point? Fairytales are fairytales for a reason, in that they’re not true. If you make it clear to your child that what we see on television doesn’t necessarily reflect real life (or real love), they should grow up just fine, and without a “damsel in distress” complex.

For the majority, the messages of Disney movies are outdated. With that said, that’s less of an issue given that there are more points of culture than ever to view strong, successful, independent women to counteract these maybe-not-so aspirational princesses. Back in the day, girls only had these princesses to admire.

Besides that, surely the responsibility should lay firmly at the feet of the parents when it comes to educating their children, not 2D cartoon characters? Is there nothing to be said for letting your children enjoy something on a surface level while explaining what’s been outlined above?

Regardless, if Keira feels that strongly about not exposing her daughter to the perils of princesses, some strong female-headed Disney movies include ‘Brave’, ‘The Princess and the Frog’, The Aristocats (Duchess, Marie and Madame Adelaide are all bad bitches), ‘Pocahontas’ and ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’.

Otherwise though, why rob your child of the joy that is ‘Part Of Your World’?

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