Tonight, my daughter and I went to the movies to see Enchanted. Here's a brief synopsis:

A classic Disney fairytale collides with modern-day New York City in a story about a fairytale princess from the past who is thrust into present-day by an evil queen. Soon after her arrival, Princess Giselle begins to change her views on life and love after meeting a handsome lawyer. Can a storybook view of romance survive in the real world? (from Honolulu Advertiser)

Let me answer that...NO!

Lately, it seems that movie makers are destroying every childhood story imaginable. Superman has kids, Spiderman has a girlfriend, Santa has a brother named Fred (oh, and has kids with Mrs. Claus), and fairly tales aren't Happily Ever After. So there shouldn't be anything wrong with a storybook Princess falling in love with a New York lawyer?! Right?!

Now with Enchanted, I figured there would be some sort of love interest brewing between the lawyer and the Princess, but I wasn't sure how. My hunch came to fruition when the Princess was tired by the lawyer's (constant) negative outlook on life and love. After being so cheery and positive, she begins to yell at him for his demeanor. As she does, she describes her feeling as anger with a fiendish scowl. She repeats it again...and to her amazement, she enjoys the feeling. The next thing we see, the Princess is rubbing on the lawyer's chest and wants to kiss him - there's no more singing for this Princess. By the time the Prince comes to rescue her, she's totally smitten by the lawyer...as he becomes her 'new' true love.

I was disappointed with the 'course' of the movie where the emotion of anger was used to change her outlook on love and life in many ways. As I have mentioned before, anger can be a dangerous emotion and here, it was used to taint our impression of living Happily Ever After. And before we knew it, she was longing for the comforts of New York (the world) rather than a return to a place of peace, happiness, and lifelong contentment.

Can we be the same as the Princess?!

There is a place being prepared for us that is filled with eternal bliss, yet we can find ourselves longing for the world and its temporal passions. Instead of counting ourselves as aliens in this land, we are doing everything we can to be counted among it...

2 Peter 3:13 (KJV) - Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

Revelation 21:3-4 (KJV) - And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

May our hearts long for a place where we can truly live happily ever after...