#she's just so uncouth and dull and UGH

[marciabrady]

Hi! I was surprised to see somewhere you mentioned you don't like Lily James's Cinderella. I'm not judging, just surprised bc she seems to be widely considered the best live action princess depiction. I do think her Ella is less spunky and interesting than OG Cinderella but what criticisms do you have? Do you think she's as bad as Rachel's Snow will probably be?

I don't think anyone will ever be as bad as Lily was in her film, not even Rachel. With Rachel, it's a difficult situation because people keep changing what she did depending on what the public reaction is to absolve her of any wrongdoing so the internet can baby her. If people are upset with her comments about disliking Snow White, everyone will rally to her defense and say, "But she DIDN'T say that- watch her interviews!" and if someone clips exactly what she said, the goalpost is changed to, "OK, but it's an 80 year old movie; she was right!" So there's no merit in any discussion regarding Rachel, though I do think it's an out and out shame to have one of the most influential films and characters of media history be seen through such a banal lens, with criticisms which don't even hold any weight and all likely originated by an apathetic dullard that had beef with their childhood and took it out on a Disney film, and those criticisms kept getting passed around decade by decade (like I don't think these people who parrot these things to attempt to be intellectually superior to whatever they perceive to be the dominant culture of the past realize that they're really just repeating misogynistic trite half the time; like at Lindsay Ellis' character arc on The Little Mermaid from the late 2000's to today). I don't think anyone who actually watches Snow White for themselves, Rachel included, would have the takes she touts to have if they had to use their own head to come up with those opinions. But that groupthink and monoculture is an entirely different story for another time (and we can see how it's evolved, from everyone agreeing with the things she said despite it not lining up to the movie, to then morphing to the point of actually trying to pretend that Rachel loves the character of Snow White; posting pictures of going to the parks near the character's merchandise after being cast as the character is something different entirely to showing an understanding and appreciation of it, both of which Rachel is completely lacking in. The only thing she admires about Snow White is her reflection in it, now that she's been cast).

With Lily specifically, I think it's much more heinous for so many reasons. Not to compare traumas, but Snow White goes through more than any other character- male or female- in the animated canon. So while she, too, suffers abuse in her lifetime, I think Cinderella's film is the one that's kinda become the posterchild for surviving abuse so I think Lily opening her uneducated mouth and cosigning on victim-blaming rhetoric was not only incredibly inane, detrimental, uncalled for, and harmful of her to do, but also just...incomprehensibly dense when she gave us someone that more closely aligned with the victim doormat she accused the original of being? To be pompous and as self aggrandizing as Lily is, going to movie premieres that are only possible because of the original production which was the labor of love for thousands of artists, and to put it all down and paint abuse victims in such a shallow, unintelligent light, lacking any perspective, and propping your version up as the "stronger," more "empowered" one, when she gave us one that was more centered around a man, objectively weaker in every possible way, less nuanced, and hyper-sexualized, pandering to the male gaze...to me, it's everything wrong with these Hollywood hypotheses today in a nutshell.

Ilene Woods' Cinderella is so multilayered and human. and with it being a realistic portrayal, it can be alienating- because it reflects life. Some people like you, some people don't. Ilene's Cinderella had limits and could be curt and struggled with her faith and resented her situation, but she also had a fighter's spirit and was resilient and had humor and courage. You got a sense that, this was someone who never had any resources of their own and became, to everyone else, what she never had for herself, which created a path toward her inevitable freedom and success. Lily's...smiled dully, communicated ineffectively, and was a mess from a characterization standpoint. All the ways they tried to make her "empowered" or "develop her" hurt the story. The film is called Cinderella- by trying to develop her relationship with the Prince by making them meet in the woods before the ball, they changed the motive for Cinderella going to the ball to meet the Prince again. That's a HUGE step back and more closely aligns with Lily's insane comments that the original "just waited for a Prince to save her." In the original, she didn't even think she'd ever see her dance partner again after she left the ball. Her fighting for her right to go to the ball was symbolic of her demanding to be seen as a person in the eyes of their society and refusing to be bypassed once more. She didn't come for a Prince- you can see that by the way she showed up to the ball by herself and journeys through the Castle, admiring the architecture, while everyone else- including Anastasia and Drizella- are lined up to meet the Prince. Never once does she mention a man or love in any way until after he approaches her at the ball. She even leaves the Prince at midnight and doesn't know until the next morning who he is or that he's looking for her. That's a long step away from Lily's portrayal, 65 years later.

They try to give Lily more "snappy" moments to prove that she can assert herself (which original Cinderella had no issue doing) but they do it in a way that's largely ineffective. She challenges the Prince, but that's the only person and the way she does it...oof. When he asks her about her family, she passively whispers, "they treat me as well as they are able." But she's comfortable yelling at a stranger with weapons about hunting??? How is this the same person???? When she speaks back in French to her family, but the audience doesn't know what she said and neither does her stepfamily- and after it, she just runs along and does their bidding anyway? There's so many more examples. And, of course, her spinning around in circles and singing out-loud in the attic is the most obviously heinous example of her characterization. I swear, it's crazy to me that these real people half a century after the animated films, that accuse the originals of having shallow and regressive characters, give us just that. It's also funny to me that Lily James went on a press tour bashing the original Cinderella and looking ignorant as it pertains to abuse and feminism, and then got offended when reporters asked if her waist was photoshopped and she had the gall to reference the fact that we should be in a time where women support women. Lily's production of Cinderella reinforces Eurocentric beauty standards more than the original- the stepsisters, Lady Tremaine, and the Fairy Godmother all fit a very similar type of conventional beauty- young, hyperfeminine, white with VERY similar features, and stylized. They're completely monolithic in terms of body type and appearance, and took away the diversity of age ranges, body types, and physical features in the original. Then for Lily to gape about people asking her about her diet, after she spent an hour bashing the original female character as being "passive." Lily even openly admitted to being laced within an inch of her life, naturally being thin with a small waist but having to go on a liquid diet because she couldn't fit into her clothing otherwise. She laughed about having to belch in the Prince's face over and over again because she was so tightly laced and her stomach hurt from only being able to drink liquids and not eat...idk she just lacks in any intelligence or charm to me. I think it's also harmful because it's become the favored version, with Disney writing it into the original's novelization in contemporary books, with people think Lily's character was what the original one was and forgetting their differences, ugh I could go on about this forever. Just know I think Lily's performance in this film is the worst in cinema history lol

[ask-the-infiltrators]

Scary thoughts... Pt3

Featuring Aurora, Stitch Cover, and Under Cover, from @ask-acepony

Moments later he found himself in the front room, panting as he tried to calm down enough to address his lover that was watching TV on the couch. Said pony looked up at him, looking a little concerned, “Are you okay honey? You look like you seen a ghost.”

Stitch Cover tried to spit it out, but found it difficult, “I just… I heard…”

Under cover patted a couch cushion beside him and urged him to speak, “Come on...You can tell me what is wrong. I doubt there is anything that happened I will be surprised by.”

The Unicorn took a seat beside him and was scooped up into a hug almost immediately. It took him a few more moments to speak, but he was successfully pacified by his lover’s embrace, “P-platinum and Aurora… They were. *Erhem*, doing it in the other room.”

Under cover blinked once, twice, and then three times before stating, “Okay, you got me there. Is there anything else you can tell me about the incident?”

The unicorn shuffled his hooves uncomfortably as he recounted the events, “Well, I was getting up from my nap when I saw Platinum’s belongings on the floor neatly stacked beside Aurora’s door. When I took a closer look, I heard them talking about and then there was moaning and groaning and… Banging.”

Under cover took a moment to think things over before exclaiming, “Well, good for them! Separation didn’t hinder their relationship in the slightest.”

Stitch cover looked up at his lover, surprised by his comment, “You approve of this?”

He shrugged softly, “Kind of… I gave him a pep talk before Aurora got a hold of him. I just didn’t think they would do… That. But hey, if it makes them happy, then i’m all for it.”

“If you say so…”

The earthpony hugged the unicorn in his grip tighter, “Does it bother you?”

Stitch’s response drew a laugh out of Under Cover, “Did they really have to do it right next door?”

Between laughs, Under Cover stated, “I know a good way to get your mind off of it.”

Stitch Cover looked fairly surprised and asked, “Here? On the couch? No!”

The cop raised an eyebrow at him, “I was gonna suggest we watch a movie or something. What were you thinking?”

The embarassed unicorn stammered, “N-nothing!”

“Though, now that you mention it…”

He covered the other pony’s mouth to shush him and exclaimed, “A movie is just fine!”

Some time later, about a half way through the movie, Platinum and Aurora came out into the living room all gussied up in their Nightmare Night best. Between the two of them, Platinum was the most striking a transformation, as he looked downright dastardly as a vampire. His cool ice colored irises were now a pricing red, his mane dyed to match Luna’s dark night sky, his usual guard attire replaced by a fancy cloak that seemed to blow in a nonexistent wind, revealing a set of Aurora’s nightmare night themed bat wings underneath. Beneath his cloak was a black, white, and gold suit that seemed to fit his figure a little too well on his lower half, leaving little to the imagination as his muscles were barely contained by the fabric. He even wore the fangs in his mouth well, so well in fact they almost seemed real!

Aurora beside him had a similar makeover, swapping out a full cloak for a dark lace fabric wrapped around her neck and flowing towards her rear. It hid what appears to be bite marks upon her neck and likewise had a gentle flowing effect to it, though hers was a little more obvious as she was actively casting a spell to make it do so. Her dress was black with a red frilled pattern here and there notably on her forehooves. All in all, she looked like read to go to a gothic themed prom. Perhap a little too much so... Her eyes were a little softer than Platinum’s and her coat was still fair, unlike Platinum who’s coat had been dulled. Her fangs were short, just barely peeking out of her mouth even as she smiled. She was freshly turned and has yet to suffer her first night as an immortal.

Aurora presented themselves with a flourish, “How do we look?”

Under Cover whistled, “Not bad. You two clean up good after a long workout.”

The fashion pony was happy that her uncles seemed to approve. However it seems that Stitch Cover was lagging behind abit in his response. Not wanting silence to fill the room, Aurora stated, “While Platinum was a little clumsy, I didn’t think the clean up was long enough to be called a workout. I’m just happy the results are satisfactory.”

Platinum grinned sheepishly, “Sorry about that.”

She gave him a nudge with her shoulder, “Relax, you did well for your first time.”

Stitch Cover paled when his lover asked, “Did you have any trouble handling his measurements Aurora?”

She shook her head, “Nope. Once I got him going, he fit just fine. Can’t say the same for me though… I had to try a few different positions just to- Is he alright?”

Once again, Under Cover had to hug Stitch just to calm him down. In response, he said, “Stitch? Yeah, he’s fine. Just needs a minute for the blood to come back to his brain.”

She looked between the two of them before rolling her eyes in disgust, “Ugh, please tell me I don’t have to change the couch covers.”

He waved a hoof dismissively on behalf of them both, “Relax, we just watched a movie. He needed a little Rom-Com to recover from hearing you two going at it?”

She gasped, “He heard that?”

Platinum bowed almost immediately, “We are dreadfully sorry Stitch Cover. We didn’t mean to cause you any distress.”

That was when Stitch Cover finally spoke up, “It’s okay… As long as you two enjoy eachothers… Company. I will be okay.”

The Earth pony of the group chuckled softly as he ruffled the unicorn’s mane, “I kind of wish I was there to hear it too. The way my little bookworm described it, it sounded pretty steamy.”

“Well, there were a few heated moments of discussion about hoofshoe sizes, but I would hardly call that steamy…”

The two on the couch looked at each other briefly before Under Cover started, “you mean you two weren’t…”

Aurora raised an eyebrow at them, “We’re what? Trying on costumes?”

This seemed to confuse Stitch like a random knot in a book’s binding, “Seriously?”

“Yes!”

“But I thought you two…”

Platinum seemed to piece it together the fastest, quickly leaning over to whisper something in Aurora’s ear. She immediately turned beet red and shouted, “What! Uncle Stitch, I am disapointed in you. I expected that sort of rumor from Uncle Under Cover.”

Said pony laughed, “Ha, she got you there.”

She turned her attention to him, “And you! Don’t think you are off the hook either, you encouraged those dirty thoughts and even were joking at his expense, weren’t you?”

He grinned widely, “Guilty as charged.”

Platinum got between Aurora and the ponies on the couch, “Aurora, please try to calm down. I don’t exactly blame Under Cover for what he did. You see, he’s been giving me some dating advice and-”

Before he could finish that statement, she gave him a glare that shut him up instantly, “Is that an excuse for such uncouth behavior?”

He sighed, defeated before he even began, “No.”

She pointed a hoof down the hall before stating, “Please leave before you get caught in the crossfire. We can talk later.”

Platinum nodded and took off, but not before he head Under Cover joke, “She said cross~”

That was his queue to hoof it out of there.

Later that night, Aurora sighed as she wandered into her bedroom where Platinum was waiting for her, “I cannot believe the nerve of those two… My own uncles thinking we were sleeping together!”

Platinum stood up from the bed and stated, “About that Aurora, that is something I wanted to talk to you about.”

She put up a hoof, “Stop, just stop right there. I don’t care what kind of advice he has given you, I don’t think i’m ready for that kind of intimacy. Besides, we haven’t been dating long or often enough.”

He takes her outstretched hoof and kneels, “Aurora, my Princess… I understand your feelings. If not now, then I will wait for all eternity for you to be ready.”

She blushed lightly and stated, “Maybe sometime later down the line, but not now, okay?”

He nodded and kissed her hoof, “Of course.”

She swears, one of these days that chivalrous nature of his is going to get him in a lot of trouble. He is too sweet for his own good. Aurora lets out a sigh and says, “Come on, my Uncles have finally left the couch, i’ll help you set up.”

Platinum stands up and says, “Thank you.”