Disney Falls Short When it Comes to True Love

Before this year, I had never heard of “Disney Victims”. I don’t even know if this is really a thing, but I heard it from a girl who said she was going to die alone because she had been “a Disney victim always looking for the perfect man who doesn’t exist”. Well, ladies and gentlemen, I’m here to tell you that if you’re looking for a Disney prince or princess you are absolutely selling yourself short on love.

You see, the first thing you need to know when you are looking for something, is what exactly to look for. If you are a “Disney Victim”, as I was, you are probably looking for a girlfriend or a boyfriend, but not particularly a spouse. You are probably looking for someone to kiss you awake. Maybe, you want someone to help you find your shoe or someone who locks us up in a castle. Oh, or maybe, you want someone who has to be persuaded by a crab to kiss you, and then almost marries another girl because he fell under a spell. The thing though, is that even if you are a “Disney Victim”, you realize that the love you are looking for isn’t specifically the examples I cited above. The “love” you are looking for is one that makes you feel that with it, you can conquer the world.

Don’t get me wrong, I am such a Disney fan. However, the love we seek shouldn’t be the one that Snow White or Cinderella or Belle or Ariel have. The real love that Disney shows is with Simba and Mufasa, with Merida and her mom, with Moana and Te Fiti. We think that because it isn’t “romantic” love we shouldn’t aim for that, and that’s the problem. We have been shown beautiful, sacrificial love since we were kids, but since that love wasn’t contained in a romantic couple, we tapped it on the head and sent it on its way. We need to know that love. It’s a love that knows who the other is so much so, that it urges the other to remember who they are, so they will exist more in the world. It’s a love who loves despite adversity, a love that doesn’t give up, a love that fights and makes up. It’s the kind of love that Jesus taught us when He died for us. That’s what we need to look for.

One of my favorite quotes in the bible is, “You have captured my heart, my sister, my bride”. (Song of Solomon). Later, it says, “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine”. That’s the love we need to look for, to pray for. A love where you recognize the other first as a child of God, then as a brother and sister in Christ, and finally as a lover. It’s a love where you have to be friends first. It’s a love that draws you out of yourself for the other. So, if you are a fellow “Disney Victim” who fears dying alone because you can’t find your prince or your princess, you’re aiming too low. I assure you God wants more for you. Aim for true sacrificial love. I’m no St. Peter, but finding a glass slipper or kissing someone awake isn’t the kind of love couples should aim for to get each other into heaven. Don’t be a Disney Victim. Instead, be a Catholic Romantic.