As practically everyone that's subscribed to Disney+, I am a Disney freak, I've loved it all my life and it's a very fond part of my childhood. Ever since 2013, when the "Love Revolution" began in the Disney cannon, things have been a little different; no longer are we seeing the message that true love can only exist between a man and a woman, nope, now true love is ONLY found in family. So forget about your Prince Charming characters, throw away the classic Snow White song: Someday My Prince Will Come, and start embracing the fact that everyone outside of your family is trash and will never love you at all. Great message, huh?????
The reason why I bring this up is because it's the main theme in the new Disney+ movie, "Godmothered" starring Isla Fisher and Jillian Bell. The story centers on an overachieving, nerdy, and clumsy fairy godmother in training named Eleanor (played by Bell) who longs to become a fairy godmother BUT in the modern world of today nobody believes in those anymore and there is no need for fairy godmothers. To prove to her superiors that they're wrong and people still need help from magical beings, she travels to Boston in search of a little girl by the name of Mackenzie. But, oops, Mackenzie (played by Fisher), who wrote to the fairy godmother school way back in the day, is no longer a child and is now a 40-something single mom of two girls, who works tirelessly in a local news station and basically has lost all happiness from her life. So, of course, when Eleanor tries to help Mackenzie things go a bit wrong and shenanigans happen and haha it's cute and fun.
The way I see this, it's like taking the story of Enchanted, where a classic Disney character finds herself in the middle of the real world and helps bring light back into another character who doesn't believe in fantasy anymore. However, instead of the charming movie that was Enchanted, we get this... And, of course, instead of the tribute to Disney movies we get in Enchanted, we actually get another lesson about why thinking true love between romantic partners does not and cannot exist because WHY. Don't you just love when the studio behind some of the most beloved characters, songs, stories, love stories, tells you that you're wrong for thinking love even exists between romantic partners?
I still don't understand this vendetta Disney holds over romantic love. It worked on Frozen (2013) because it was fresh back then, it was a little too forced in Maleficent (2014) where they literally turned one of the most important characters in the story into a side character who comes back in the end like "hi, remember me?" and let's not even mention what he does in Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019)... Somewhere along the lines of this past decade, Disney tried to completely erase romantic love from their cannon completely. When was the last time you watched a movie where romantic love was a theme?
Back to Godmothered, I'd say it was cute and quirky but it missed so many marks. Eleanor was cute and lovable, I loved how she starts with this idea about how things should be and then through the movie is able to change her mind about things. Mackenzie... man they could've done so much more with her. There's an on-going theme between her and her eldest daughter where the daughter lacks self-confidence in a certain subject and needs her mom to show that she supports her daughter and believes in her. In the end, the way this develops is so wrong and so lacking, you'd think Mackenzie actually doesn't care about her daughters. And I hate to sound like such a hater but she's so in her own world that she barely even spends time with her family and then in the end they're squished together as if nothing has happened. And what was the comment about the guy running away with a pilates instructor when, in the end, there was no divorce and her husband died?? What was that about??
All in all, if you're looking for a cute movie to watch where you don't have to think too much into things, go ahead and give this a watch. But if you want a movie that makes you see things from a different perspective and is compelling, cute, lovable, joyful, charming, and has excellent music, rewatch Enchanted.
