Disney taught us so much when we were children, and made us believe everyone of us was a princess destined for love. It taught us that no matter how tough our lives could be, a prince charming would always come to our rescue. It taught us that even though we might not have a family, there was a fairy godmother that guided our lives out of loneliness and misery. As children, Disney took us to a fantasy where dreams could always come true. As teenagers, Disney taught us a lie.

Everyone in this generation has a connection with Disney. Movies are a must for a child, and every child learns from each movie. Snow White taught us that no evil could ever overrule the good in the world. Cinderella taught us how friendship is what most matters when in trouble. Sleeping Beauty taught us how a prince charming will always come to our rescue and save our lives. They all have something in common: false hopes established in a child’s mind. While we grow up, we realize that our ‘’destiny’’ is shaped by our actions, not our actual ‘’destiny.’’ I’ve always had this connection. Since the age of two, I had a relationship with The Lion King. I watched the movie every day, all day long, without any pauses. I was starting to become Simba. It wasn’t normal how obsessed I was at that age with that movie, or so my parents tell me. Disney does that to kids. It transforms our lives, even though we haven't had a long one. Disney movies aren’t just movies. They are a part of the modern culture. Everyone knows these movies, and everyone can relate to the themes of love, death, betrayal and others. Not so simple for a 4 year old child to understand, but somehow we did. Our generation has been learning from Disney movies since little kids, although we didn’t notice then.

Beauty, another concept in our current society that is also misleading. In Disney, we’ve watched all of the beautiful princesses that wear great clothes and have feminine personalities, and hope to be them when we grow up. Every princess seems real, just like a friend or a big sister we want to be. When we grow up, we face our true selves. As sad as it can be, we aren’t those princesses we hoped we would be. While for the princesses in Disney everything ends up with a prince charming, love, and happiness, we actually have to learn to work for what we want. Our goals are the work of our actions, but Disney teaches us the opposite.

Where is family portrayed in Disney? In Cinderella, she suffers with family issues, but she also has her mouse friends that are her actual family and help her with everything. Her fairy godmother also makes all her wishes come true. Then, reality appears and there are no mouse friends or a fairy godmother that can help us during rough times. We teenagers have to learn to deal with our problems alone, but with all those hopes throughout our mind. Not all are fantasies after all.

When we were children, everything seemed perfect. We had family, friends, and no worries. Disney taught us that life would reward us with what we deserved. Good people were destined good lives, while evil had to pay for their actions. Where is the reward for all the good work we do as teenagers? When will our prince charming come? Where is our happy ending? They were all lies taught to us that diminish ourselves.