Now, the story of Maleficent is particularly evil. In fact, her name literally means "maker of evil." However, modernists cannot wrap their minds around evil, let alone evil women. Somehow modern feminists have deified women to the point that they can do no wrong. It is strange really. While the great knights of yore would sacrifice their very lives for a princess in need, they never hesitated to call a witch a witch. Some women did not want to be rescued, some women were not worth rescuing, some women chose not to need others, to be vulnerable, and to be lovable. These women were called witches and they could produce some of the most horrible evils!
Take Maleficent for instance. She chose to curse the infant princess with death because she was not invited to a party. For some reason the child's parents considered Maleficent unworthy of being a guest at their party... perhaps because she was the kind of woman who would cast evil curses upon innocent children because her ego was offended. A woman wrapped up in her own importance is a liability to others, but of course she would never see it that way. A woman blinded by pride and eaten away by jealousy is a dangerous woman to have around your young daughter. The wisdom here is obvious to any good parent living in Christendom. A woman deaf to the needs of others and closed off to their feelings is more like a Dragon than a woman. She can "make" so much evil with just a word, a glance, a touch! A woman like this rightly deserves to be called a witch, for that is what she makes herself.
Modernists, however, cannot stand to see a woman so described and so they create the movie "Maleficent" and attempt to offer a suitable back-story which can justify her behavior and reveal the real evil. After careful psychoanalysis the story makers conclude that the only thing that would make a woman so bitter is true love gone wrong. She meets a man, trusts him, lets him into her world and then crash! It all comes tumbling down around her as she discovers that he does not truly love her but only desires ambition!
"We've got it!" They gleefully exclaim, "She could not possibly have been so cruel had she not been destroyed by the man who she though loved her but who really only wanted to be King!"
At first glance this seems plausible, but then you wonder, "hmm, I wonder why he did that to her if he loved her so much. Could a man really love a throne more than the true love of an innocent princess? I think he must have had some kind of trauma in his childhood that would make him doubt the love of a woman. Let us make a new movie called "The King" which, after careful psychoanalysis, will conclude that he is acting merely from a place of survival because he was abandoned by his mother as a child."
In order to say that Maleficent is "actually" good and only forced into being evil by the future King, one must either assume that men are capable of acting from a place of pure evil or that there is an other story which will explain his madness.
Now, if he is a source of evil, then your theory of the deification of women is complete. However, if you are determined to be consistent in assuming that no one is "maleficent" then the story must continue and explore his trauma stricken past, to which there will be no end because then you will have to uncover his horrible mother's motivations which will be the result of her selfish husband, who selfishness stems from his abusive aunt, whose anger comes from her abusive uncle, whose misery comes from his controlling wife, whose coldness comes from her father's whatever.... the cycle continues onward and downward until who knows when!
While there is a truth to the idea that no one is evil, there is a grave error in assuming that good people cannot make bad choices. Maleficent makes evil. She does evil. She is not evil, but she does make it. The story of Sleeping Beauty has more truth than this story because it acknowledges that, for whatever reason, people can make evil. It does more good for you and me to hear that evil is real and to be warned to be on your guard lest you become blind to the evil that you are making! It is more true to say that Maleficent is a wicked witch than to say that she is a misunderstood princess. She is not a princess. She is perfectly understood as a witch.
Princesses are innocent, gentle, and loving whereas witches are warped, unhappy, and bitter. While a princess can be rescued from the enslavement of a witch, a witch cannot be rescued. She chooses not to be. It is her choice whether she is a princess or a witch. One can love, one needs others, one cares deeply about others, the other does not love, does not need, and does not care. It matters not whether she became that way because she was not invited to a party or because she was hurt by a man. In reality, neither of those are true causes, they are just excuses. Being the wicked witch is easy. Being the princess requires trust, which is the hardest thing to make. It is easy to make evil it is hard to make trust.
True Love is the only thing missing from "Maleficent." The true love of a man who fights to protect his beloved from evil is completely dissolved in this modern "twist." In today's world it is not enough for a man to risk is life for yours or to find you utterly beautiful and innocent in order for love to exist. In fact, according to "Maleficent" love between a man and a woman is just simply not possible.
True Love's kiss is more True, more Real, more Wonderful than any other kinds of friendships or relationships. The radical, amazing thing about Sleeping Beauty is that she was dead for a hundered years and a simple kiss woke her up! The Truth of Sleeping Beauty is that she a true princess, full of love, who could ONLY be rescued by a man, a prince, a knight. He alone held the magic that could break the curse of Death itself. If that is not incredible, amazing, and worth sharing, then what is? If True Love's Kiss is not true than what is? If sleeping beauty was not rescued by a man worthy of her heart than why. Why? Why did Christ come? Why is there love between married spouses? Why do we feel deep within our hearts that love like this is possible?
"Maleficent" leaves too many questions unanswered, and does not teach us what true love is. In fact, the movie teaches us exactly how to be a wicked witch. It does not, however, teach us that being a witch is anything to avoid.
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