Okay, first I got hooked into watching this movie. I wanted to see how the traditional Disney plot would be portrayed--no doubt with 21c special effects. Then, the more I watched, the more I starting rooting for Maleficent! How could that be? Wasn't she the traditional "bad guy in stereotype black"--the 1959 images?
But the more I watched, the more I began to realize that Disney made me "dizzy" with its rewrite. The true loves begins as Aurora endears herself to Maleficent, who Aurora thinks is her fairy Godmother. Jolie is at her best as we see the humanity break through in her emotions. Her true love of Aurora is greater than her wish for vengeance for King Stefan. So much so is her love for Aurora, that she attempts to break her curse with another spell...but fails. And how I was taken in when Prince Philip cannot awaken her with a kiss (as in the old version where it works.) True love is not romantic, but "a mother's true love"--which only Maleficent has and finally gives. The rest of the movie is hokum special effects and an effort to tie up the plot. But the lesson is that true love is sacrificial and costly--which we did see in the 1959 version with Prince Philip who must risk his life for Aurora. Now, Maleficent risks her life by entering the castle to undo the curse (with what even she thought would come from the Prince.) Finally, true love is shown as it takes the risk to shed itself of its ego and admit it was wrong.
Lent is the time that we face up to ourselves and the curses that come from our own hands. It is also the time of realizing God's gift for the way out through Jesus Christ--the source of true love for our lives, that we always have and can always give.Lent is a time to rewrite our stories with that love. When will we wake from our sleep by claiming the love of God in our lives? 
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