Cinderella and the Cat People

"Cinderella" is released on DVD today. "For the first time!" as the commercials I see everywhere keep telling me. While it makes me cringe to think so, I loved this movie as a child. It's still unbelievably beautiful animation plus "Bippity Bobbity Boo" is a great tune. So why the cringing? There's just something about the whole "someday my prince will come" theme that makes me as a grown woman a little uncomfortable.

My mom tried to circumvent any obsession with beauty/princesses in me as a child. She tried to make me satisfied with the curious hippie dolls "The Sunshine Family" rather than giving me Barbies. But she folded quickly to my five-year old will and the Sunshine Family were shunted to the dark shadows of my closet while I played Olympic Barbie and Disco Ken.

Mom also banned "Charlie's Angels" and "Three's Company" from our house. Violence was okay to watch. Grown women in tight tops, short shorts and pigtails? Not allowed. But it didn't stop me from reading about Farrah and the rest of the jiggly girls in "Teenbeat" magazine.

Have I grown up into a mindless bimbo who thinks a woman should sit around and wait for her prince while painting her nails? Nope. Sleeping Beauty, Barbie and Cheryl Ladd didn't harm me as far as I can tell. But I still would hesitate to let my daughter watch "Cinderella."

Am I being a prude? Probably. I should just think of how much joy it'll bring some little girl to see Cinderella's dream come true and keep my half-hearted throwback feminism to myself.

One release this week that I wholeheartedly recommend is "Cat People." The original, not the Nastassja Kinski 80s version. It's not a horror film, more of a psychological thriller. A mysterious young woman (Simone Simon) marries an average Joe, but can't handle the emotional stress (and presumably the sex) that comes with married life. Does she carry an ancient curse of the Cat People? Watch to find out. Don't worry, there are no cheap Andrew Lloyd Weber-like cat costumes. Plus, "Cat People" contains what I think is one of the greatest moments in all film (if you watch it, it's the restaurant scene where she is greeted by a stranger. What a powerful minute of film!) Rent or buy it and wash away any memories you have of that silly remake starring the unbearably pretty young Nastassja.