Bed-time stories have always been a tradition in most families, a time where parents share some time with

their
kids before they go to bed and tell them a story that would help them sleep, but also to indirectly teach them a life
lesson, certain values, and leave them with a specific idea right before they sleep, giving them the chance to
develop that idea.

Disney tales are the most common, and give kids exactly what they need to hear: princesses falling in love with the
prince in shining armor, their hero. Yet those stories hold more meanings than what appears. “Sleeping Beauty” is
an old tale that Disney brought back to the big screen, telling the story to the new generation, and reminding the
old one of it, but this time, showing them what they really have been missing.

Maleficent tells the story of “Sleeping Beauty”, this time from Maleficent point of view. The movie tells the story of
her fairy childhood, showing the powers she had and the good purpose she was using them for. It continues to tell
that after being betrayed by the boy she loved for the sake of power, Maleficent loses her wings and, driven by
vengeance, uses her powers for evil. She visits her ex-lover, now king, and sets a spell on his newly born daughter
that will put her into death-like sleep on her sixteenth birthday, with no other way to be broken, but a true love’s
kiss. The movie will then portray the development of the relation between Maleficent and the girl as she grows
older. On her sixteenth birthday, the power of the spell puts the girl into sleep, leaving Maleficent in regret,
because according to her, true love does not exist, and the girl was never supposed to wake up from her sleep.
Meanwhile the three good fairies that raised the girl tried to wake her up by bringing a guy to kiss her, but he fails.
Maleficent, sadly observing the process, cries and promises to always protect the girl, and leans down and kisses
her on the forehead. The sleeping beauty wakes up, showing that the kiss was a true love kiss, the love Maleficent
developed for the girl as she watched her grow up. Amazed by what happened, Maleficent tries to escape with the
girl, but is captured by the king’s guards made of metal that is her only weakness point. The girl Aurora runs back
trying to hide, where she finds Maleficent’s wings kept in a glass box. She succeeds at breaking it, and the wings
flap their way back to Maleficent, giving her the ability to fly and winning the battle, in which the king accidently
dies. The movie ends with Aurora announced queen, and Maleficent reviving her world and getting rid of the evil
she created.

The movie portrays many themes, and deals with different values. Vengeance for instance, when evil takes over
Maleficent and drives her to take evil acts. It also shows how someone is able to choose evil over good, and invest
their power in the way they want. Prejudice is also shown through the movie, of how someone can judge another
based on their looks, their abilities, and treat them differently based on that, which is why the kingdom attacked
the neighboring state where Maleficent lives, because they have “magical powers, and they feared that they were
different, and also because Maleficent has horns and unusual fairy wings, she was seen as an evil character,
making her anti-hero in the movie.

Other values are present as well, such as holding on to your anger, guilt, forgiveness, and redemption, yet the most
powerful of all was the true love kiss, showing that true love does not necessarily mean a prince and a princess, a
guy and a girl the old romantic way Disney used to portray in their tales. It also exists among family, and can be
developed in other forms of romantic love, as well as loving your enemies, or who we think is our enemy.

I consider Maleficent a well made and well acted life-lesson movie, where true love and hate were shown for what
they are: choices that we make as individuals. It teaches the viewer that “there is evil in this world, hatred, and
betrayal”, and that we might drift from our paths at some point along the way due to certain circumstances, yet
this does not define who we really are, and that if we have good inside us, it will always eventually show and it
cannot die. It also breaks the typical idea of love and the form it takes.