Movie quote from: A Cinderella Story (2004) - Sam's Dad (Whip Hubley)
When faced with an uncomfortable challenge, most of us turn away. We choose 'not embarrassing ourself' over 'pursuing opportunity'. This is certainly the case for Sam (Hilary Duff), a young woman whose father's death leaves her living with a stepmother who does not care about her. (does this story sound familiar?) As we learn in the surprising film, A Cinderella Story, rewards often come to those confident enough to step up to the plate and swing.
Before her father died, Sam’s life was a fairy tale. Her Dad owned and operated a sports diner where she enjoyed working with a group of loving people. As she grew up, her joyful life at the diner enabled her to avoid all the teenaged storefront games of fashion and face paint. Although her father had married a stepmother who brought two other daughters to their home, life still was great with her Dad.
All this changed with her father’s tragic death. With no will to be found, the ‘wicked stepmother’ received all her father’s assets. She changed the diner to a 50’s eatery, moved Sam to the attic, and began pampering her own daughters and preparing them to climb the social ladder of success. Sam’s confidence vanished along with the loving world she once knew.
Confidence is closely tied to certainty in the world around us. From this certainty, we are able to explore and discover aspects of our true self. When the world we know is significantly changed, self confidence is inevitably shaken. This is especially true when we are young. As the film A Cinderella’s Story illustrates, it is the reacquaintance with our remaining life certainties (friends, family, future dreams), that enables us to restore a confident foundation to our life choices.
In the beginning of the film, Sam’s Dad (Whip Hubley) is reading Cinderella to her. She asks if fairy tales are real and he tells her they are not but that a lot of answers to life’s questions can be found there. In this film, his advice proves to be true in more ways than one. Through fairy tales and other meaningful bits of advice (“Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.”), her Dad gave Sam all she needed to reconstruct a magical life for herself. This is the great gift of a solid group of family and friends - a foundation from which life's dreams can come true.
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