Mirrors have a lot of symbolism in literature, especially fairy tales. Most often, Mirrors unveil uncomfortable truths. For example, in "Snow White," the Magic Mirror reveals to the Evil Queen that she is not the fairest in the land, for her stepdaughter gets more beautiful every day and will soon surpass even the Queen's beauty. Mirrors can also function as a reflection of subconscious desires, as seen in Goethe's "Faust." While mirrors can denote wisdom and self-knowledge, they can also symbolize vanity and warn of the perils of too much self-regard. We see this in the myth of Narcissus, when he falls in love with the reflection of himself and drowns. But in fairy tales, mirrors - and magic mirrors especially - don't always reflect the truth. In "The Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Andersen, which is what "Frozen" is loosely based on, the mirror distorts everything that is reflected in it. Something that is beautiful will be shown as ugly and vice versa. In the story, the mirror shatters and pieces of it get into Kai's eyes and heart, and he turns bitter and cruel because the only thing he can see is lies and ugliness. Ultimately, Kai is returned to his former self when his True Love, Gerda, weeps over him, which burns away the splinters from the magic mirror.
Obviously, the song "Mirror Mirror" is drawing from the story of "Snow White." So here we go....another reason why I identify with Snow White is because I often thought of my mom as the Evil Queen. She used to spend over an hour getting ready, putting on a full face of makeup before leaving the house. And then, she would criticize me and my sisters for not being beautiful enough, as if it was a reflection on her. I often felt like I took the brunt of the criticism because I look the most like her, and I guess she didn't like what she saw. In all honesty, it fucked up my self-esteem something awful. Most of my adult life, I've tried to avoid the level of vanity that my mom embraced. I don't wear much make-up, I don't spend a lot on expensive beauty treatments...I just generally don't spend much time or money on myself, because I feel like it's selfish. I'm trying to get out of that mindset, because it's not. I do a million selfless things a day (or so it feels), so it won't kill anyone if I get a facial or a massage. Even so, I've gotten to a place where I like what I see in the mirror. I'm not perfect, but my reflection is someone I respect. Unlike poor M2M....
Why don't I like the girl I see
The one who's standing right in front of me
Why don't I think before I speak
I should have listened to that voice inside me
I must be stupid must be crazy must be out of my mind
To say the kind of things I said last night
It sounds like M2M (I'm just going to refer to them as a single entity, because it's easier) fucked up big time. She started a big fight with her boyfriend and he's not coming back. Inevitably, regret settles in and she's praying to the mirror to change what she's done, because she's disappointed in herself. Honestly, she says all she should've done is say "I'm sorry" and I don't understand why she can't pick up the phone to apologize now. She's moping instead of taking the appropriate action and, to be honest, I'm not sure I feel sorry for her. I always apologize when I'm wrong. Heck, I'll even apologize when I was right but said mean things. Because stubbornness and pride are probably the worst things for a relationship. Anyway, Marion Raven does look quite lovely in the video - very much like how I'd picture Snow White. Almost as lovely as Lily Collins in the film "Mirror, Mirror" but not quite. Even though the movie kind of sucked, Collins looked gorgeous in like every frame. Just another person I wished I looked like....
"Mirror, Mirror" Video
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