Have courage and be kind

On Fri. Mar. 13, the Krikorian movie theater in Downey releases Disney’s newest film: Cinderella. Famous stars such as Lilly James, Richard Madden, and Helen Bonham Carter played main characters of the movie.

Esther Rodriguez, Parents & Teachers Section Editor
March 25, 2015

On Mar. 13, the long awaited live-action Cinderella, featuring Lily James, Richard Madden, Cate Blanchett, and Helena Bonham Carter, premiered in theaters.

The movie stays true to its original fairytale and animated film with the glass slipper, evil stepsisters, and a happy ending for Cinderella and her prince. However, we are given a broader view of Ella’s, nicknamed Cinderella by her stepsisters, life before the passing of her mom. On her deathbed, her mother (Hayley Atwell) gives her the advice that she follows for the rest of her life: “Have courage, and be kind.”

As the story goes, Ella meets the prince and dances with him at the royal ball where they fall madly in love. As the clock strikes midnight, Ella rushes out of the palace leaving one of her iconic glass slippers behind as the prince’s only clue to finding his one true love.

While the story is being introduced to a new audience, children and parents alike dress for the occasion in Cinderella’s famous blue ball gown. It is not hard to find at least one little Cinderella wandering around the theaters with her parents or at least pictures of them on the Internet as a picture of a father and daughter dressed as the prince and Cinderella became popular on Twitter with the caption “family goals”. It’s even become a trend for couples to visit the Disney parks dressed as the famous couple.

The movie earned $95 million in the box office and got overall high ratings from IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, and Common Sense Media. The movie gave a new spin on a classic and tied up loose ends that the original version left out otherwise. Although the story is very well known, the audience enjoyed the live action version as it brings a sense of nostalgia from their childhood and introduces the fairytale to a new generation.

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About the Contributors

Esther Rodriguez, Parents & Teachers Section Editor

Entering her second year as a writer for The Downey Legend, senior Esther Rodriguez has high hopes. As a sophomore, she heard about joining Newspaper during the morning announcements and her English teacher, Mr. Kraus, encouraged her to fill out an application and display her knack for writing. This inspired her to apply and see if she could make it, which she did. Rodriguez joined in hopes of improving her writing skills, becoming less shy, and learning to write in more detail. To her, the best part about being on the newspaper staff is finding out about interesting, random things going on around the school. “There are things you would not know just coming to school, but being in Newspaper you learn things that aren’t common knowledge,” Rodriguez said. “We are the eyes and ears of the school.”

In her down time, Rodriguez enjoys reading young adult literature, writing fictional stories, and spending quality time with her cell phone on websites like YouTube, Tumblr, and Twitter. Besides being in Newspaper at school, she is also a new tutor at Downey High’s Writing Center. Writing as much as possible is important to her because she dreams of one day being an author. Along with chasing her aspirations of writing for a living, after she finishes high school, Rodriguez also looks forward to attending a university such as UCLA, San Diego State, or UC San Diego and obtaining a degree in English. Next summer, she will also be going on a missionary trip with church to Japan. Although her head is full of thoughts about the surreal future, for now Rodriguez is focusing on her schoolwork and activities and soaking up her last year as a high schooler.

Areli Dominguez, Co-Photo Editor

As her final year begins at Downey High School, Areli Dominguez, 17, joins Newspaper as a new-coming photographer. Her interest for photography started last year in Photojournalism and Yearbook and she has loved it ever since. “I like that you can show your own point of view,” Dominguez said. She learned a lot within Yearbook, but she knows that Newspaper will be different and new and hopefully a challenge. She knows that at times it may be difficult, but she is hard working and motivated. Her main goals for this year are to keep on task and be proud of her own work.

She moved to Downey in the fourth grade and has been here ever since. Dominguez likes to draw, sing and do photography. She has two dogs named Casper and Oreo, who she loves to play with and be around. She hopes to attend Long Beach Community College in the next fall semester, but is unsure of what she wants to major in. In 5 years from now she has high hopes of to start a new job, and have the same friends from high school and other aspects of her life. When it comes to her friends or family she has a very caring heart. “I am a trustworthy, whether it is big or small, I for sure won’t tell anybody,” Dominguez stated. In her spare time, she likes to listen to bachata and eat sour patches, which is her favorite candy. She does not play sports now but when she was younger she played volleyball and swim. Her role models are her parents because they struggled to makes things work. She hopes to achieve greatness this upcoming year.