Disney Plus Dream Vacation: Cinderella

Introduction

Faculty, residents, and students at my university participated in the Disney Plus Dream Job and watched 30 Disney films in 30 days. While we completed the dream job on Friday, December 13, we’ll continue to include all 30 25 posts on Psychology Today. Our 19th post is on Cinderella (2015)

Synopsis

Cinderella (1950) is an animated musical film produced by Walt Disney based on the fairy tale of the same name by Charles Perrault. The first literary European version of the story was published in Italy by Giambattista Basile in his Pentamerone (1634). The story follows a teenage girl who endures many hardships after losing both parents at a young age.

At the time of this posting, Cinderella holds a rating of 7.3 out of 10 on IMDb and a Tomatometer rating of 97 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

How it relates to the field of psychiatry

Cinderella demonstrates dysphoria that is precipitated by the untimely death of her father [00:02:25] and perpetuated by the abject emotional abuse of her step-family. While Major Depressive Disorder is the low-hanging hazel tree twig fruit, the major teaching point is to formulate human behavior by the 3 P’s: predisposing, precipitating, and perpetuating factors (you can add “protective” as a fourth P) in the context of a biopsychosocial model.

At 00:03:54, Cinderella awakens and talks (then sings) to birds. While the provisional formulation is that the identified behavior is normal and a manifestation of someone who wakes up looking forward to the new day (“For with each dawn, she found new hope…”), her communication extends to mice [00:07:32] and other animals. Still, the clinician must determine whether such behavior is culturally sanctioned (many people talk to pets and plants), odd/eccentric, or the manifestation of something more serious. The degree to which her behavior impairs functioning may inform the most likely diagnosis.

One may choose to identify Cinderella’s grandiose belief of being the "chosen one" at the ball and the transformation of animals (and a pumpkin) into the most famous coach in literary history as a testament to her behavior being clinically significant. It’s also noteworthy that she sees her fairy godmother immediately after Drizella and Anastasia tear up her gown. While these perceptual disturbances may be due to a stress reaction, a clinician must first consider the direct physiologic effects of a substance/toxin as playing a significant role in their presentation.

Given the scene began with her making a dress for the ball [00:30:34], a toxin-induced mental disorder appears to be supported. The pink dress is dyed from a combination of white and red paint (pigments). Also known as “surik” (Russian), “red lead” is an oxidation product of lead (red lead oxide) that is used as a pigment in paints and dyes (1). In making the pink dress, Cinderella was likely exposed to red lead oxide, which may have induced her delusions and perceptual disturbances.

Exposure to toxins such as lead in paints has posed serious health risks including but not limited to mental disorders such as that seen in Cinderella. An easy way to remember common toxins associated with mental disorders is to recall Cinderella’s dress-making (C.L.A.S.P.): Carbon monoxide (CO); Lead; Arsenic; Solvents; and Pesticides (organophosphates).

Interestingly, Cinderella’s eponymous name also identifies CO as playing a critical role in her symptomatology as well. The first written European version of the story was Cenerentola, published in Naples, Italy, by Basile. This bit of history then allows us to say, “You can’t spell ‘Cenerentola’ without CO!”