Ryder

I've been looking out of a window for eighteen years, dreaming about what I might feel like when those lights rise in the sky. What if it's not everything I dreamed it would be?
--It will be.
--And what if it is? What do I do then?
--Well, that's the good part, I guess. You get to go find a new dream. ~Disney's Tangled

Ever since November of last year, I have a new favorite Disney prince.

Well, I suppose I could say that the newest prince/princess combo ties with my previous favorites of Belle and Beast from Beauty and the Beast.

And that's really saying something, especially to anyone who knows my incredible adoration for the dreamy bookworm and her cursed lover.

But honestly, Rapunzel and her smolder-eyed Flynn Ryder have managed to start a tug-of-war battle of Disney fairy-tale proportions within my heart.

As much as I love the big-eyed, long-haired, frying-pan-wielding beauty...it's Ryder that really got me thinking as the credits rolled on my new favorite animated feature film.

While he starts out on the cocky side with a bit of a penchant for the illegal...which does appeal to my slight bad-boy attraction, I will admit...

...he winds up demonstrating the most sacrificial love seen in any Disney movie to date.

Most silver-screen princes have a very stereotypical process that follows a strictly organized checklist:

Find a girl who's just a little bit different. A girl with an intelligent mind, a mistreated housemaid, a former mermaid with no voice. ...fall in love with her...lose her...fight the bad guy, win the beauty, and live happily ever after with a heart-stopping kiss that causes every little girl to sigh and dream of the day her own prince will do the same for her.

Flynn Ryder, however, once again defies the pre-ordained rules.

He dies.

He surrenders his life, and any chance of his resurrection, to ensure that the girl he loves is kept safe and is freed from her horrible situation.

And as he closes his eyes and breathes his last, he does so with the peaceful realization that he has done the right thing for his princess...his world...the love of his life.

He would do anything to keep her safe and secure -- even at the cost of his own breath and blood. He stands to gain nothing and to lose everything...all for her.

Of course, in true Disney fashion, a miracle occurs that brings the star-cross'd lovers back together again in life to embark on their very own "happily ever after."

But even still, I left the theater with tear-filled eyes and a full heart.

Love has become a selfish thing. It's only "what can I gain?"... "what can he/she do for me?"...

Love isn't gain. It's surrender.

Sometimes, it's giving up everything for the one you love, no matter how hard it might be in the long run.

Because they're worth it...no questions asked.

I want to love like Flynn Ryder...

...because Flynn Ryder loved like Jesus.

And I want to love like Jesus.

You were my new dream.
--And you were mine. ~Disney's Tangled