The other day I was watching Disney+. One thing you should probably know about me is that my all-time favorite animated Disney film is Aladdin. I just love the story of the poverty-stricken "street rat" bastard thief that ultimately partakes in an encounter with the anonymous adventure-seeking princess. Spoiler Alert: He captures her heart ultimately rescuing her from a moment of pain and manipulation only to later become a prince, marry her, free her and others from a lifetime of manipulation and finally finding acceptance from the community of their beloved country. What a fairytale ending.
You see, I never related to Cinderella and though Sleeping Beauty's tale came very close to my own I haven't truly grasped the happily ever after in that story. In fact, I really find little fault in Sleeping Beauty's villain, Maleficent. Nonetheless, relating to Jasmine's character and her inability to find contentment and pleasure in her far better than average upbringings and surroundings could possibly be the main contributor and common denominator as to why I've entertained some of the most wayward characters in the world. (Not Joking).
But what the heck does all this have to do with image consulting and image enrichment? I'm glad you asked. Let's examine the Genie. Oh, how we love the Genie! Our favorite "you ain't never had a friend like me", problem-solver in a lamp. But before I begin my evaluation of Genie and the other characters, if you have not seen the movie stop reading now. I highly recommend you go watch both the animated and the non-animated version, then come back and enjoy the rest of this article. I'd love to hear your feedback.
Now, to my fellow Aladdin enthusiasts, Let's consider what image challenges all these characters possess. We've briefly discussed Aladdin; to not drag on about his misfortune we can sum up his life as undesirable. Everything about him was undesirable: from the orphan-child situation to the way he dressed, to the people (or lack thereof) he found companionship, to his severely humble resources. Yet, that was his outward appearance. Stay with me I'm going somewhere with this. He was publicly perceived as a street rat and worthless, no good and hopeless due to his circumstances. However, a much greater being than himself considered him a "diamond in the rough" the one who's worth lies far within. The preacher in me wants to take this message to the mountain top but I'll try to stay grounded.
Then, we have Jasmine who has a very becoming lifestyle. She has beauty, resources, servants, prestige, community, status and well...she's royalty. However, she is bound, overly disciplined, sheltered and emotionally trapped within the walls of her comfortable surroundings. Also lacking a feasible companion. Lastly Genie, who is full of life, vibrant, humorous, capable of pomp and circumstance and possessing phenomenal cosmic power. At the snap of his fingers, he could make anything within his boundaries happen. But that's the thing, he too was limited, trapped, ostracized and secluded. I'm clearing my throat for the whooping.
Within the story, we discover the street rat and his chance encounter with the princess perpetuates a series of chain reactions that have both positive and negative outcomes. After which we are introduced to Genie, who flamboyantly explains who he is and what he is able to perform. Then almost immediately and every moment thereafter he starts teaching discipline, valuable morals and ethics to Aladdin. He even changes his outward appearance.
I won't give away much more of the story. There is obviously a villain who has superb posture and dresses impeccably I might add but that's not entirely what this article is about. How does this all tie into image consulting? Well, an image consultant much like the Genie expresses to you what they themselves have gathered regarding image enrichment either from personal experience or by way of training and education. Then, we gather from you personally what you would like to see happen for yourself. You want to become a prince, right? Then we do what is necessary within our boundaries to get you to your desired level or preferred outcome. Presenting a win-win-win situation for everyone. Preferably when we are successful in making those desired outcomes transpire, we anticipate being set free, at least until we must meet again.
Therefore, no personal situation, public belief or damaged reputation would hinder any of our potential clients from obtaining their diamond in the rough transformation fairytale, desired outcome or at very least an outcome better than their present. Take the first step with us, we begin with the attire but that merely helps to perpetuate the life in the look you love. Let the church say...."Amen".
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