I've had a few favourites in my lifetime. As a child I LOVED Hansel. I loved hearing my mom reading that fairytale to me over and over again, from the original Grimms edition (not the Disney-fied one) where the wicked witch died in the end (Grimms were always so grim, it seemed there was always SOMEONE dying).
When I was 11 I kept rereading this novel about a child detective who could decode messages and solve mysteries. I wish I could remember the book, I'd love to buy a used copy for my son.
5 or 6 years ago I identified with the Velveteen Rabbit (a friend from a 12 step group gave it to me as a birthday gift). Being loved into life mirrored my having been healed by people who loved and cared about me (I touched on that in another thread).
But these days, its The Maxx, an adult cartoon character that was briefly on MTV about 15 years ago. He's a (I think schizophrenic or schizoid) homeless man, living on the fringes of society, who has a heart of gold, and in his mind is a hulking, overpowering muscle-bound gentle giant with huge fangs who fights the evil demons away from his social worker in a beautiful artistic landscape/jungle). It's an incredible, heart wrenching 6 or 8 episodes if you ever get a chance to see it.
Anyway, there's a mixure there of being an orphan and warrior, homeless and victorious, misunderstood and loveable.
These are all archetypes I think, powerful symbols of who we are historically and who we believe we can become. Powerful images Cinderella and Pollyanna...and?
