Shellton’s Tip: This article contains spoilers for the 2015 film adaptation of The Little Prince. If you don’t want it spoiled for you, come back and see us after you’ve watched the movie.
Back in March, I was delighted to become a co-host for Family Movie Fridays. We watch family-friendly movies on the third Friday of each month. We also discuss these films on Twitter and Facebook.
On one of our Family Movie Fridays, we watched the 2015 film adaptation of The Little Prince. When I first saw this movie back in April, I was going through a rough patch. I felt lost and anxious most of the time.
This precious gem of a film shined a warm, comforting light on my otherwise dark days. Its loveable, relatable characters made me smile. The movie’s emotional beauty and heartfelt scenes turned me into an ugly-crying mess.
This movie had such a profound impact on me that it helped me rediscover and embrace my true self.
Before I explain how it taught me to be true to myself, I want to summarize a bit of the film’s plot.
A Little Bit of Summary
The Little Prince is a unique, imaginative film adaptation. It blends Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s classic tale with an original story about a whip-smart Little Girl.
The Little Girl and her mother move in next to an eccentric, elderly aviator. He spends his days repairing an old, beat-up plane in his backyard.
The Aviator befriends The Little Girl by sharing pages of the Little Prince’s story with her. These pages reveal The Aviator met The Little Prince when he was a young man. He’s the same Aviator The Little Prince encounters in the original book.
The Little Girl becomes engrossed in the awe-inspiring tale of the Little Prince. She also forms a close, meaningful bond with The Aviator.
The Little Girl continues to read The Little Prince, which is faithful to Saint-Exupéry’s novella. She learns The Little Prince lives on Asteroid B-612, where he takes care of his beloved Rose. When The Rose grows self-centered, The Little Prince leaves his asteroid.
On his journey through the sky, he comes across strange adults on other asteroids. The Little Prince meets The Conceited Man, who cares too much about what others think of him. He also speaks with The Businessman who’s obsessed with counting the stars.
The Little Prince travels to earth, where he meets The Aviator. He also befriends a special Fox who gives him insightful advice he will remember later in the film.
After The Aviator gets sick, The Little Girl flies his plane deep into the sky to find The Little Prince. The Aviator was fixing it so he could see The Little Prince again on his home asteroid.
The Little Girl tracks down The Little Prince. But he’s far from the person she expected to meet.
The Little Prince is an Anxious Adult Who Forgot His True Self
The Little Girl flies towards what she thinks is the only star in a dark sky. What she finds instead is an asteroid covered with skyscrapers and busy streets.
After The Little Girl lands and escapes some nosey adults, she spots The Little Prince on top of a tall building. When she reaches the roof, she’s shocked by the person she meets.
The Little Prince isn’t a boy filled with wonder and curiosity. He has become an anxious, insecure adult who works a crappy janitor job.
The “Little Prince” is consumed with following his society’s rules. The Little Girl does her best to help him remember who he is. But he’s so focused on pleasing his boss that he ignores her.
When the jittery “Little Prince” loses his last brush, he sobs in despair. He’s convinced he’s going to lose his job, and his life is over.
The Little Prince has lost touch with himself. He’s veered off his unique path onto a bumpy road paved with others’ expectations. Like The Conceited Man, he cares more about what people think of him than what his heart is telling him.
We Are Fearful and Unhappy when We Lose Touch with Ourselves
I was a lot like The Little Prince when I was a kid. My curiosity and happiness were abundant.
I walked down the street smiling and waving at everyone. A hot pink scrunchie held up a ponytail at the top of my head. (It was the 90s.)
Everything changed in middle school. I went from embracing people to fearing them. I soaked in every horrible thing someone said about me like a gross, overused sponge.
My negative thinking continued into adulthood. Like the Little Prince, I worked a lot of unfulfilling jobs. I didn’t think I was good enough to get a high-paying job in my field.
I spent too many days dwelling on negative situations and comparing myself to others. Something as trivial as a lost pen or password would send me crying and screaming into a hopeless fury.
It was like I’d cryogenically frozen that carefree little girl with the hot pink scrunchie and slap bracelet. She wasn’t gone; she was like Fry at the beginning of Futurama.
OK, so she wasn’t frozen for a thousand years. But I had silenced and ignored her for way too long.
When we lose touch with who we are, we become corrupted by negativity and others’ opinions. We must remember who we are to be confident, fulfilled individuals.
The Little Prince Gains Courage by Remembering Who He Is
There are no children in the adult Little Prince’s society. So he takes The Little Girl to the worst “school” ever. In this spirit-killing hellhole, fun objects like bikes are transformed into boring-as-hell office supplies.
A tall “teacher” takes The Little Girl into a room with a small desk. He turns on this messed-up machine that will turn her into an adult. It’s the same machine that robbed The Little Prince of his true identity.
The Little Girl struggles against the machine’s swift, spindly arms while trapped at the desk. The Little Prince falls into a garbage can, which spills the pages of his story on the ground. Looking at these pages sparks his memory.
When The Little Girl escapes from the desk, the menacing, gangling man tries to catch her. The Little Prince saves the girl by taking control of the machine, which sucks in the sorry excuse for an educator.
The nervous, compliant adult Little Prince would never disobey his superiors. And it’s hard to imagine him doing something as daring as using their machines against them. But by reminding himself of who he is, he gained the courage to do what was right and help The Little Girl.
The More We Are True To Ourselves, the Stronger We Become
The Little Prince sees pages of his story and remembers who he is. Sometimes we need to retell the story of our true selves.
I use journaling to remind myself of who I am:
- An empathetic activist who fights for equality and mental health awareness
- A devoted, compassionate friend, daughter, and sister
- Someone who strives to make meaningful connections with others
- A curious lifelong learner who loves to grow
- A resilient problem solver who can overcome daunting challenges
- And I’m also a weirdo who likes bizaare animation and movies that are so bad they’re good.
Anytime I feel frightened or weak, I look at this list in my journal. I gain courage the more I remember my authentic self.
I would love to do something as cool as making a machine eat a movie baddie. But for now, I’ll settle for overcoming my fear of doing some everyday tasks.
I used to avoid applying for jobs because of my paralyzing fear of rejection. Now that I’m more comfortable being me, I’m not afraid to put myself out there. Rejections don’t bother me as much because I know I did the best I could. I grow from them and move on.
We must remind ourselves of our best genuine qualities, especially when we’re feeling sad and lost. When we know who we are, we can better stand up for ourselves.
The Little Prince Stands Up for Himself When People Mock Him
Before The Little Girl and Prince can escape, they must rescue the Aviator’s plane. It’s in the giant jaws of a machine that threatens to shred it into tiny objects destined for Dunder Mifflin.
Luckily, the plane doesn’t meet a sad, mundane end as a bunch of paper clips. The Little Girl and Prince meet by a gigantic glass dome containing countless stars. As The Little Prince gazes at them, he remembers his past with The Aviator and his beloved Rose.
The Businessman from earlier in the film approaches the two. He went from counting the stars to imprisoning them.
When The Businessman orders the girl back to the “classroom,” The Little Prince stands up for her. The Businessman mocks him as a failure. But The Little Prince asserts he’s not a failure and tells him to leave The Little Girl alone.
When he proclaims he’s The Little Prince, the Businessman laughs at him. But The Little Prince won’t back down. He even gains enough confidence to quit his soul-sucking job.
The Little Prince and Girl run away from The Businessman towards The Aviator’s plane.
Once The Little Prince remembered his true self, he didn’t care what The Businessman thought of him. He will not live his life for anyone else anymore. The Little Prince is ready to reclaim his spot on Asteroid B-612.
The More We Know Who We Are, The Less We Care What Others Think
The Little Prince didn’t care what The Businessman said about him because he knew he wasn’t a hopeless failure. According to Kate Bettino of Psych Central, we disempower others’ opinions when we understand and accept ourselves.
People may critique your beliefs or actions, but if they’re grounded in your values, the criticism is less likely to stick.
Kate Bettino
I spent decades caring way too much about what people thought of me. When I told some people I wanted to be a freelance writer, their puzzled looks and head shakes stung my heart. You would have thought I told them I wanted to become a professional fairy princess!
I thought my dream career was a pathetic joke. I let society convince me I should spend eights hours a day chained to a colorless cubicle because it’s “safe.”
After listening more to my inner voice, I’ve grown confident to pursue jobs I’m passionate about. I also don’t pace around in furious frustration anymore when someone throws shade my way.
Who cares if some say writing is an unstable, unattainable career? I know it’s what I want. And that’s all that matters.
When people ridicule our dreams and abilities, their behavior says more about them than us. The more we understand and build ourselves up, the less we let others hold us back.
The Little Prince Overcomes Scary, Sad Challenges as His True Self
The Little Prince and Girl climb a ginormous junk heap to get to the plane. He’s scared to jump. But The Little Prince and Girl hold hands as they leap and land on the old-school aircraft.
Before they fly away, The Little Girl frees the stars by smashing their glass prison into shards. The Little Prince pilots the plane. He helps the Girl into the cockpit after she lands on its wing.
Both the freed stars and the plane rush up towards the sky and away from the asteroid.
The Little Prince remembers more about his past as they travel to Asteroid B-612. When he reaches his beloved Rose, her dried petals fall from his hands to the ground. Sadly, she’s no longer alive.
Instead of letting the loss devastate him, The Little Prince takes a deep, calming breath. He recalls one of the most important things his Fox friend on Earth told him:
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly.
The Little Prince is not sad because his Rose will always live in his heart. Since he remembers his true self, he goes back to being a child.
The Little Prince says goodbye to The Little Girl. She’s been sad and scared to lose her Aviator friend to illness. But now she knows he’s never gone as long as she holds him in her heart.
The more The Little Prince remembered his authentic identity, the more challenges he conquered. He overcame his fear to jump onto the plane. And he piloted it in a pretty stressful situation.
The Little Prince was also better able to deal with the loss of The Rose. He was hopeful instead of heartbroken because he sees with his heart again.
We Can Better Deal with Life’s Difficulties When We’re True to Ourselves
I used to be way more anxious than the adult Little Prince was on that roof. I would let challenging and upsetting situations freak me out so much I couldn’t leave my bed.
My stomach would feel as heavy as those bags of pea gravel from the Home Depot garden center. I would almost puke at the thought of confronting any challenge.
Now that I’m more in tune with my truth, I view life’s curveballs as learning experiences. Instead of hiding under my comforter, I hop out of bed to seek solutions to my problems.
I learned a few months ago I may have to repay a significant debt. At first, the sight of all that sum’s zeroes made me want to bury my tear-soaked face into my couch’s bluish-grey pillows.
Since I’m more confident now, I’ve been working to find ways out of this stressful situation. I have no problem picking up the phone and cooperating with collections. (That’s saying a lot for an introvert who used to avoid ordering pizza on the phone.)
The real me is a self-reliant problem solver. The more I embrace her, the better I do in life. That little girl with the high ponytail in a hot pink scrunchie didn’t let anyone or anything hold her back. And neither will I.
The more we know ourselves, the more we can tackle life’s toughest challenges. Life is never easy, and we can’t control what happens to us. But we can control our actions.
When we are confident in our truth, even the most massive stumbling blocks can’t trip us.
I’d Love to Get to Know the True You!
Have you ever lost touch with yourself? If so, what did you do to find your way back to you? How do you stay authentic in a society that wants you to conform?
Tell me about your exceptional, unfiltered self in the comments. I’d love to get to know you!
Also, please join us for Family Movie Fridays! We’d enjoy watching insightful, fun family films like The Little Prince with you.
Information Sources
1. Bettino, Kate. “Tips to Soothe Your Worries of What Others Think of You.” Psych Central, June 20, 2021
Image Sources
The Little Prince screenshots from YouTube, Google Images, Paramount Pictures, and Method Animation.
Michelle Faler
Michelle “Shell” Faler is a freelance writer, mental health advocate, and pop culture expert. She created Spring from My Shell to help destigmatize mental illness. When Shell’s not writing, she’s watching hilariously bad movies or exploring the weird side of YouTube. She lives in Northern Illinois where she spends as much time with her family as possible.
August 9, 2021
Wow. I can relate so much to this. I was so young and immature when I first got married at 21. I was a mom to three young kids by 28. Then a single mom at 31. Even now all these years later, I still lose sight of my true self. Once I learned to “let go” I feel happier. Thank you for this reminder.
August 13, 2021
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences, Cathy. I admire your resilience and determination to stay true to yourself while overcoming significant challenges. I agree that learning to let go is important. Letting go of the past and even control sometimes can make our lives more fulfilling.
August 7, 2021
Fantastic write-up, Shell! It really was a wonderful movie and you teased out some great, relevant themes. It warms my heart knowing that you have not only got in touch with your authentic self, but you conquered your fears and put your best self out there! For me, this past year was one of the most difficult of my life, and depression and new anxieties threatened to bury me. But as I sought help, I did rediscover my agency and ultimately found I was capable of far more than previously thought. It made me stronger.
August 13, 2021
Thank you for your uplifting words as always, Scott. I appreciate your support of my work more than I can express. I’m also happy that you grew so profoundly during such a scary, stressful time and reconnected with your true self. Thank you for being so open about your struggles and successes. I’m so glad I’ve gotten to know the authentic you over the past few months. 🙂