For as long as I can remember, I’ve always loved fairy tales. Probably because they’re usually about a princess who finds her prince charming and escapes great forces of evil… and well, I guess I’ve always wished I could be a princess, hoped that I’d one day find my prince charming, and dreamed of never having to deal with anything bad again.

But as I count down to this month’s release of Penelope, I’m beginning to think there’s at least one more reason that I love a good fairy tale. That reason? Because sometimes it’s only in the improbable representations of fantasy that the struggles and triumphs inside our hearts and minds can actually be represented outside of ourselves.

Unlike Christina Ricci’s Penelope, most of us weren’t born with a pig’s nose. Any imperfections we may have aren’t front page material, haven’t forced us into seclusion, and don’t cause those who see us to scream and run in away in fear. But, ask anyone to complete the sentence, “If there were one thing I could change about myself, it would be ______,” and everyone will have an answer.

For some, the answer may seem insignificant; for others it may be a bit more consequential. But for many of us, the flaw that fills that blank often brings just as much pain to our hearts as it does to the pig-nosed Penelope. Small or big, on our bodies or in our minds, our imperfections can cause us to assume that they are all anyone can see, to believe that they define who we are and the lives we lead, and to shy away from the lives we dream of because somehow, we aren’t worthy. And when this happens, our perceived faults, whatever they may be, might as well be a front-page, pig-nosed, fairy-tale curse.

Luckily, for those of us who feel the weight of that curse comes a story that promises to show us that we are not alone. With a twinkle in their eyes and a unique tale under their multi-talented fairy-tale wings, Penelope and all involved in its creation mischievously invite us to see that just as unrealistic as Penelope’s life may be, so is a belief that any flaw has the power to hold us back and keep of from the life that is ready and waiting for us to live.