Production Company: Summit Entertainment
Director: Mark Palansky
Cast: Christina Ricci, James McAvoy, Catherine O'Hara, Peter Dinklage, Richard E. Grant, Reese Witherspoon
Rating: PG for thematic elements, some innuendo and language.

By Gregg Tubbs

(UMC.org)—As fairy tales go, the delightful new film Penelope is almost austere. Its only fantastical element is a rather unexceptional looking pig’s snout. The problem is that this snout is on the face of an otherwise beautiful young woman whose only wish is to find true love and live a “normal” life. But what is normal? How can you know that love is true, that there are no ulterior motives? And if “beauty is only skin deep,” what about the real beauty deep inside Penelope? With wit, humor and a sly, knowing wink, Penelope invites the whole family on a whimsical journey in search of self, acceptance, and most of all, love.

In an era obsessed with outward appearances—from Botox and tummy-tucks to extreme makeovers and teenage nose jobs—Penelope is a fairy tale for our times and a parable about outward appearance versus inner reality. In particular, the film explores the way in which we try to conform and present an acceptable and attractive outer façade, despite our flawed—even ugly—interior.

With cleverness and humor, Penelope teaches the lesson that it’s what’s inside a person that counts and that even a girl with the face of a pig can have the heart of a princess. Copyright © 2008 Summit Entertainment.

Like many fairy tales, Penelope starts out with a witch and a curse that can only be broken by the power of true love. Set in an unnamed modern-day city, the movie tells the story of the wealthy and snobbish Wilhern family and the curse brought on them by their callow son. He broke the heart of a servant girl he truly loved by marrying a fellow “blue blood” socialite who was more acceptable to his family. Distraught, the servant girl flings herself off a cliff, and the uncaring Wilherns go about their business. But the girl’s mother is a witch and exacts revenge by putting a curse on the Wilhern family: The next daughter born to the Wilherns will have the face of a pig and only a “love of her own kind” will break the spell and return her face to human beauty.

Several generations are untouched by the curse until finally a girl is born, and sure enough, in the middle of the baby’s face is a big, round, up-turned snout. Sheltered by her embarrassed parents (Richard E. Grant and Catherine O'Hara), Penelope (Christina Ricci) matures into an otherwise beautiful young woman—educated, sensitive, loving and kind. A virtual prisoner in her own home, Penelope is visited by a steady stream of suitors of “her own kind”—fellow “blue bloods”—who are lured in by the promise of a massive dowry. But can any of them stand the sight of the rumored “pig girl” and offer true love so pure that the spell will be broken? One suitor in particular, Max (James McAvoy), may hold the answers—if he is indeed what he appears.

Employing a light, tongue-in-cheek style reminiscent of The Princess Bride, Penelope is a satisfying family-friendly film with a number of positive messages. Doe-eyed Christina Ricci is perfectly cast as Penelope, who spends much of the film with her face covered, acting mainly with her beautiful and expressive eyes. Co-producer Reese Witherspoon plays a supporting role as the down-to-earth woman who introduces Penelope to the real world outside of her overtly class-conscious home, and Peter Dinklage rounds out the cast as a tabloid reporter obsessed with exposing the “pig-faced girl.”

A virtual prisoner in her own home, Penelope is visited by a steady stream of suitors like Max (James McAvoy) who are lured in by the promise of a massive dowry. Copyright © 2008 Summit Entertainment.

The film’s main message is as plain as the nose on Penelope’s face: We should never judge people by their outward appearance. Penelope’s outward appearance sent her handsome, well-dressed suitors scrambling away once they got their first glimpse of her. Such a reaction reflects their own internal shallowness and "ugliness," despite their tailored suits and blueblood pedigrees. The film pokes fun at the superficiality of pop culture and the hypocrisy of class discrimination and financial snobbery, while also reminding us that before we can be loved, we must first believe ourselves as worthy of love.

As Christians, we are guided by Jesus' refused to judge a person on the basis of appearance or social status. He befriended the sick, the lowly, the outcasts—those deemed unacceptable by the “proper” society of his day—and found them worthy of forgiveness and grace. In Matthew, Jesus chastises the Pharisees for their hypocrisy: “You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence” (Mt. 23:25). As a modern-day parable, Penelope serves as a clever and good natured reminder that it’s what’s inside a person that counts and that even a girl with the face of a pig can have the heart of a princess.

Study Questions

Penelope is presented as a fairy tale. Do you think fairy tales and parables can be useful in teaching valuable lessons?
Do you think there is s difference between a fairy tale and a parable? What makes them different? What do they have in common?
Do you have a favorite fairy tale? What did you learn from it? Do you have a favorite parable told by Jesus? What was its lesson?
What do you think were the main moral lessons of Penelope? (For example: the nature of true beauty, the importance of self-acceptance, etc.)
Like many fairy tales, Penelope also deals with the idea of “true love.” What do you think the story says about true love?
Why did Max reject Penelope? Was it because he loved her? Because he felt unworthy of her love?
What did the film have to say about social status? How do you think the Wilherns were affected by their social status?
Was Penelope’s mother right to shelter her? Can you identify with her need to protect her daughter? What else might have been behind her need to hide Penelope?
Have you ever judged someone unfairly based on external appearance or were yourself the object of such treatment? What lessons did you learn? How did the experience change how you treat others?
What did Jesus have to say about outer and inner beauty? (See Matt. 23:25-26.) What did he mean?