That Viral Sleeping Beauty Proposal Video Is Adorable, You Humorless Cretins

As Jezebel’s resident earnest bitch, I’ve brought it upon myself to cape for the man whose wildly creative Sleeping Beauty proposal has gone viral. Filmmaker Lee Loechler proposed to his longtime girlfriend Sthuthi David at a movie theater viewing of Sleeping Beauty, but Loechler and an animator spent six months throwing in a twist ending to the Disney classic.

From the New York Post:

Loechler waited anxiously throughout the entire film before his big bit. At the end of the story, Prince Phillip kisses Aurora to wake up the sleeping princess — but in Loechler’s version, an animation of himself and David replaced the two main characters.

In the video, David seems visibly confused when she realizes the cartoons suddenly look very different — with darker complexions and hair. On the big screen, a now-smirking Prince Lee opens an engagement ring box — a departure from the fairytale’s storyline — then appears to toss it out toward the audience.

At the front of the theater, Loechler stands and pretends to catch the box. Then he turns to David and says: “It’s not every day you get to propose to your high school sweetheart — so I’m gonna take my time.”

David was speechless, not only by the proposal, but by the makeup of the movie’s audience: Unbeknownst to her, she was surrounded by her friends and family, who were all in on the big surprise.

David said yes, everyone cheered, it was all disgustingly adorable. As someone who is a complete sucker for proposals, I loved it.

The overwhelmingly positive attention the video has attracted is enough so that I don’t actually have to defend this man and his ambitious proposal. But in most of the circles I find myself in, the prevailing opinion on public proposals is thus: Never do it. They’re humiliating, anxiety-inducing, and awkward. They put too much pressure on women to say “yes” and ruin what should be a private, intimate affair. These are all fair concerns that I don’t necessarily disagree with, but we all agree that most horrific public proposals that we’ve had to witness—viral videos of proposals made on Jumbotrons at sporting events that quickly turn south—are likely due to the couple in question not having a frank conversation about marriage. Many a clueless guy has assuming that his girlfriend wants to get married just because they’re in love and have been dating for a while. That’s a recipe for disaster and is likely what precedes many a rejected proposal, public or otherwise.

But there’s nothing to indicate that that was the case for Lee and David, who seem very much in love and mind-numbingly happy.