All that glitters is not gold Why Should I Care

Why Should I Care?

Here's the thing. This quote may be all about the Prince, but we totally feel for Portia in this scene. Even from the grave her dad is managing her life. It reminds us a little of parents we know. Or maybe a lot.

But we think the point here isn't so much that he's controlling her choice of husband. Sure, this bothers her a lot. But fathers usually got to decide whom their daughters married in the 16th century. We think the point of the Prince of Morocco's little stint on stage is to remind us that money, wealth, and power aren't the most important things in the world. The Prince has everything he could ever want, and he's used to getting his way. But he gets stumped by his own greed for more gold.

Everyone knows that when you're presented with three mysterious caskets in a fairytale, you choose the one that looks the ugliest. That's the whole message of kids stories like The Ugly Duckling, and that key scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Instead of looking on the outside, we're supposed to look at what really counts. And it turns out that's not gold.

So what this quote is really saying is this: don't get caught up in the fancy cars and designer labels in life. They don't mean everything. We think that's still good advice, 400 years on.