Cinderella
by Chris Weitz (Screenplay)
The classic Disney cartoon comes to life with a 4-inch glass slipper, starring Lily James as Cinderella, Cate Blanchett as Lady Tremaine, Richard Madden as The Prince, Helena Bonham Carter as the Fairy Godmother. It also features Sophie McShera, Holliday Grainger, Hayley Atwell, and Nonso Anozie.
Carrie and I went to see it, and we have many many thoughts- some full of glitter, some full of disappoint.
CarrieS: SO MUCH GLITTER. Am in a glitter coma. RHG, you had thoughts, yes?
RHG: So pretty. So, so pretty. The costumes and the set design and the camera work is the strength of this adaptation. God knows it ain’t the story.
CarrieS: I had a hard time determining if it’s “good” because yes, it was gorgeous, and well cast, and the actors gave it their all, but once you take away the visuals there’s not really any movie, is there?
RHG: No, there really isn’t. There’s not a lot to the original cartoon (of which this is a live action adaptation — they included Gus-Gus!) and they did flesh it out and make the Prince an actual person, and tried to give Lady Tremaine some motivation, but it didn’t go beyond that.
CarrieS: This could be our shortest review ever! Cinderella – see it for the costumes and set design. The end.
I loved the performances even though the actors didn’t have much to work with. Lily was suitably luminous, and I knew Cate would be wonderful because duh, but I loved the depth her character had. I also liked that they filled in a couple plot holes, like having the fairy godmother use magic to keep Ella’s step-family from recognizing her.
The cinematography had some stellar moments – that last shot of Cate on the stairs – WOW.
RHG: Also the shot of the Prince curled up like a child on his father’s bed? I had a feel at that shot, and that scene.
CarrieS: I saw the movie with two eleven-year old girls and one seven year old boy and they all liked it but thought it “needed to be more funny”.
Also we are a bloodthirsty lot and felt that “Have courage and be kind” is an excellent motto but it needs something added, like “Drop arsenic in the tea of the people who are enslaving you seeing as how you would inherit if they all died.”
But I guess mass-murder, while it would fit perfectly with the Grimm original, wouldn’t be very Disney.
RHG: I think the movie could have explored where the line between “Have courage and be kind” and “Be a goddamn doormat” is. Throughout most of the movie, Ella is a doormat. She never stands up for herself, because that would be “unkind” and when she does show a bit of spine (like when she swipes the horse and goes thundering through the woods, which I loved that meet-cute between her and the Prince, BTW. It was adorable and so well-shot) she immediately goes back to doormattery. I know she was tasked with protecting the place, but still. Even when she’s locked up in the attic, she would still be there today if the mice hadn’t opened her window.
(I suppose there’s an argument that “I forgive you” is also doormat-like, but there’s a diffference between “I forgive you and will think on you no more” and “I forgive you and will allow you to keep doing the things you have always done.” I choose to believe that she walked out and never looked back on Lady Tremaine or her daughters.
CarrieS: I agree – Cinderella is a famously passive character, but this one was extra passive. Her super-power was endurance. For such a sunny character, she was also someone who lives without hope. She didn’t dream of marrying up. She didn’t dream of anything. She experienced so much loss that she assumed the way to cope is to seize any happy experience you can and then feed off that memory forever. It was frustrating.
BTW, I loved it that there were some people of color in the cast. Next time let’s make one a main character, OK? It’s fantasy, not history. It wouldn’t even be a new innovation – Brandy played Cinderella in a TV musical and Keke Palmer is playing Cinderella on Broadway.
RHG: Right? It was a small step in the right direction. A safe step, but in the right direction.
It was also kind of adorable to see Lily James and Sophie McShera from Downton together, and Richard Madden and Nonso Anozie from Game of Thrones together (Although Richard and Nonso never had a scene together, and they are also both dead so they need work.) (ALSO RICHARD MADE IT THROUGH A WEDDING WITHOUT GETTING KILLED GOOD JOB RICHARD.)
CarrieS: I felt like I missed a lot of in-jokes regarding casting – I knew just enough to know that there were in-jokes to be found. Also PEGGGGYYYYYY! Agent Carter!
I think my bottom line is that the movie was stunning to look at, and I admired the actors, but it left a bad taste in my mouth. I’ve always thought that Cinderella gets a bad rep as anti-feminist in general but this particular adaptation felt like a celebration of sumptuous visuals and self-abnegation – suffer politely and your subservience will be rewarded. “Having courage and being kind” should include being kind to yourself, and having courage to seize your opportunities. So if your friend the maid suggests that you can leave (the implication being that the maid could find Cinderella work in a kinder household) do it, and if you can open your fucking window, do that, too.
RHG: I saw the movie with a friend of mine who wrote a piece for Time about how she felt it was the Anti-Frozen.
Can we talk about the costumes, though?
We need to talk about the costumes, and how the costume designer managed to blend the 1950s aesthetic with (roughly) 1870. Taking the concept behind the cartoon costumes and making a ball gown with like 270 yards of fabric (silk tulle and taffeta and ruffles and gloriousness) and Lady Tremaine’s ballgown?
Oh my god.
Richard Madden also said they did TWO DAYS of screen test for his white pants, because they needed to find the line between “unf” and “too transparent for Disney.” Mesdames, THEY FOUND THE LINE AND IT WAS PERFECT.
CarrieS: OMG those pants – and the ballgown deserved it’s own credit. Also her “everyday” blue gown – it started off as this semi- fancy dress and becomes her sole garment and her story is told through the appearance of the dress.
And the ballgown skirt – GOOD LORD. And the glitter hair! And the glitter eyeshadow that hardly showed so it wasn’t too 1980’s, but then it was all “bling!” And the stepsisters, who’s gowns were almost pretty but taken to this incredibly tacky extreme!
RHG: When the Prince took her to her secret garden, and she sat down on the tree swing that was three feet wide, I leaned over to my friend and said “they needed to make the swing that wide so her skirt would fit.”
CarrieS: I squeed when they went into the Secret Garden of Psycho-Sexual Symbolism. Because of COURSE this movie had a secret garden with roses that you enter through an archway and then a guy pushes you on a swing beneath the full moon. OF COURSE.
I want more about the Stepmother. Does she marry the conniving Vizer (OF COURSE THERE’S A CONNIVING VIZER).
Does she meet up with Angelina Jolie’s Malieficent, and team up with her to dominate the world (Maleficent, who knows all about loss and rejection, will probably make her get some therapy). Cate FTW.
RHG: I think the best change this movie made was having the meet-cute between the Prince and Ella in the woods: “Gorgeous woman goes to ball and Prince falls head over heels in the two hours she was there and they barely even talked” has always seemed like a sketchy thing to base a marriage on. Even one adorable conversation is better, and him saying “Well, I’m an apprentice, still learning my trade” was cute. They were really cute together.
CarrieS: I agree – even though they had very little time together, I believed in them as a couple (also the Prince points out that while he only met Ella for like five minutes in the woods, the court wants him to marry a princess he’ll meet for five minutes at a ball, so it’s not like his love life is based on long walks on the beach).
I’m not gonna lie – every time a parent died, I cried. Loved the relationship between Kit and the King.
RHG: It is a story of women at odds with each other, always. I would like to see a reimagining of Lady Tremaine’s side, and how she’s trying to be a Mrs Bennet (WHO ALWAYS GOT THE SHORT END) but can’t see that Ella is her responsibility, too. Cast Cate in it as a companion movie.
CarrieS: Yes, I think they brought just enough depth and agency and motivation to the story that it made me frustrated that there wasn’t more of it. I couldn’t just write it off and say, “Well, it’s Cinderella, what can you do”. It’s a new Cinderella. All these kids are seeing it – today, in 2015. And I wanted the story to reflect some changes in how we think about agency and motivation. I didn’t expect Lily to run amok with a sword, or declare, “I choose ME!” or anything, but she was so damn passive. It’s like Lily and Cate were too powerful and charismatic for the movie they were in – you could just see them straining at the seams of the tight little box the movie wants to confine them in.
RHG: SO what do you think, grade wise? I’m inclined to say B-, blending an A+ for acting and visuals, but a D for regressive story and doormat-ness.
CarrieS: I’d say a C+, with the + being because the visuals were glorious.
RHG: Okay, I’ll go with that. The 4-inch glass slippers were ridiculous.
CarrieS: But very comfortable!
Cinderella is in theatres now and you can find tickets (US) at Fandango and Moviefone.
Argh. I had such high hopes for this one. Kenneth Branagh did a really good job with the female characters on Thor, and now I don’t know if I even want to see this. I have a really low tolerance for doormats, and I don’t think The Pretty will be enough to keep down my frustration. Thank you guys for the heads up.
As an antidote to all this passivity, I recommend Mercedes Lackey’s The Fairy Godmother, Book #1 in the Tales of the 500 Kingdoms. Lackey takes the stories and turns them on their heads. The Cinderella story is her jumping-off place. Here’s what I found on the Amazon site:
“The prolific Lackey will enchant readers with this delightful twist on traditional fairy tales. In the land of Five Hundred Kingdoms, “Tradition” rules, and everyone is expected to fit into established fairy tales. Enslaved by her wickedly avaricious stepmother and stepsisters, Elena should have had a Cinderella-like life, but when things didn’t work out, she flees and seeks work. Her fairy godmother, in fact, the fairy godmother of several kingdoms, makes her apprentice fairy godmother, and it’s her duty to prevent the bad things that come with Tradition. Her life takes yet another curious turn when, disguised as a crone to test three questing princes, she loses her temper with Prince Alexander. He acts like an ass, so she turns him into one. Unwilling to let a defenseless donkey wander the woods alone, she takes him home and puts him to work transforming his life. Lackey’s satisfying fairy tale will captivate fantasy readers with its well-imagined world and romance fans, who will relish the growing relationship and sexy scenes.”
Loved Cinderella (any & all versions) as a kid; kind of hate it now that I can actually see the ways that it skewed my youthful expectations. I’m also thinking that all the prettiness and production values are actually a detriment if the film glamorizes feminine passivity.
My favorite antidote? Witches Abroad by the ineffable and much mourned Sir Terry Pratchett. Hilarious and truthful take on the power of stories.
Still on the fence about seeing this one…
Of all the Cinderella reincarnations, I will always enjoy Ever After the most. The Drew Barrymore character is so much more empowered than all the other Cindrellas, helping her totally avoid the “doormat” problem. My favorite scene is when she carries the prince away from the thieves. Now THAT’S a heroine!
Maybe I’ll catch this version when this hits Netflix…
This isn’t specifically Cinderella but I’d argue any of the Dragon books or Enchanted Forest series by Patricia Wrede. Strong heroine who defies stereotypes. Totally awesome and worth the time.
I took my 4 year to see it and I agree that it was gorgeous. The dress was liquid – it was fantastic. Every time it moved, it just swirled. Simply lovely. Cate Blanchett was wonderful. As soon as I heard she’d been cast, it was an “Well, of course” decision. I mean, who else would you want. And she seemed to be eating it up.
And, for all the lovely shots in this, I agree that the scene where Kit just lays down with his father was amazing. It was gut-wrenching; I felt it kind of told you a lot about the two characters without a word.
Despite the problems I really enjoyed it and recommend it
One of my favourite Cinderella retellings is definitely the version in Politically Correct Bedtime Stories: Modern Tales for Our Life and Times by James Finn Garner. The value of comfortable and practical female clothing is highlighted; that has always been of prime import to me!
The best twisty, dark version I’ve read recently was Rosamund Hodge’s Gilded Ashes. The premise is terrifying: when Maia (Cinderella)’s mother died, she made a deal with an evil entity in order to be able to stick around and help her daughter. Ghosts are a bit limited when it comes to understanding and empathy, so Maia has to lie to her mother’s shade constantly about how amazing her life (of drudgery and fear) is so that the ghost doesn’t make her stepmother and stepsisters go insane. It’s horrifying and wonderful.
For film adapatations of Cinderella, I like “The Slipper and the Rose” and “Three Wishes for Cinderella” the best. In “Three Wishes for Cinderella,” the heroine is especially kickass!
I’m so on the fence about seeing (buying a ticket for) this – all the pictures look amazing, but I wonder if I’ll just be grinding my teeth at the passivity. A couple random thoughts:
* With more pictures to compare, it seems weird that Cinderella doesn’t have gloves on. If everyone else also didn’t have them it would be fine, but the way it is now…it looks gauche. I never realized I had opinions on gloves and how they affect your ‘dressed up’ level until now.
* Another review mentioned that they almost wished the Prince’s friend (advisor maybe?) was the Prince, because he had way more charisma and personality in this movie. But he’s not white, so that wasn’t gonna happen. Ugh.
And thank you x 1000 for saying this isn’t history, so why the flip can’t there be more non-white people? If there’s one complaint that makes me give people side-eye more than anything, it’s that movies aren’t ‘historically accurate’ or ‘pandering’ or something if a role they didn’t expect is given to a non-white actor (also goes for flipping genders).
Seconding “Ever After” as my favorite Cinderella interpretation, and the recommendation of Patricia Wrede books. Must check out these 500 Kingdoms books.
My mom and I saw Cinderella on Monday then went to see The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel on Tuesday. Cinderella was a tedious extravaganza….the costumes were magnificent (especially that gorgeous wedding dress), but the story and the characters had no depth. My mom commented that you could probably feed a third world country for a year with the costume budget alone!
Now….The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel…MAGIC!
As far as Cinderella movies, I really recommend Drew Barrymore’s Ever After.
Great review!
Save your $. Besides the fab costumes (esp. those breeches! Rawr!) & Cate Blanchett there was nothing to like. Cinderella was so passive! I’m pretty sure the animated one had more gumption.
I’ll eventually see this on Blu-Ray for the costumes and Cate. Cate is a baller in everything, and that green dress Brings It!
So weird to see Richard Madden in something so chaste after watching Game of Thrones.
Thoughts, I have them. Saw this with four twelve year old girls, including my daughter who is a huge Marvel fan. Comments from her during the movie as follows: “Mom, is that Peggy Carter? It is! Peggy!…She’s better as Peggy” Upon seeing Richard Madden “No one’s eyes are THAT blue.” Upon seeing the dress “She will NOT be able to breathe in that, will she?” and finally “what happened to the Lizards? bring back the lizards!”
My thoughts during the movie: “OMG the set design I want that house!” “I want that sewing box!” “I want those boots” “Oh Robb Stark I’ve missed you” ” Xaros Daxos whatever your name is I can never remember but you were fun in Quarth I’ve missed you too!” “oh look, they’re in a Watteau!” “When you are Branaugh you can get Derek Jacoby to do anything”
After the movie I asked the girls if they thought that Cinderella ever learned that “have courage and be kind” did not mean “don’t let people walk all over you” and the universal response was “no!”
I thought the acting was great and yes the costumes and set design and decoration were just outstanding. And we all loved the lizard footmen who were wonderful and disturbing. We demand a lizard footman movie!!!!
For what it was, it was swoony and lovely and very very Branaugh. Who appears to have a thing about people in love on swings.
This sounds cringe-worthy, gorgeous visuals or not. I’ll add my heartiest recommendation to go for the lovely, Renaissance-set Ever After, instead. Drew Barrymore is a kind and courageous Cinderella but absolutely nobody’s doormat, and social differences matter. I also loved Angelica Huston as the stepmother, the chemistry between Barrymore and Dougray Scott, and the fun working into the plot of Leonardo da Vinci!
I probably won’t see this. For beautiful costumes, I can watch DanceSport.
My favorite Cinderella movie is actually the Disney TV movie with Brandy. I really enjoyed the colorblind cast, the production values were good, the Prince (lovely Filipino actor Paolo Montalban) was adorable, Bernadette Peters was deliciously evil as the stepmother BUT also lets you see the loneliness and desperation of someone who “married up” and was then widowed. Her “I Fell in Love with Love” is epic. And finally the design of the grand ball is simply gorgeous.
“Ever After” is a close second, because I <3 Drew Barrymore in just about anything.
While I didn’t see the movie, I was amused that the week after the new CINDERELLA came out, there was an increase in sales of CINDERELLA XXX: AN AXEL BRAUN PARODY. Seriously.
I haven’t seen this version of Cinderella and I probably won’t because I’ve heard things about how the girl that played her had to go on a liquid diet to fit into that dress. Yes, it is gorgeous, but no dress is worth starving yourself to wear.
The version I like the most is the Brandy/Whitney Houston version from 1997. Part of it was that I love Rodgers and Hammerstein (did anyone else watch the ABC 20/20 special about the Sound of Music last night?). The songs from that movie, especially In My Own Little Corner and A Lovely Night, are some of my favorite songs and are actually my go-to lullabies when I’m watching my much younger cousins.
I also loved the fact that it wasn’t an all white cast. Cinderella, the Fairy Godmother, the Queen, and one of the stepsisters were all black. Plus, the prince was Asian. I always figured that Whoopie Goldberg and Victor Garber adopted him as no punnet square will create an Asian person from white and black parents.
I’m never seen Ever After and I can never find it anywhere. I’ve heard such good things about it, so I feel as if I’m truly missing something great.
@scifigirl1986
“I always figured that Whoopie Goldberg and Victor Garber adopted him as no punnet square will create an Asian person from white and black parents.”
Thank you for putting that do genetically elegantly. It has made that day. I do love the Brandy version – haven’t watched in an age – as well as Drew Barrymore’s
I watched the Disney original a few years back as an adult and all I could think of was this is really a story about mice. If the new one didn’t expand the story then it is probably good that Gus still features
Itch typing on a phone. That should read “so genetically elegantly”
Urgh I give up *throws hands in despair*
It’s like you pulled thoughts DIRECTLY FROM MY HEAD. During the movie, I kept thinking, “Yes, be kind, but don’t be a doormat!” In a world where women are taught to be kind to their detriment, we don’t need little girls internalizing that message even more. And I did keep thinking that she could slip something into the tea or food of her stepmother and stepsisters.
I also didn’t think they explored Lady Tremaine enough. It was such a great opportunity to explore the limited options that women had in history and how screwed she was when her husbands died. And then she has three young women she has to support, and none of them have any options to make money because they’re women.
But a hearty “YES!” for the costumes, set, and actors. And the fit on Richard Madden’s pants (which my mom also commented on). And his amazing blue eyes. And the diversity, even though I wanted Cinderella to be a woman of color.
In short, this was a spot-on review.
I went to see the movie with both my parents and I gotta say that my dad said it was nice but she prefers the cartoon, my mom liked the look of it and the movie in general.
I’ve been thinking a lot about how I feel about it. And I mostly think as far as live-action adaptations go, I like Ever After better, but I also thought it was such a lovely fairy tale.
It has the problems all Kenneth Branagh ‘s movies have: it’s kind of overlong and slow in the middle (or feels that way) and I’m not quite sure it sticks the landing, but it was also A LOT of fun for me. I found Rob Stark and Lady Rose to be super charming and I bought them as a couple, which was all that mattered to me.
Hmmm…sounds like I’m better off digging up and rewatching Ever After with Drew Barrymore [a retelling of Cinderella that I LOVE as she basically saves herself & the prince & there’s some really cute dialogue etc] while I wait for this Cinderella to come to NetFlix
I loved “Ever After”. You’ve got to love a story that had Leonardo da Vinci as the fairy godmother / godfather. One minor quibble, however: as my art conservator sister pointed out, you can’t roll up the Mona Lisa — it’s painted on wood.
My personal favourite version of the Cinderella story is the Gail Carson Levine book Ella Enchanted.
It’s YA, but it so wonderfully deconstructs the story and gives us a heroine with agency despite her role and a prince with personality.
@Ellen Ella Enchanted is my absolute favorite as well! I was so heartbroken at the movie adaptation 🙁 There was almost nothing of the original in it. Which I don’t even get since I feel like it’s a book that doesn’t really have lulls – Ella was always very proactive – and should have made a really great movie imo.
I’ll second the Mercedes Lackey version. It was such a unique take on fairy tales, I loved it. It was kind of unfocused plot wise, but then thats like 90% of romances, so I didn’t mind. I wish there were more fantasy romances out there!
I’m definitely the outlier, but I did not care for Ever After. I thought Drew Barrymore was woefully miscast as Cinderella (and did a terrible acting job, to boot). I could never get into the movie because of her. [/unpopular opinion]
And… Interesting review; I know the passivity of Cinderella will bug me to no end, but I’m watching this one for Robb Stark. If only to see him survive the wedding (I’m STILL not over the traumatic Red Wedding, *SOBS*).
I have always loved Cinderella in all its many versions. I agree that Ever After is good, but I just can’t watch it and love it because she didn’t get to dance with the prince at the ball! I hated that she was unmasked and had to flee without a dance. Everything else about that movie was superb, but for me, the highlight is the dance at the ball.
I’ll probably go see this just because it’s Cinderella and Kenneth Branaugh.
Will probably rent it on DVD later on because I’m a sucker for fairy tale adaptations and costume dramas. From the trailers, I personally wasn’t expecting it to be on the same level as ‘Ever After’, or compete heroine-wise with Danielle so I’m not surprised.
I see the commercials and ads for this film, and all I can think of is the pretty cover for ‘A Kiss At Midnight’ by Eloisa James.
Strangely, with this version I finally actually got why Cinderella put up with the treatment she got. It made some sense to me. It started with her trying to be kind. Then there was also the sense of responsibility — there were things that needed to be done, and no one else was doing them. And then it seemed like some sheer stubbornness kicked in because, by God, this was her home and she would not allow them to kick her out of it. She would take care of it, regardless of what they did. At least that’s what I got out of her conversation with the prince about why she stayed, and I had this horrible realization that I’d probably do the exact same thing in her shoes because I have a nasty stubborn streak that would make me dig in my heels, to the point that I would feel like staying and putting up with everything while not letting them see me being upset about it was a form of resistance. Though I probably would have, um, “seasoned” their food with cheese byproducts processed through mice. In my head, that’s what she was doing. We just didn’t see it on screen.
I second “Three wishes for Cinderella”. It’s a Chech – German coproduction made in 1973.
The prince has to work hard to get the girl. And Cinderella even kicks his ass a few times.
It’s very popular where I live, but they say it’s a Christmas favourite in many European countries.
I detest the Cinderella fairytale. The premise is disgusting, even when you ignore the foot-fetish thing. (google foot-binding, if you have the stomach for it.)Basically, the young (female) readers are told that if you are doormatty enough, a prince will come and rescue you – and if youdon’t get a prince, why, you obviously haven’t been dormatty enough. Badically, it’s a manual in how to grow up to be an abuse victim.
There are a few good Cinderella retellings out there. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine has been mentioned, and it’s excellent. Mercedes Lackey has two – the godmother, the first in her 500 kingdoms series (lots of fun in that series!!) and Phoenix and Ashes in her Elemental Mages series. Both are worth a read!
Ugh – I didn’t get one of the Lackey books right – the 500 Kingdoms book is of course The Fairy Godmother.
I never really got into “Ever After.”
There are, however, two book versions that I adore. The first is the previously-mentioned “Ella Enchanted” by Gail Carson Levine (NOT the movie, though!)
The other is “The Stepsister Scheme” by Jim C. Hines–actually a sequel to the fairy tale. The titular steps have teamed up with wicked fae to abduct Prince Armand. Just-married Danielle must take off to rescue him with the help of a magical glass sword and crack commandos Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. It’s the first in Hines’ Princess series, and I haven’t read the others, but gory fantasy and badass action happens all over the place.
Ever After is one of those movies that I kinda sorta love, and kinda sorta don’t, and it’s mostly because of Drew Barrymore. I felt she was miscast. So why do I own the movie? Because I love the character of Danielle. She’s not your typical doormat Cinderella–I mean, can we imagine our most recent version even considering throwing apples at anyone in an attempt to stop them from stealing her horse, much less doing it? And I love the other characters–the prince, the king and queen, Da Vinci, one of the stepsisters not being so wicked–oh, there were so many things I loved about it, enough to keep it on my shelf.
As for this version of Cinderella, I thought it was okay, but not the greatest. The costumes were gorgeous and Cate was amazing. I kept trying to figure out what I’d seen the Captain of the Guard in before (and now that I know, I feel very silly for not knowing before). And I am so glad I’m not the only one who got to the end of the movie and thought, “Hurrah, Robb Stark survived a wedding!!”
Just wanted to say that this movie made my week. I’m so glad I had the big screen experience because the visuals alone are worth the effort. Add the acting and all the feels from childhood and I left the cinema with a warm heart and feeling less jaded than I’ve felt in years (a lot of “feelings” in one sentence!) . Since I knew the story through and through as Cinderella is one of my all-time favourite animated films I was not expecting for the movie to take a different route. I can see where the criticism comes from but I really don’t think than one film alone can shape an entire generation of girls. Besides, give our young ones some credit and let them see this film for what it realy is, a magical, beautiful story. Fairy tales did not ruin my view of the world or fixated gender roles and stereotypes while growing up. Perhaps having a familiy in which critical thinking and debates were strongly promoted had something to do with it. And school, and seeing my real mother and my aunts as hard-working, independent women that did not wait for a man to save them didn’t hurt either. If movies really were that powerful, I’d worry more about others, but I really don’t, unless it’s about painting Hitler as a romantic figure…then I’d really start worrying, big time. For now, I’ll blissfully enjoy Cinderella and other live-actions faiiry tales movies and I will support their making by watching them in the theatres. i want more of them!
I loved this movie. And the four women I saw it with loved it too (one of which was a film major).
If Cinderella’s primary goal is to be treated well, then she’s hella passive. But if her goal is to guard her home, and guard her mother’s memory and belief system, and (eventually) guard the prince from her step-mother’s scheming, then her actions make more sense. In the U.S., ancestral homes aren’t really a thing, and so of course the question that every Cinderella adaption has to solve is “but why don’t you just leave?” I think this adaptation went with the answer “because I love my home, and the home of my family so very, very much, and nothing can make me leave it.” I think one of the reasons the shots of her home and childhood are so beautiful are to help us see it through Cinderella’s eyes, and why she stays. I think in real life staying in a place you love despite abuse is a dangerous mentality to have, so I’m not sure I’d call this a kid’s movie. And she is the first one to ask the prince to marry her, once they both know who each other really is. So eventually she does find someone she loves more than her family home.
I think the problem with fairy tale/ morally just universe stories is that part of the magic comes from the idea that whether from friends or fate or karma or love or magic, the good do not always have to save themselves. That leads to a much more passive main character. But if you go with the more active protagonist – like Ella from Ever After, or the YA novel Just Ella, you normally get a much more structurally sound story, but you lose some of that happy bubbly magic that believes in something bigger than your protagonist, some good force that can make everything work out.
Most of the time I like super active main characters, because it tends to be more empowering, faster paced, and more entertaining. But every now and then, I like the slower stories where small actions ad up over the course of the story until it all works out simply because of who the characters are, and what they’ve put out into the world and set in motion over the course of the story.
Sorry, that got suuuuuuuuper long.
This movie was so dull and boring. I agree,@SandyJames, “Ever After” is the way to go. It is beautifully feminist and romantic at the same time. One of my favourite movies of all time.