The Cinderella Obsession
A mini analysis of the Cinderella trope & my favourite Cinderella films
Cinderella is one of the most popular fairytales ever. It has been around for many years with an array of different versions and seems like it will be around for many more through remakes, retellings and Cinderella-themed stories. But where did it all start from?
A brief history
I went on a journey to discover the origin of the Cinderella tale and found that it dates as far back as 7 BC. However, it can’t be accurately traced as it started as oral tales that were passed down. Supposedly, the first time this oral tale was recorded in writing was by Strabo, a Greek Historian, who recorded the story of Rhodopis between 7 BC and 23 AD.
Rhodopis was a Greek slave girl who got the attention of the Pharaoh of Egypt when an eagle flew off with her sandal and dropped it in the lap of the Pharoah. He was intrigued by the shape and look of the shoe and searched for the owner and you know how the rest goes.
However, there are a myriad of similar fairy tales and folklore in other cultures outside Europe, especially Southern Asia.
The Chinese have a fairy tale of Ye Xian that dates back to 850. It was published in the Tang dynasty compilation and this story features golden slippers that end up with the King. He’s fascinated by the small size of the shoe and searches for the owner. (This is because small feet were seen as attractive for women in China, which popularised foot binding). You can read about Ye Xian’s story here.
There’s also Tam Cam, a Vietnamese fairy tale and Kongjwi and Patjwi, a Korean fairy tale which both have similarities with the Cinderella story we know today. However, both of these stories have significantly darker endings and deal with the subject of revenge as opposed to other similar tales.
But the Cinderella story that inspired the Walt Disney 1950 production was that of a French man, Charles Perrault, published in 1697. This version of Cinderella, titled ‘Cendrillon’, featured the pumpkin and glass slippers.
My Cinderella infatuation
Cinderella (1950)
When I got my hands on the Walt Disney Cinderella at around 6 or 7 years old, I fell in love. Every day after school for at least a week—to my sibling’s dismay—I hugged the portable DVD player and watched Cinderella.
I can’t remember what exactly I liked about it. Maybe the good, nice girl getting the Prince appealed to my small brain and aligned with what I was told that ‘good girl dey pay’. Or because it showed that anything was possible with a little magic. But I recall how excited I was to see the mice making Cinderella’s dress. I loved seeing how they made something beautiful from scraps.
I also liked the bippity, boppity, boo! song.
Ella Enchanted (2004)
Fast forward to around a year later, I met Ella Enchanted. At this point, I liked romantic stories and after I watched romance movies, I’d rearrange the story in my mind to make it better and fix all the flaws I believed they had. But when I watched Ella Enchanted, I thought it was the perfect story. I hugged the TV and watched it over and over again—to my sibling’s dismay, again.
This Cinderella-esque story has a spin to it. It’s set in a medieval kingdom and Ella, played by Anne Hathaway, was given the gift of obedience by her fairy godmother Lucinda. This meant she obeyed every command given to her by anyone.
“Sit down, Ella”
“Give me all your money, Ella”
“Go to sleep, Ella.”
She had no choice but to obey, even if it hurt her.
As it usually happens, her mother dies and her father remarries a sour woman who has two daughters. They find out about Ella’s gift, take advantage of her and almost ruin her friendship with her best friend, Aretha whom Ella likes protesting with against the Ogrecide (abuse and killing of Ogres) in the kingdom. So Ella goes on a journey to find Lucinda to ask her to take the gift (more like a curse) away.
Then there’s handsome Prince Char, played by Hugh Dancy, who is charmed by Ella because she doesn’t fall head over heels for him when they meet (it’s giving I’m not like other girls). He joins her on her journey as he is also on his journey to become a better king for the people.
In this version, (Cinder) Ella doesn’t wait for the Prince to save her. She’s bold, she takes action, she speaks out against oppression and it’s cute.
Younger me also liked the ‘Don’t go breaking my heart’ performance at the end.
(I’ve heard that the book is so much better, as they usually are, and the movie doesn’t do it justice, so I’m planning on reading it soon and hope I can fall in love with a better version of it.)
A Cinderella Story (2004)
This is the OG Disney Cinderella story that paved the way for more cringey Cinderella stories. There’s Sam (Hillary Duff) also known as ‘diner girl’. As per usual, her mother is dead and her dad, who owns a diner, remarries a woman who obviously doesn’t give a shit about Sam. Not too long after, her dad dies and Sam’s stepmother takes over the diner.
Sam works hard at the diner—hence the nickname ‘diner girl’ and works hard at school so she can get into Princeton. It’s in a Princeton chat room where she meets ‘Nomad’, who turns out to be the cool student body president and football captain, Austen (Chad Michael Murray). They’ve been texting for a while but are unaware of each other’s identity.
There’s a dance, they meet, and have a lovely time. She finds out who he is, but he doesn’t find out who she is. She runs off and drops her flip phone, he finds it and the search begins.
I liked this because I like cringey old romance and it had Chad Michael Murray.
Another Cinderella Story (2008)
Next is Selena Gomez’s Cinderella story. I was already a fan of Wizards of Waverly Place so I was interested in anything Selena.
In this version, Selena plays Mary, an orphan whose guardian is a washed-up celebrity, played by Jane Lynch (Sue from Glee), whom her mother danced for. Mary is a dancer who wants to go to Julliard and get away from her guardian and her two daughters.
Then there’s Joey Parker, played by Drew Seely, the famous boy singer/dancer who has come home to get in touch with his roots.
There is a dance as there always is, Mary’s face is covered only by a small mask but Joey doesn’t recognise her. She runs and forgets her Zune (an mp3 player) and he tries to find her.
A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song (2011)
This is my least favourite, but I still watched it whenever I could.
There’s Lucy Hale who plays Katie, a talented singer. I’m not sure what happened to her parents but she lives with her untalented stepmother and stepsister, and a little stepbrother.
There’s Freddie Stroma who plays Luke. Luke’s dad is a big-shot producer who’s looking for new talent and there’s Lucy, an amazing singer.
Of course, there’s a dance, her face is barely covered but he fails to recognise her and it goes on.
My issues with Cinderella and the Cinderella Films
The Cinderella story has been around for a long time which means like most things that old, it’ll have traces of misogyny.
The story usually puts the girl as the disadvantaged one who is incapable of doing anything and needs to be saved by a Prince. This isn’t new, especially with Disney fairy tales where the Prince whisks them away and saves the day which is ironic because these women are usually portrayed as intelligent.
Which leads to my next point: what do the Princes have to offer? They are usually good-looking (and Princes) and it stops there. But it’s like what are you bringing to the table?
In A cinderella story (2004), Austen, Chad Michael Murray’s character was the perfect example of this because he was attractive (great job with that!) But he didn’t offer anything asides from his ‘poems’ and his shitty friends who constantly made fun of Sam in front of him. He didn’t treat Sam well and it was annoying that they ended up together.
There’s the constant negative portrayal of women. Firstly, Cinderella usually has to separate herself from other girls to get the Prince’s attention—I’m not like other girls.
In Ella Enchanted, Ella didn’t fawn over the Prince, which is valid, but she tended to view the girls who did as airheads.
In A Cinderella Story (2004), when Sam told Austen she’d eat a Big Mac over a rice cake, Austen told her he ‘liked a girl with a hearty appetite’ unlike most of the girls in their school who were watching their weight.
Secondly, aside from the occasional supportive girlfriend or supportive adult woman who was like family, from her stepmother and sisters to the girls in school, most of the women in Cinderella’s life were horrible to her, perpetuating the ‘women are their own problem’ babble.
And these stories usually portrayed the stepsisters, or at least one of them, as painfully stupid.
Also, thanks to Cinderella, the evil stepmother role has been so overplayed that people believe ‘stepmother’ is a bad word and stepmothers are naturally horrible people.
And why are they so obsessed with girls with dead mothers (Disney, I’m talking to you 🫵🏾) and daddy issues?
The reoccurrence of the friend of colour eats at me. I know, what can I expect from these old cringey movies? Ella Enchanted had the best friend of colour, Another Cinderella Story and A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song had the best friend of colour for both the main character and the love interest (who usually has a black best friend that tags along wherever they go).
Lastly, if it isn’t the friend of colour, it’s the Magical Negro trope that comes to play.
According to Wikipedia, “The Magical Negro is a trope in American cinema, television, and literature. In the cinema of the United States, the Magical Negro is a supporting stock character who comes to the aid of white protagonists in a film."
Ella Enchanted had Lucinda (although her role as a saviour is kind of sketchy) played by Vivica A. Fox in this role and in A Cinderella Story had Rhonda played by Regina King for Sam.
I have to add that every time I watch the ‘Prince’ wondering who Cinderella is at the dance when she has a flimsy see-through scarf covering half of her face or a decorative eye mask on it makes me want to scream but at the same time, I love the stupidity of it all.
Why do I still watch them?
It’s the same reason so many of us watch Twilight. These movies, aside from Cinderella (1950), made the list because when I feel that yearning for a cringey old romance movie, I turn to them and they leave me satisfied with a smile on my face.
Regardless of all I mentioned above, all the cringey dialogue, clothes and tropes, the scenes that make absolutely no sense, and the music and dance numbers that make me want to vomit, they make me laugh and fill me with nostalgia. And I’ve learned that regardless of the things I find wrong with them, I can acknowledge them and still enjoy it.
So here’s to more days of having Selena Gomez and Drew Seeley have a dance battle in the background as I work on a new crochet project.
Or rewatching Hillary Duff and Chad Michael Murray dance in costumes with my sister as we talk about when as a teenager, she had Chad Michael Murray as her phone screensaver and the time my dad picked up her phone, looked into those beautiful blue eyes of Chad’s and silently dropped the phone back as the air filled with awkwardness.
Unfortunately, I haven’t watched the Cinderella movie with Brandy and Whitney Houston. I’d like to add it to my list, though.
That’s it! Let me know your thoughts on the first essay-type piece in this newsletter and your thoughts on Cinderella in the comments, or reply to this email to let me know.