Stepmothers Have More In Common Than you Think
In my blogpost film analysis I am going to analyze and compare the relationships between Cinderella and her step family in `A Cinderella Story (2004)” directed by Mark Rosman and Cinderella by the Grimm Brothers. First I am going to give a summary of both stories
In A Cinderella Story we have 17 year old Sam Montgomery (Cinderella). Her father Hal ran a successful diner, but died in an earthquake when she was nine. Apparently he left no will and her evil stepmother Fiona received ownership of the diner as well as the family inheritance. Fiona gives nothing to sam. In order to make money Sam has to work at the diner as well being Fiona’s personal servant. During the movie Sam communicates online with a mystery man Nomad. Nomad identity is Austin Ames head quarterback and stereotypical popular guy. Sam and Nomad agree to meet at the school’s halloween dance. Fiona refuses to let Sam go to the dance and instead makes her work at the diner all night. Sam sneaks out and goes to the dance dressed as Cinderella. Sam learns Nomad is Austin but Austin does not find out Sam’s identity. Sam has to leave the dance early to get back to the diner before Fiona shows up. As she is leaving she drops her cell phone which Austin finds. Austin tries to find Cinderella but to no avail. Her stepsisters discover Sam’s emails to Austin and try to convince her they are cinderella. It does not work and instead they bully Sam at a pep rally telling the whole school she is Cinderella. As this is happening Fiona tricks Sam into believing she was rejected from college by creating a fake rejection letter. She does this to keep Sam working at the diner forever. Sam confronts Austin before the football game and during the game Austin realizes he doesn’t want to play football any more. He finds Sam in the stands.kisses her, and they go to college together. The final part of the movie concludes with Sam finding Hal’s will hidden in her childhood fairytale book. The will states all of his money, and dinner actually belongs to Sam. Fiona is arrested for fraud and is forced to work at the diner to repay the money she stole along with her step sisters.
In the Grimm Brothers Cinderella, Cinderella’s mothers dies when she’s young. The father remarries to an evil stepmother who brings her older step daughters. The mother and step daughters hate Cinderella. They give her the worst clothes, make her sleep in ash every night, and finally she is their servant who must do everything she is told. She is so dirty that her step family gives her the name Cinderella. One day the father returns with a hazel branch for Cinderella that turns into a beautiful tree. The tree attracts a magic bird that grants all her wishes. The King hosts a festival where his son will find a wife. Cinderella’s stepsisters go to the ball and Cinderella asks to go with them. Her stepmother says no. “How can you go to a ball when you have neither a dress nor shoes?”. Finally the stepmother says if you can pick all the lentils you can go. Cinderella goes outside to the tree where the bird helps her get all the lentils in time. Despite fulfilling her request the stepmother says no. This happens one more time. In despair Cinderella goes to the Hazel tree again and the magic bird drops her a beautiful gown so she can go to the festival. The prince spends the entire evening with her. At the end of the evening, she manages to slip away and return home, but leaves one of her slippers with the prince. The prince decides he will only marry the girl who fits into the shoe. He goes to every girl in the village including the stepsisters who cut their feet in order to fit in the shoes. The prince notices and demands that Cinderella tries on the shoes. They fit perfectly and the prince marries Cinderella. As punishment during the wedding the magic birds cut out their eyes and they become blind.
In both versions Cinderella is treated horribly by her stepfamily. In both versions Cinderella is forced to be a servant for her stepmother and sisters. The diner work Sam does for Fiona and Cinderella does for her mother are very similar. They both end up extremely dirty, working long hours, and are given the worst clothes. The differences between outfits between Sam and her sisters is very evident. Sam wears dark, torn, dirty clothes while her sisters are dressed in vibrant beautiful colors. Sam is forced to sleep in her dirty attic similar to how Cinderella sleeps in ash. The manipulative relationship between Fiona/Stepmother and Sam/Cinderella is almost indistinguishable. Not only do they both step mothers ban Cinderella from going to the ball, but they both lie to Cinderella for personal gain. The stepmother lying about getting a dress for Cinderella if she picks the lentils is the same kind of manipulation Fiona uses when she fakes Sam’s Princeton rejection letter. The reason they do it is the same, they both hate their step daughters and want them to continue working as their servants. I found a lot of similarities with the stepsister relationship too. The stepsisters cutting their feet to fit into the Sandal and using Sam’s emails to seduce Austin were similar methods of deception used to try to manipulate the Prince. In the end it does not work and both princes see through them. In addition they serve similar punishments Grimms stepsisters become permanently blind and Sam’s stepsisters have to work as servants to the Diners or go to jail. I really think that “A Cinderella Story” is an accurate modern version of the step family relationship we see in Grimm’s Cinderella.
Links:
https://zannilouise.com/cinderella-grimm-empowered-version-cinderella/
