Subsume your individuality and your desires in the hopes that other people will like you? How come we never tell stories about men that sound like this?
Is there a female character who is primarily defined by her emotional or biological relationship with a child or children*? [why this matters] (*in this case, adult children)
Is there anything either positive or negative in the film’s representation of women not already accounted for here? (points will vary)
-5
It is debatable whether Cinderella realizes that the handsome “apprentice” she encounters in the forest is the Prince, and hence it is a desire to meet him again that drives her to want to attend the ball (rather than just a general “Balls at the palace are awesome” motivation). Either way is problematic for the female protagonist. If her goal is primarily romantic (to enter into a relationship with him), that is typically not a great thing for women’s representation. If she doesn’t realize who he is, then the only purpose to this story at all is for her to suffer years of torment and abuse with a smile in the hope that cruelty will eventually be won over by kindness (see below).
-5
Cinderella is, as if often the case in traditional fairy tales, a very passive protagonist who is more the object of other people’s actions than someone with agency in her own right. Much of her story is about her maintaining her kindness in the face of years of torment and abuse, which renders her a doormat and even a willing victim; she could, to all appearances, have easily escaped her tormentors, which is not true of real-life similiar situations. Such a simplistic depiction of an abusive relationship reinforces notions that women willingly stay in such relationships.
TOTAL SCORE:-25
IS THE FILM’S DIRECTOR FEMALE? No (does not impact scoring)
IS THE FILM’S SCREENWRITER FEMALE? No (does not impact scoring)
BOTTOM LINE: Face abuse with cheeriness? Subsume your individuality and your desires in the hopes that other people will like you? Yearn for nothing at all… unless, maybe, it’s for someone to come and take you away from it all, rather than rescuing yourself? How come we never tell stories about men that sound like this?
NOTE: This is not a “review” of Cinderella! It is simply an examination of how well or how poorly it represents women. (A movie that represents women well can still be a terrible film; a movie that represents women poorly can still be a great film.) Read my review of Cinderella.
See the full rating criteria. (Criteria that do not apply to this film have been deleted in this rating for maximum readability.)
If you haven’t commented here before, your first comment will be held for MaryAnn’s approval. This is an anti-spam, anti-troll, anti-abuse measure. If your comment is not spam, trollish, or abusive, it will be approved, and all your future comments will post immediately. (Further comments may still be deleted if spammy, trollish, or abusive, and continued such behavior will get your account deleted and banned.)
I agree to the creation of an account at FlickFilosopher.com.
When you log in for the first time via a social-media account, this site collects your email address to automatically create an account for you here. Once your account is created, you’ll be logged in to this account.
disagreeagree
connect withD
I agree to the creation of an account at FlickFilosopher.com.
When you log in for the first time via a social-media account, this site collects your email address to automatically create an account for you here. Once your account is created, you’ll be logged in to this account.
I thought Cinderella wanted to go to the ball because she believed “her friend Kit” was an apprentice at the castle, so she would probably see him at the ball since that was where he worked.
I thought Cinderella wanted to go to the ball because she believed “her friend Kit” was an apprentice at the castle, so she would probably see him at the ball since that was where he worked.
If that’s true, it slipped by me so fast that I missed it. Which means she cannot have been very vehement about it.