Chloe: Critic Girl/Renaissance Woman

I seem to have made myself the self-appointed evaluator of pseudo-Cinderella films in today’s media. I hope that some uninspired ingenue in film school will do the same.

A Cinderella Story - just typing out the name made me space out and think of much better versions (for the younger set - Ella Enchanted, for the “literary” film set - Ever After). But it does make me wonder why society has such a fascination with the tale of the little cinder girl. We have an easy answer - uninspired (the theme’s post, it would seem) writers take stories that worked and try to “update” them or re-tell them or make yet another buck on them. Every little girl grows up and wants to be in the Cinderella movie, so there is no shortage of starry eyed starlets to play the role.

There is also, of course, the stock re-telling of traditional fairy tales to empower girls and young women and eliminate the childhood myth that all a young girl needs is a prince on a white horse. And, in fairness, A Cinderella Story does attempt to do that. Young Sam’s father tells her that it’s not all about princes and there is more in that book that might help her than just being saved (how best to sweep floors in his diner?). We see Sam decide to stand up for herself (Warning: spoilers from here on in, disappointing, I know) and stand up to her evil stepmother (the ever-hysterical and usually under-used Jennifer Coolidge) and her wishy-washy text-message lover. So the requisite grrrl power elements are there.

The real change, though, happens in the wishy-washy text-message lover. When Sam stands up for herself, the underlying reason is that she thinks she got rejected from Princeton. She, herself, states earlier in the movie that she only follows orders because she needs tuition money from Fiona, the stepmother. So now that she’s not going to college (always apply to safeties, Sam!), she actually has nothing to lose and hasn’t taken any real chances. Her “family” at the diner has already let her know that they will support her so she has fallen into a safety net.

Austin, though, walks out of the homecoming game (oddly several days after the homecoming dance) during the final play of the game, handing off the glory to his lesser noticed sidekick to choose Sam, Princeton, and pissing off his dad. He chooses to be the “closet poet” writer inside instead of the hot jock full-riding to USC and Car Wash fame. Austin is the true cinderella coming out of the foofy-career-choice-closet (according to Big Andy, A’s pa) and wearing the glass slipper in full view.

But really, it looks like he just goes to kiss Sam in the rain.