Final Post


I have learned so much about fairy tales that I did not know before now. I enjoyed stretching myself with the assignments and new ways to interpret the tales. While familiar with many fairy tales, I did enjoy reading other versions of familiar tales. In addition, I realized that I prefer the stories with a twist of sarcastic humor or female tricksters. I love that one of my classmates recognized the female characters in many fairy tales are large and in charge! I plan to use some of the fairy tales we read in my classroom for next year, child approved version of course. I am happy that I was able to relive my childhood memories through some of the fairy tales and discover the origins of some new fairy tales.


                                  




                               

Review of Cinderella Movie 2015

                           

Review of Cinderella 2015

          Since the beginning of the story of Cinderella, authors, movie directors, animators, and story tellers have attempted to mold her story their own ideal of what their idea of the perfect woman. In the 2015 Disney movie version of Cinderella, we see a return to Perrault’s interpretation of the story; however, this film contains a sprinkling of various influences of other versions of this timeless fairytale.

          The core of this fairytale is the heart of the main character, Cinderella. She is kindness incarnate even when faced with an insurmountable oppression and the tyrannical rule of her step-mother and two step-sisters. Ella, as she is called in this movie, maintains her innocence of the world and her intensely close relationship with animals of all kinds. Both Ella and her mother believed that animals could talk if we only listen closely. According to Ella’s mother we take care of the animals, and fairy godmothers take care of us (Cinderella 2015)! This relationship with nature is echoed throughout the movie and allows Ella to cope with her loneliness, isolation, and mistreatment by those whom she promised to be kind.  

          The 2015 Disney film differs from other versions because of the extended relationship Cinderella had with her mother, which lasted until she was of pre-teen age, allowing her mother to become a guiding influence on Ella’s life and the person she was to become. Ella adopts her dying mother’s motto, “Have courage and be kind, it will see you through life” (Cinderella 2015). Another pivotal scene in the film impacting Ella is the cunning and hurtful creation of Ella’s nickname, Cinderella, by her inept and mean-spirited step sisters. The narrator in the movie intones, “Names have power like magic spells,” (Cinderella, 2015) which harkens to today’s world of bullying, cyber bullying, and attempts by almost everyone to deflect attention from their own shortcomings to those of another. After earning her nickname, Ella seems to struggle and lose hope for her situation. Creation of the nickname in the movie draws upon the Joseph Jacobs version of the tale featuring a Cinderella that sleeps by the fire as a servant in order to keep warm.

          The appearance of the fairy godmother brings with it a test for the character Ella. This is a modern twist on the story that leads the audience to believe that one must earn or be worthy of assistance when facing discrimination by others. People in today’s society assume they have been wronged and demand their rights, not so with Ella. She has been beaten down by the constant demands of her step mother and step sisters and by the burden of her promises to her parents.      

After the fairy godmother whips up her golden carriage and footman, Ella shows her vulnerable side by telling the lizard footman that she is scared because she is not a princess, only a girl. The footman replies, “I am only a lizard, not a footman. Enjoy it while it lasts” (Cinderella, 2015). A statement that provides a life lesson, shows the weakness of the main character, and allows the audience to better relate to the characters in the movie. Ella has several scenes in the movie where she is able to remember her parents, their words of wisdom, and earlier happy times in her life. She reminds us that the memories and advice we receive from our departed loved ones remain with us in our hearts forever. As her fairy godmother prepares to dress Ella for the ball, she begs her godmother to keep the design of the dress similar because it was her mother’s. “It is almost like taking her to the palace with me,” states Cinderella (Cinderella, 2015).

          The protagonist in the movie remains the stepmother; however, the film gives insight into the possible reasons why she is unkind to Ella. We discover the stepmother overhears Ella and her father speaking about her predecessor, of who she is immensely jealous, and the fact that Ella’s father still misses his first wife even though he has remarried. In addition, the stepmother reveals her vulnerability as a lonely widow with two dependent insipid daughters who has lost the love of her life, her first husband. With the loss of her husband she has also lost her security and was forced into an unfamiliar and awkward situation in order to survive, thereby showing great courage of her own. She tells Ella, “Everything must be paid for” (Cinderella, 2015). To which Ella replies, “Love is free” (Cinderella, 2015). This is the heart of the story: love, kindness, and courage.

         

 

 

Bibliography

 

 

Cinderella. Dir. Kenneth Branagh. Perf. Allison Shearmur. Disney, 2015. DVD.

 

Johnson, Virginia. "Once Upon a Time with Charles Perrault." Once Upon a Time with           Charles Perrault. Central Rappahannock Regional Library, n.d. Web. 03 Apr.2017. <http://www.librarypoint.org/once_upon_a_time_with_charles_perrault>.