Journal 3

One of my favorite film adaptations is Cinderella. I did my close reading on the Disney movie Cinderella and one of my favorite movies is A Cinderella Story, starring Hillary Duff and Chad Michael Murray. Since I did my close reading on the Disney movie it is still fresh in my head and I couldn’t help but to think of how much I enjoyed the 2004 film, and how the two relate but have differences as well. A Cinderella Story follows the basic story line of the classic Disney movie. In the 2004 movie, Cinderella’s name is actually Sam, but her father remarries a woman with 2 daughters just like the original. When her father passes unexpectedly, her stepmother is in charge of her and treats her poorly and different than her own daughters. There is a bit of a culture change between the two films. In the Disney movie, Cinderella has to wear rags and in the 2004 movie Sam chooses to dress more like a tomboy. Another difference is that Sam is forced to work at the diner, however it is not against her own will because she wants to earn money to attend Princeton after graduation. In the Disney movie there is magic, and wonderful mice that help Cinderella create a gown for the ball, but in the movie it is only her friends that are there supporting her decision to stand up to her stepmother. Finally, in the end of the Disney movie, Cinderella has Prince charming rescue her and leads to her escape of her horrid stepmother and stepsisters; where as in the 2004 movie, Sam escapes her world by finding her fathers will and being in charge of her own life and she also goes off to college with her “prince Charming”. These examples change in time because of the culture around them. Since women are more independent nowadays, in the newer film, Sam is less reliant on her “prince charming” to come and save her and builds up her own power to go against her stepmother. Also since the time era is different between both movies, it is not a ball Sam is attending but rather a high school homecoming dance. A Cinderella Story is more of a "cute story" that can happen to anyone if they believe in themselves, whereas the Disney movie Cinderella is quite the fairy tale.