It's annoying how the director said that the original Cinderella was so submissive and therefore not an accurate image of "feminism", dude, like she was a victim of abuse, what do you expect from her? Who wouldn't jump on the chance to marry the prince and escape the abusive household? That's more girlboss than her sewing two mediocre dresses -also,if they're trying so hard to actually represent a woman stepping out of societal standards, why couldn't she be a blacksmith then- like, women were expected to sew and cook at that time bro, it's not even odd
Yes! I remember reading a response in the comment section for this trailer of someone saying something like "It's so progressive that we finally have a Cinderalla who's wanted an actual future for herself instead if just marrying a prince!" I was like Cinderella was a victim of domestic abuse. Of course she would jump at the chance if getting the hell out of a abusive household!
“SUBMISSIVE” istg if that’s the actual words they used to describe cinderella- she was not submissive at all. if they said that because she was doing what her step family told her to do, they obviously can’t see her as a victim of abuse and that she has no CHOICE but to do as she’s told and dismissing her situation. she recognized she was in an abusive household and did what she could to go against them without having to get in trouble eg. saving the mice, scolding lucifer, snickering at her step sisters’ singing. she wanted a night out to be free and enjoy herself or once in her life and didn’t even realize she was dancing with the prince until later on. and yes, the prince wanting to marry her would finally break her free from her abusive life, but before she was able to do that, she SAVED HERSELF by hatching the plan that got her out of the attic. her being kind and caring and wanting to break free from her abusers (which leads to love which she 100% has the right to want) does not make her “submissive”. rather, it makes her one of the strongest disney princesses ever.
When I hear that kind of take, I simply ask them "If you lost your father at a young age, was verbally abused by your stepmother and stepsisters from that point on in your life plus being used as free labour and not being allowed to be free in a home where you used to run and play as a child, as an adult would you be mentally strong as Cinderella to keep smiling, keep being positive and polite?"
1) I hate goofy “relatable” protagonists. it SCREAMS “I’m not like other girls” 2) her dresses are literally just different colors of tulle, which is the cheapest fabric you can get. they’re so boring. I could make something better pinning bedsheets to a dress form. get this gal some more interesting fabrics and some embellishments and then we’ll talk 3) literally all the side characters are more interesting than the main character. this is Twilight all over again 4) my girl needs a bodice on her ballgown that’s not two sizes too big. real girlbosses can figure out their dress size 5) the king looks just a *teeny* tiny bit like Colonel Sanders
See, Luz from The Owl House is a good example of a "goofy/relatable" protagonist done *right*. It's just annoying here since Camila is literally just playing herself: A girl who's trying waaaaaay too hard to appear funny and quirky and failing more miserably than my grades in the first half of senior year
we love the feminist movie that makes every woman in the movie a 2-dimensional generic girlboss type and gives the two men the most noticeable and biggest character arcs 😍
This movie was trying SO hard to be feminist it turned out to be SUPER sexist lol Couldn't Cinderella still have a romance but have it turn out to be someone like the Prince's footman who wants to be a tailor or something? They run away to another country to go to fashion school together and the Prince is inspired to profess his secret love to the Douche Squad in the beginning, and have a gay triad relationship. The sister still takes the throne and the Prince is described to all as a "bachelor man's man" like my Uncle Chris who made jam all the time and only had dude friends. Is this so much to as for??
Seriously there have been so many feminists Cinderella versions. 1990s Rodgers & Hammerstein Cinderella. , Ever After, Ella Enchanted, A Cinderella Story to name a few of the many versions of Cinderella. Haven’t seen ever iteration because frankly I am tired of the many versions of this story. Like the idea of making the Prince gay. There is a book called Cinderella is dead where the protagonist is in love with her best friend(also a female). There is a law where teen girls must attend a yearly balls to find husbands and the protagonist rebels against this. It’s by author Kalynn Bayron. They could literally make this story a movie because the protagonist is not Cinderella.
What confuses me is that Cinderella, the disney movie atleast, her motivations weren't bound to a man? She wanted to escape her abusive situation for one night to herself, and ended up finding love with a guy that was willing to go through a lot to find her, Cinderella's been winning
i knowww, her falling in love with the prince was kinda just a byproduct (not sure if thats the right word) of her choosing to go to the ball and have fun
Literally though. It pisses me off that people just think Cinderella is passively waiting around for someone to rescue her. Even in the 1950s Disney film, she still has some attitude. She cusses out a clock and is fully prepared to bash the cat. She’s not some damsel, she is just doing what she can to get by in the situation she’s in. It’s not like she could just leave; it’s like what, the 16th century? Where’s she getting money to just gtfo? So it makes sense she wants a night out. The prince was just a bonus, or what I can only think to be good karma for her being so patient and kind to the farm animals (lol except the cat, fuck the cat).
So true. She found love, not by searching or waiting, but by being herself and doing what she loves. She finds love in a man who appreciates her and puts effort in. How is that not a good message?
@@meggy_davidson And then there's the snark in which she says "music lessons". And the stepmother was one of the great Disney villains of all time. And Cinderella wasn't afraid of her at all. The audience was.
I saw a really good post that talks about why these girl boss remakes are such a problem. It is so hard to escape an abusive and toxic household and it's legitimately okay to seek help. These adaptations make her really girl bossy and strong, implying that the only reason you aren't out of this situation is because you're not strong enough to get out of it and bring the message that you need to get yourself out of it rather than considering the fact it's okay to seek help.
@@infjelphabasupporter8416 I knowww. People call her weak but in reality she was just a kind person doing what she could. Kindness does not equal weakness
@@infjelphabasupporter8416 Ikr, I loved her. A lot of people forget that she didn't go there to meet the prince, she just wanted to have a good time for once in her life
@@infjelphabasupporter8416 I actually think the first live action remake was the best, since they added the nuance with the step mother to make her sympathetic and to the prince and his relationship with his father which made him more real. Also the outfits were fire 🔥
what i didn’t get was if everyone just “follows the king”, why can’t the prince become king and just tell the town that cinderella can start a dress making business and the town just accept it? that whole “society would frown upon it” plot line makes NO SENSE.
Why not let Cinderella work with the palace modiste and become trend setting royal? Forget the market place, the royal court has traditionally been the epicenter of fashion in pretty much every culture. Granted things didn’t work out so well for Marie Antoinette but there have been a slew of queens that have made history through fashion.
Right like the end of Aladdin when he’s like... I’m the Sultan I’ll just change the law! There’s nothing that says the prince can’t change it (and if doesn’t seem illegal just frowned upon) so she can still work. Boring.
And look how it is marketed as a "feminist" movie. While the og one was about a girl escaping from an abusive and toxic family and finding love. What is anti-feminist about that?
Ikr!! I hate the notion society has developed nowadays that being in love somehow means being weak. I've loved the newer princesses like Moana, Raya, and Merida, but I don't think the older princesses were any less of good role models because they had love interests. Besides, it wasn't like they were the ones pining after the princes. The princes were equally whipped for them! That's literally what a romance story is! So while I definitely think there should be more of a balance and representation of of princesses with and without love interests, having one by no means strips a woman of her "independence." She can still be a boss AND have love
@@sarahgrinnell801 holy shit you're absolutely right?? why CAN'T a woman have both a healthy worklife AND a healthy relationship with her partner/family???
They should have made the prince gay. It was RIGHT THERE!! He hated all his marriage proposals, he has a "subtle" earring, he was singing SOMEBODY TO LOVE by QUEEN like come on, Mercury basically wrote that as his tortured gay-ballad! They could have made it a friendship instead of a romance and had him fund her dress shop in secret while she helps get him a date. I literally thought they were going for it until he made eyes at the maid. It would have been so much better GAAAAAAH! Side note: Idina Menzel is perfect and can do no wrong fight me.
Seconded. Just the video alone was a struggle to get through with the amount of stupid in it, what more the actual movie? Truly, Cindy is the hero I didn't know I needed.
My girl really rejected being a whole ass queen over being a shein dressmaker like- I mean she could have easily chosen to be the queen and then she could have had the luxury to actually become a nice dressmaker, she would have had nice fabric available, she could have hired tutors she could have literally issued a law that would allow women to own businesses in the kingdom. That way not only would she be profiting but literally every other women in the kingdom.
"wow, it's like by him silencing her it's a metaphor for how he silences her" this movie is so subtle 💆♀️ you might even miss it the first time you watch it
"The Prince and the Dressmaker" is an illustrated children's book that tells a story of a peasant girl hoping to be a dressmaker, and a prince who is secretly taking the city by storm every night as Lady Crystallia. Except parents are looking to marry the prince off.....so.....yeah. Adorable and 100% a better story than this movie.
@@swanandab2484I’m pretty sure this fairy tale is not supposed to be an accurate representation of society in medieval Europe. Not to mention if I’m going to be really pedantic, “back then” it was actually more difficult to rise above your class and “open a business” like a respectable dressmaking shop, because you need capital and social status in order to access business ownership
If they wanted a feminist version of Cinderella, they should've made "The Prince and the Dressmaker" a movie, it's literally everything Cindy wants: a dressmaker making dresses for the crown prince, who's the best drag queen in the kingdom. Check and mate.
Boy, it’s a good thing Gwen said “you’re literally denying me a seat at the table” otherwise that whole scene would’ve *whoosh* gone right over my head! 😌
This movie seriously should have just ended with the Prince going off with his "best friend" and being gay and traveling and Cinderella starting her own business (and flopping, probably, because seriously her designs were...fine at best) and Gwen taking the throne. Honestly, we all would've preferred if it ended like that.
OMG Same Right Because I Only Watched This Once And It Was Only At The End I Had A Thought That He Said Something Gay But Then Ignored It But Now Watching This And Looking Back Ya He Is Definitely Gay I New I felt Something off But I Was Distracted By Everything Else.
Can someone help me figure out what the "best friends" name was I forgot and i cant find it online and i refuse to go through the movie trying to find his name
Cinderella: timeless, classic, exists in some form in almost every culture, oldest versions are thousands of years old Amazon: You know what this needs? Girl boss Camilla Cabillo and eldritch abomination James Corden.
unironically though some of these movies would actually improve by being gay. There are so many fantastic unexplored tropes/premises because of society's heteronormatively.
Unlike most of this, the stepmom not approving of her sell her dresses actually makes sense, but as a CLASS thing, not a woman thing. They're this upper-middle to upper-class family, and would not have wanted to be linked to selling stuff (rather than making money from land). Think Miss Bingley disparaging Elizabeth Bennett because her uncle is "in trade". On the other hand, they let Cinderella dress and act like a servant and pretend she has no relationship to them so....
There’s a Cinderella based webcomic that actually uses the class problem as the reason why it would be difficult to work and the stepmother is nice to Cinderella. It’s a good webcomic way better than this movie.
Imagine if Cinderella and Gwen ended up together with the primce being their wingman. Both women have ambitions in life and could have supported one another whilst the prince could have been with his merry bro/s.
My headcanon was that after traveling together he realizes he's gay and comes home to marry Wilbur. And that Ella and Gwen start spending time together and fall in love. That's the tea.
As someone who's very much into history I am absolutely DISGUSTED at how in-accurate this movie is in it. Like I get it it's not trying to be historically accurate (I mean look at those costumes and dresses, NONE of them have the same silhouette OR the silhouette that time would have.) But the fact they FORCE so much unnecessary and blatant lies in the misogyny of that time makes me want to SCREAM. News flash! Women *could* own shops around that time and *did*, where the fuck do you think spinsters lived off of? Along with that there are multiple jobs and roles women fulfilled that wasn't just "housewife" because news-fucking-flash, "housewives" came into existence MUCH later. Before that yes you'd be urges to marry rich because you would have less to deal with but you think those peasent women stayed home?! NO everyone was working!!! The only people who weren't were the rich!!! And that's a fact!!! I'm sorry I'm just really sick of this inaccurate misogyny in pretend "historical" movies. Also * starts crying * why is everyone singing SO HORRIBLY
yea maybe they couldve made the stepfamily force cinderella to make dresses so that the family could sell it and keep the profits. so then cinderella would basically be a sweatshop worker and we'd have a reason to pity her lol
When the prince isn't gay: *My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined* I was hoping that Wilbur and the prince would be the one who would travel the world together (and fall in love) instead of Cinderella and him.
Women could own shops back then. Most women who owned their businesses were just...widows. Like if the husband running a shop dies, it goes to his wife, and if she was working there - which she always was unless he was rich - then she was best suited to keep running it. Women blacksmiths weren't even that uncommon because the profession would ruin your lungs so they died often and so few people trained in those professions due to the hard labour, and if your village didn't have an apprentice then where the hell else are you going to go for nails?
afaik there was also a subset of jobs that were considered "for women" like spinning yarn for textiles, clothes-making in general (dying them too i think? unsure but afaik even poor bitches LOVED to dye their clothes with whatever they got their hands on), housework/finances (and for richer women being the boss of the house-workers like maids and stuff), and probably a bunch more i don't know of (i mean women could study plants and use them for medicine but that usually got them called witches.....). and that's not even counting in the fact that women helped with harvesting and lots of other physically-taxing jobs because unless you were filthy rich, everyone in the family was expected to Work Work Work to survive, kids included. but yeah anyway really pissed about the whole "uwu american 50s housewife" bs they shoved into this thing, as if it wasn't tone-deaf enough already
that’s exactly what i was thinking. and in history, woman were just as likely to own/run/work in stores because of how their labor was taken advantage of. woman were more likely to be tailors and other stereotypical feminine things so i’m seriously shocked that this movie decided to go the complete opposite direction
There's always been an issue with women legally owning things, though. And it's an easy law to make and pass. In this country women couldn't apply for credit cards or open an bank account without a man's signature until fairly recently. And if you control the money, you control the rest of it. Run anything you want, but if there's not a man's name on that paper, it isn't legal.
It’s the way that even IDINA sounds almost bad in some of these songs… Like this film just had rlly bad song choices and production that even renown vocal talents sounded rough here and there.
I'm still wondering why they picked random mainstream songs instead of composing an original soundtrack. Imagine just how more expensive may have been to do all the copyright and re-record thing instead of paying for composers? Besides, an original soundtrack could as well do better for the singers. Some voices, even trained, just don't work with some styles and that's ok! The problem is forcing said voices to work with said styles. It was such a poor decision to have a mostly pop library for this movie...
Cindy's idea to make the prince gay is actually good and makes the plot more interesting since the theme is literally 'follow your dream and break the other expectations of your supposed role'.
The prince arriving to the place she’s been sold off to to rescue her only to find her walking out with a dagger in hand looking stoic and graceful was my gay awakening.
I would KILL for a gay/lesbian/LGBTQ+ Cinderella remake. It sucks growing up queer and loving cheesy romances and fairy tales like this but having nothing to identify with :((((
this movie is actually really subversive because the female protagonist wants to be part of the capitalist system in a world where "women can't own shops"
I'm actually so confused by the "no women business" thing bc weren't there shitloads of women working throughout history? Sewing, weaving, spinning, making beer, midwives, etc etc... it might actually make an impact if she was going into a traditionally masculine field, but then they're have to nail down the time period and culture so they could properly contextualize the rules of the society that and the music sucks
Why am I not surprised to hear that this was James Corden's bright idea?! He's had plenty of flops in recent years, particularly Cats and The Emoji Movie!
@@jeremyusreevu237 that wasn’t his movie, it’s a broadway musical. didn’t love his performance in it but andrew rannells and the girls who played emma and alyssa were so gooood
James Corden once attended a Writers Guild Association meeting advocating lower pay for late night tv writers. I’d say him playing a rat makes sense but that’s an insult to to their established cuteness and intelligence.
@@zayalorin9491 Agreed. Andrew Rannals was awsome, and had my favorite song, and the girls were very good actresses. But I thought JC did an alright job.
Dressmaking was actually one industry that women controlled after mantuas became a thing in the late 1600s until the sewing machine was invented in the mid 1800's (at least in Europe and the American colonies/the US), so like... it actually makes total sense for her to be making dresses? Men tailors only made men's clothing. Also, I love how you keep doing the hand thing whenever something queercoded comes up, omg.
@@withcindy It’s the story you wrote for a school assignment at like age 12 that felt like a life changing commentary on gender roles. Then you look back on it and crave death 😔
OK, I've suspended my disbelief long enough, but that scene of Cinderella rejecting the title of being a rich queen just so she could continue her dressmaking career is the most unrealistic part of the movie. The magic? I can excuse that. The hamfisted faux-sexism scenes? Fine that's ok. The jarring tonal shifts? OK sure maybe. The shitty dresses by Camila? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The prince and Cinderella falling in love despite meeting twice in one day? .....sure. But her rejecting riches and titles for a career which she's not even good at? Yeah, that's too much sis. The writers definitely haven't been poor their whole lives because we all know Cinderella would've given anything in a heartbeat to be queen. Also, her dresses are just bad, and she didn't make her own dress, the fairy godmother did. This movie was a lot, sis.
I don’t understand why she couldn’t continue being a dress maker after she became queen?? With those riches she could have access to more fabrics and materials than she could imagine. She could hire tutors and have them teach her different styles of dresses, could’ve hired artists to travel around the world and paint her pictures to give her inspiration on what to make. She could become the most profitable dress maker in the whole kingdom
the thing is, the costume department made some amazing choices for the rest of the characters in the movie, so they MUST have realised that ella's dresses looked boring and plain compared to the exciting colours and shapes around her? was it on purpose because they realised the story was stupid? I don't get it
You could tell how deeply they misunderstood the spirit of Cinderella. Like this movie's conflict was about her not wanting a traditional /average life, and by the way being a seamstress in that period was not revolutionary...but Cinderella was abused to the point she wasn't allowed any life AT ALL, conventional or not.
Cindy has the range of being attracted to distinguishable LIs. Rachel (the sweetheart) Jacob (the huggable yet ferocious furry), and Stepmommy😩😩. This is giving me “I rated every Leigh Bardugo book a different rating, so let me apply it to my life”
no joke i was very into taylor lautner for a solid week and followed his instagram and everything... then i realized all his stories were him golfing all the time and got bored
Listen listen. I am a firm believer that THIS WHOLE THING should have just been a friendship story between ella and the prince. Think about it! If they’re so damn adamant on making ella “not like other girls” then I have a better idea. (Cracks knuckles) OKAY LOOK- the Prince goes down to the town, probably to meet the man he loves. He couldn’t see him because it’s condemned for him to fall in love with a man-it’s obvious everyone would want him to marry a princess to continue the royal line. He can’t even bring his lover to the ball because what would his kingdom think? It’s bad wnough they think he’s not worth anything, but this would make things worse for him. Along the way, enters Ella, somewhere in the market place because he bumped into her. He reveals he’s the prince by accident (or Ella figures it out), yet Ella couldn’t care less. He picks up her book and it’s revealed she has many ideas for dresses, but has neither the time or money to produce them. He then thinks she’s the perfect “date” to the ball, since it’s obvious she wouldn’t like him that way. So, he convinces his lover to enter the ball with her, and he promises her that she could meet all the rich buisnessmen she wants. To keep up appearances (because how could he not dance at least once in the ball?) he danced with her. Afterwards he sneaks out to meet his lover and have an evening. Ella then found them and told them that her step family is going home, and if she doesn’t go they will find out that she’s gone. Someone saw her and the Prince though, hugging (somehow the lover is out of sight), and thinks that the prince likes her, since he did only dance with her. Afterwards, the lover offered to take her home, since they did arrive in the same carriage and she’s his “date”. But when they ran, the lover’s shoe fell-a high heel. Obviously, people would think it’s Ella’s. Hence, it would explain why there’s only ONE person who would fit that shoe size (since it’s not even a woman’s). Then, idk. If they wanna make it cheezy then when it’s revealed who it actually belongs to, they can make Ella defend them. The prince is then threatened that if he continues this, he is basically denouncing his role to the throne, and will only remain a Prince for the rest of his life. He happily agrees, saying that his sister suits the throne much better, anyway. So the Prince stays with his lover, Ella got her shop and it’s booming, the princess gets the throne. Then they can have a voiceover that says their story got morphed or something-you know how gossip goes. First a rumor, then a fairytale, then somehow there’s a fairy godmother thrown into the mix. People call it the story of “Cinderella” when really, it’s just because her name popped up too many times. Anyway that’s me, I am tired, it’s like 4 AM and I haven’t slept. Good night fellas
"I don't really have any meaningful commentary about this movie" Cindy what do you mean "Fifth harmony? I'm only asking for one harmony" is the single best piece of criticism I've ever heard
The original stories would all lend themselves to Cinderella as a trans woman. Cinderella as a derisive nickname that becomes a chosen name. The evil stepsisters acting like being cisgender makes them automatically better by default. Wearing clothing and being seen as how she identifies. The prince still falling for her after the ball and learning the truth (this one might be problematic, but a good writer can address that) All of the characters transforming literally and figuratively.
I love how Cindy went from "what a shame I am not gay" to "THIS WOULD BE SO MUCH BETTER IF HE AND SHE AND THEY AND WE WERE GAY- YOU KNOW WHAT? EVERYONE'S GAY!" throughout the years. :')
Ever After did "feminist Cinderella" far better than this decades ago. It's not a perfect film (the use of the g slur for the Roma people hasn't aged well) but it is far better than this movie.
"The g word" is not a slur; it is still used by some Roma themselves. It originally referred only to the Roma, but now it is used to mean any person who has a wandering, nomadic lifestyle.
This movie tried so hard to be modern and progressive it felt like it just circled back around to being regressive. Also cannot stand that they used pop songs instead of making their own songs. The Brandy and Whitney Houston version of Cinderella still feels more progressive than this movie and that version aired in 1997.
I remember another review that talked about how having the princess and Cinderella be a couple and the prince and his best friend be a couple would be a nice change from the usual story. It would’ve been cute.
about the prince buying the dress and it awakening something in him: there is a graphic novel about a prince who loves to put on dresses, it's called 'the prince and the dressmaker' and it's so cute and wholesome
"Why would she also suppress Cinderella's hobbies if she's been subjected to misogyny herself?" Because, as we grow, when we learn the rules of society, we hold them as self-evident truths, instead of things that can change. I was a parentified teenager in high school. I hated the kids around me because they treated everything like a joke and acted like nothing mattered, but I had been brought up by a high-school dropout and thus taught that *everything in high school mattered*. So I treated the kids like idiots in a similar vein to how the adults treated them. The point here being that the cycle of abuse is very hard to break and *very* easy to fall into if you don't know anything about mental health. Unfortunately this movie is *far* too ambiguous about time frame for us to be able to figure out if they know what mental health is or if they still think everything is *demons*.
Since when did we need another Cinderella movie? If they wanted to create a movie about a strong female lead then they should make a live-action Princess and the Frog. It would also be a great representation of African-Americans in Hollywood. Tiana is the definition of girl boss but instead we got this "quirky n relatable™" Cinderella we never wanted.
the gay prince is acting as an actual gay prince in red white and royal blue and i Ran back to this video for your commentary right after the trailer for rwrb premiered lmao
This movie just reminds me of better versions of this story: Ever After, Ella Enchanted, the original animated Disney Cinderella, Brandy’s version of Cinderella, all better movies.
I think the disney live action cinderella with Lily James is good. The animated one is basically a movie about mice that steal cheese, a key and a necklace.
What if they made this a trilogy and renamed this first one Cinderella: Gaslight (since people are gaslighting her), then Cinderella: Gatekeep, and finally Cinderella: Girlboss
it would have been so much better if she had designed and made the dress but didn’t have fancy fabrics to make it with, so she made it with like scraps she had lying around the basement then the fairy godmother just provided the fabrics for it to look the way she envisioned it or something
Cindy, you NEED to read The Prince and the Dressmaker, it's this ADORABLE little comic book and it's so charming and it's a better love story than this movie could ever HOPE to be!
@@withcindy I hope you enjoy it whenever you get around to it, it's basically everything you were asking for in a sweet, wholesome package! 😊 Love your commentary regardless!!
I wanna know WHO thought it was a good idea to cast Camilla alongside Broadway legends Idina Menzel and Billy Porter. They truly set her up for failure and didn’t bother to use auto tune or any kind of audio programs to fix her voice. It sounds so bad.😬
they did use autotune in some parts - BUT PARTS THAT DID NOT NEED IT AND COULD HAVE BEEN RE-RECORDED! also, i think the problem is her singing style, too breath, with too many voice breaks… it doesn’t seem to fit a musical and is particularly lacking in comparison to idina and billy
@@MeganAllen1738 lmao that’s what I was thinking too. Seeing how poorly she did in this film made me believe that there was some people behind the scenes seeking revenge for Normani.
I’m still waiting for a gay rom com. I’m tired of the same storyline it’s getting so exhausting. But I still like the corny romance in rom coms, which I’m sure a gay couple or any other non heterosexual couple can also provide.
