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Start Date
25-6-2022 12:00 AM
End Date
25-6-2022 12:00 AM
Abstract
Fairy tale retellings have permeated literature, film, and media ever since the original stories emerged. Cinderella retellings in particular have become ubiquitous, and each revival attempts to add a new spin to the original story, updating the content and values for a contemporary audience. But are these updates always successful? Jack Zipes, an acclaimed fairy tale scholar, argues that, “For the most part, the transformations [of contemporary Cinderella retellings] tend to be modern remakes with a faux feminist touch” (361). In light of Zipes’ argument, I would like to take us back to the early 2000s and look at A Cinderella Story (2004), directed by Mark Rosman and starring Hilary Duff.
In this paper, I will argue that A Cinderella Story—while trying to make Sam an independent, ambitious, and intellectual tomboy—relegates the protagonist to a supplementary role by solely defining her through her relationship to her father and her love interest. This framing suggests a transfer of ownership from the father to the future husband, with particular details from the film—such as Sam wearing a wedding dress to a school dance—suggesting an impending marriage. Although Sam heads off to Princeton at the end of the film, her ambition is undercut by her relationship with Austin, as she acts as a tool for his own personal development. Thus, drawing on the scholarship of Karen E. Rowe, Jack Zipes, and Marcia R. Lieberman, I argue that fairy tale retellings, as reinventions of the original stories, still face similar issues as their predecessors.
From the Father to the Future Husband: Fairy Tale Retellings as “Faux Feminism”
Fairy tale retellings have permeated literature, film, and media ever since the original stories emerged. Cinderella retellings in particular have become ubiquitous, and each revival attempts to add a new spin to the original story, updating the content and values for a contemporary audience. But are these updates always successful? Jack Zipes, an acclaimed fairy tale scholar, argues that, “For the most part, the transformations [of contemporary Cinderella retellings] tend to be modern remakes with a faux feminist touch” (361). In light of Zipes’ argument, I would like to take us back to the early 2000s and look at A Cinderella Story (2004), directed by Mark Rosman and starring Hilary Duff.
In this paper, I will argue that A Cinderella Story—while trying to make Sam an independent, ambitious, and intellectual tomboy—relegates the protagonist to a supplementary role by solely defining her through her relationship to her father and her love interest. This framing suggests a transfer of ownership from the father to the future husband, with particular details from the film—such as Sam wearing a wedding dress to a school dance—suggesting an impending marriage. Although Sam heads off to Princeton at the end of the film, her ambition is undercut by her relationship with Austin, as she acts as a tool for his own personal development. Thus, drawing on the scholarship of Karen E. Rowe, Jack Zipes, and Marcia R. Lieberman, I argue that fairy tale retellings, as reinventions of the original stories, still face similar issues as their predecessors.
Bio
Nichol Brown is a PhD student at Illinois State University. Her previous research primarily involves posthumanist and feminist critiques of young adult literature, with a particular focus on fairy tale retellings and speculative fiction. She is especially interested in concepts of monstrosity, interconnectivity, and hybridity, as well as how these concepts relate to emotion and perceived humanity.