The Latest Cinderella Movie Isn’t As Empowering As It Claims To Be

Amazon Prime has released a new jukebox musical adaptation of Cinderella. Written and directed by Kay Cannon, it stars Camila Cabello in the lead role and Idina Menzel as the wicked stepmother. With an eclectic mixture of old and new songs, modern slang, and gorgeous costumes, the film tries to deliver a message of female empowerment and independence but fails at it gloriously.

This Cinderella isn’t interested in Prince Charmings or happily-ever-afters. Instead, she wants to be a dress-maker and design pretty clothes for wealthy women. But in the patriarchal world she is brought up in, the idea of a woman owning a business is unheard of. Nevertheless, she is determined to try and even sells one of her dresses to the Prince at thrice the amount. She even agrees to go the ball, not for true love but to find prospective clients.

Meanwhile, the Prince has a capable sister called Gwen, who is deeply interested in the welfare of the people and in running the kingdom. But because she is a girl, her father will not allow her to participate in political affairs. It seems that women are only meant for marriage, for it is revealed in a flashback that stepmother was divorced and thrown out of her home when she expressed her wish to become a reputed pianist.

Image credit: Kerry Brown

By the end of the film, the patriarchal status quo has barely changed. Cinderella gets her girl boss dream, of course, by getting a wealthy lady to be her patron. She also gets to marry the Prince and travel the world. Her physical attractiveness and charisma get her noticed by the right people, and she luckily escapes her regressive society instead of changing it.

And Gwen becomes next in line for the throne, not because she deserves it but simply because her brother has no interest in ruling. That, again, doesn’t feel like a victory at all. The King’s wife barely has a voice of her own, and the stepmother’s dream of professional success remains unfulfilled. Despite revealing how the institution of marriage enslaves women, Cinderella gets her fairytale happily-ever-after by marrying a rich boy, while her “less pretty” stepsisters are left behind.

The film ends with Cinderella’s lucky escape while the society remains as conservative and patriarchal as ever, with plenty of sad women who never get to live life on their terms. Despite having a gender non-binary “Fabulous Godmother” now styled as a godparent, the film’s woke quotient is tokenistic at best and quite regressive at worst.