In Defense Of Classic Disney - Cinderella (1950) And The Remake's Disrespect Towards Abuse Victims
Of all the bad faith takes on Disney, that they have unfortunately pandered to in an effort to make money by disrespecting the classics, the one that has ALWAYS pissed me off the most is the idea that Cinderella is this passive, doormat of a person that needs to be "fixed" because she's a "bad exemple."
I get extra angry when this take come from so-called progressive feminists who claim to want what's best for women, as by repeating that nonsese they're engaging in a perfect exemple of one the things women have been needing to fight back against the most: victim blaming.
It's crazy and horrifying how much the way people try make Cinderella sound "weak" mirror the behaviors abusers and enablers engage in to deny that any abuse is going on.
Ignoring Her Resistance & Anger
Cinderella gets SO much disrespect for supposedly not standing up for herself (which is already a problematic complaint, but we'll get to that later), but I'm gonna have to say: the people who bitch about that haven't actually watched the movie in years, if ever.
Cinderella is mad as hell when she's being bossed round, tries to argue when she's given pointless "responsibilities" just because her step-mom is feeling spiteful, snaps at Lucifer (what a crazy yet fitting name for that cat) when he deliberatelly messes with her so she has to clean the floor again, and never gives up hope that maybe someday she'll be happy and safe with people who care about her (because yes, inner strength is important, not giving into despair is not "being a passive idiot who doesn't understand reality", and there's nothing shameful about wanting to be loved, especially not when the reason you want it so badly is because you're being abused).
When all the ladies of the kingdom are invited to the ball, Cinderella defiantly points out that this very much does include her. When her step-mom pretends to agree, then deliberately overworks Cinderella even more than usual to make sure she won't have time to get a proper dress for the ball, Cinderella is furious even if she doesn't escalate the situation to a fight. When her friends give her a dress, she is happy and gets ready to go even though her step-mother has made it clear she does not actually have permission. When that dress is ruined, she's upset, but as soon her fairy godmother gives her a new one, plus a way to go to the ball, Cinderella doesn't hesitate.
The second she realizes the prince wants to marry her, aka give her a way out of her miserable situation, she immediately starts ignoring hre abusive family and no longer obeys their orders.
When her step-mother realizes why (because she had also not recognized Cinderella despite knowing her for years, yet the prince, who saw her once, is the only one given shit for it), she locks Cinderella up in her room. Cinderella can't open or break the door, but she still tries, and while she's also not jumping out the window (unlike her mad man of husband in the third movie, in the funniest thing Disney ever made) but she still calls to her animal friends for help.
Sure, she's not "rescuing herself" (oh Lord, what a crime!), but she's still doing way more than the one in the live action slop people praised so much, who is saved by ACCIDENTALLY getting attention through singing while she's being held against her will, which makes the prince's men realize Tremaine lied about no girl but her daughters lived there.
And when she's free and Tremaine tries to ruin her life one last time by breaking the glass slipper? Cinderella was already prepared and had the other one with her, which is waaaaay bigger proof that she really was the girl the prince danced with.
Cinderella doesn't lack courage, agency, or inteligence to fight back. She was just in an obvious lose-lose situation and was not about to shoot herself in the foot just for the sake of telling her abuser to fuck off. She's not a doormat who doesn't react to anything because nothing bothers her, she's simply a human being who prioritized her own safety and sanity, which the people who complain that she's a "bad role model" would have understood if they're werent far too busy...
Cinderella's biological parents died when she was very young. Because we're so used to seeing that trope media and Disney in particular has used it so much that people get surprised when their protagonists are NOT orphans, we can forget just exactly what that implies for plenty of them in general, and for those in a position like Cinderella's in particular.
Lady Tremaine, her abusive step-mother, is the parental figure that has been in Cinderella's life the longest, and it's clear she doesn't allow her to leave the house (hence her only friends being animals). She has managed to warp Cinderella's point of view of her own miserable situation, to make all this never-ending abuse seem normal, because she's had the time to do it, and there's no one with equal authority to challenge her.
To make matters worse, the movie implies the abuse didn't start until Cinderella's father died - meaning that Cinderella has legit memories, not merely hope, of her step-mother treating her fairly. Sure, it was an act, but it still gives Tremaine even more power, as she can hold the promise of being a good maternal figure again over Cinderella's head. Hell, she knowingly plays that card when she pretends to agree that Cinderella has every right to go to the ball with them.
And even if the manipulation doesn't work, well... what exactly is Cinderella supposed to do about it? Again, her only friends are a dog, birds and rats. How would she go about getting help? Who would she talk to? Where would she live until her abusive step-mom is no longer allowed to be at her father's old home, assuming that whover is helping Cinderella out not only agrees that Tremaine's actions mean she no longer has any right to it despite being the man's widow, but also would have the authority to do anything about it?
If she runs away, maybe Cinderella will end finding a savior. Or maybe she'll end up homeless, with no food and no one to protect herself from further abuse from people looking for an easy target. Living with Tremaine is horrible, but also means a roof over her head, a bed to sleep in every night, and food to eat. Of course she's going to try to placate her. Of course she'll say "she can't be ALL bad". Of course she'll swallow her pride and anger. She can't really afford not to.
And when she steps out of line, even without flat out turning her back on Tremaine? Well, we get the truly horrible scene of Cinderella's step-sister (because again, Tremaine doesn't act alone, further stablishing the pattern of it not being a fair fight) tearing her dress to shreds - which is not only cruel, but also implies at least physical violence, if not something much worse, happened at that moment, and potentially at other times too since Cinderella visibly tensed up as Tremaine got close to her.
(The iconic straight to video sequel that had zero right of being as good it was, Cinderella 3; A Twist In Time, also implies violence is pretty normalized in the whole family, as Drusilla's reaction to Anastasia finding the magic wand, which she mistakes for a stick, is to turn to her mother and say they should beat Anastasia with it)
This is a key difference between the tone/context of the cartoon VS the live action. The remake has the death of Cinderella's father, and thus beginning of her abuse, happen much later when she's already basically an adult. She has plenty of human friends that not only know of her situation, but also repeatedly offer her help and a place to stay. The dress scene is also very toned down, to the point that Cinderella honestly could have just gone to the ball without the fairy godmother showing up, which hardly makes one wonder if maybe Tremaine has gone as far as to use physical violence in order to have more control over her victim.
Now, obviously that doesn't make it impossible nor unrealistic for (other forms of) abuse to happen, nor is Cinderella's reaction not understandable - again, it's hard to accept that someone who used to be a kind, trustworthy person is now abusing you, especially you had a literal lifetime of happy memories with them at that point.But it does make the situation seem way less hopeless.
Which would not be a problem if it wasn't for the fact that the remake, much like the people who bash the original, often falls into the trap of...
The scene that best highlights the tone of the live action and that makes it actually sexist, unlike the cartoon, is the moment in which the fairy godmother appears.
She doesn't immediately reveal herself as a friend that is there to comfort Cinderella after a horrible act of abuse, as someone able and willing to help. Instead she's in disguise as a poor, sickly old woman, begging for water, which Cinderella obviously gives her despite being at her lowest moment.
It is something that reveals just how kind Cinderella is... but also how gross the movie is, because WHY THE FUCK DOES SHE NEED TO PASS SOME SORT OF TEST TO "DESERVE" COMPASSION AND HELP?
It was the moment that made me realize why Cinderella's situation not being as bad bothered me so much in the remake, but not in other versions of the story - it is strongly implied (and the non-stop praise for Remake!Cinderella for being "less passive", when that couldn't be further from the truth, suggests that it was understood by it's fans who love talking shit about the cartoon) that Cinderella is directly and SOLELY responsible for her situation.
The takeaway is not that Remake!Tremaine didn't have the time, means or foresight to isolate, and thus dig her claws into, her step-daughter like the cartoon version did. It's that Remake!Cinderella didn't "let" it happen.
That's why she gets to go out, that's why she has human friends instead of just animal friends, that's why she has more chances to leave, that's why the dress scene doesn't imply as much (if any) violence. It wasn't luck or circumstance or even the movie doing it's own thing, it was this Cinderella being "better" and thus not "deserving" as much abuse.
As if the reason Tremaine was so awful in the cartoon was because Cinderella allowed it. Caused it. DESERVED IT. Not because, ya know, abusers hurt people because they fucking want to.
Cinderella is a victim. She deserves justice no matter how badly/how long she's been abused, how much she did or did not fight back, or even how good of a person she herself was.
The cartoon tells us two separate things. That Tremaine is wrong to abuse Cinderella AND that Cinderella is a resilent person with a kind heart. But the live action (knowingly or not) implies, and the people who unfairly bash the original straight up say (again, knowingly or not), that Tremaine is wrong to abuse Cinderella BECAUSE she's a resilient person with a kind heart, not because abuse in general is wrong, not because they're family and mistreating her would be not only unfair, but a personal betrayal.
It is a horrible, deeply problematic, and honestly misogynistic message. And yet people keep insisting it is somehow "empowering" the character - which tells me they not only can't understand nor appreciate the original, but have also never seen two gems that do their own take on Cinderella, without missing the point.
Better Versions Of What The Live Action Tried To Do
The first movie I'm going to praise and recommend, especially for fans of the original, is, again, Cinderella 3, as it shows us what Cinderella would have done if Tremaine had managed to not only rob her of her chance of proving she was the one to dance with the prince, but also managed to put one of her daughters in her place.
Cinderella is heartbroken... then takes action by sneaking into the palace with her friends, trying to figure out what's going on, and does her best to warn the prince that he's under a spell. She only temporarely loses hope when she's literally being forced into exile, aka an understandable thing to be distressed about.
And after the prince rescues her, only for Tremaine to meddle again and trap her in a nightmare version of the pumpking carriage that is literally meant to go off a cliff with her inside? She works with her friends to force her way out of it and then rushes to the palace to save the prince from another trick.
It gives Cinderella way more to do, but without betraying the characterization of the first movie, as, once again, it makes sense she'd be more defiant and take more action when she can see a clear path to a better life.
She's also allowed some payback by making Tremaine and Drusilla servants in the post-credit scene, but still stays true to her kind nature as, when Anastasia redeems herself by ruinning her mother's plan after realizing how horrible she truly is and apologizing for the harm she's done, Cinderella forgives her for the years of being complicit in her abuse.
Another version of the story that also used the family's dynamic being more complicated as a way to disguish itself was Ever After (1998), the TRUE Cinderella live action.
Danielle (the """"historical"""" Cinderella) has a generally good relationship with at least one of her step-sisters, Jaqueline, and the step-mother is willing to show her some affection (and it actually feels a little unclear how much of it is an act), which makes it far more understandable for her to stick around despite not only the situation being awful (plus the step-mom is Angelica Huston, how the fuck do say no to her?).
Danielle might also be a more "tough" Damsel in distress, who has actually rescued herself, her prince and strangers from trouble multiple times, but she did also need saving because she's tough, but she's not invincible, so we're still afraid for her when things are going wrong - especially since there's no magic in the movie, which makes the stakes higher as we know there won't be a guaranteed miracle to save her.
The abuse also explicitly goes WAY beyond just insults, being turned into a servant and then locked away to not go to the ball. The physical violence is made explicit (and Jaqueline tends to her wounds), the evil step-sister threatens to destroy the book she has to remember her father by if she won't allow her to basically steal her mother's dress for herself (and then carries out said threat anyway to further twist the knife), and Dannielle's lowest point happens after being humiliated AT the ball, not before it, being rejected by her prince for it, and then being sold as a sex slave by her step-mother. It's not at all hard to understand why she tries staying on these people's good side, as they're not afraid of being AWFUL.
She's also allowed a bit more moral ambiguity herself, as she's explicitly lying to the prince about her identity (hence the rejection), and once again, after everything is resolved, she's also allowed to want some payback by turning her abusers into servants at the palace, forgiving only the sister who had been kind to her (would not surprise me if someone at Disney was taking notes when making Cinderella 3).
It is a very fleshed out, more "modern" take on the character (despite being nearly 30 years old now because time is lie), that still stays true to the heart of the story - a story about surviving abuse.
Also, this movie had the balls to say "The godmother is actually Leonardo Da Vinci" and I simply gotta respect the audacity of doing something so batshit insane with a straight face.
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