Ever After Movie Review

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorCollege, Undergraduate October 2001

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"Ever After" Movie Review When people think of a fairy tale, they view it as a story of a princess and a prince charming. The stereotype of a fairy tale is that the princess is vulnerable and in need of a prince to rescue her. Most fairy tales portray princesses as the hopeless maiden that has no individuality. In the movie "Ever After," fairy tales will never be the same. "Ever After" is another version of "Cinderella". As the viewer continues to watch the movie they can clearly see the difference between the two movies by the setting, narrator, character, and point of view.

The story of "Ever After" takes place long ago in England around the 16th century. The setting seems like a monarchy where there was no middle class. The people were either rich or poor. The rich were the kings, queens and people with power.

The people living in poverty are the ones who work to make a living. Danielle, the child whose father past away cooks and cleans for her mother and her two stepsisters, Jacqueline and Marguerite. Like Cinderella, Danielle also slaves for her two stepsisters and her stepmother. The difference between the two movies is that in "Cinderella," it did not show any poor people and there were no fairy godmother and magic pumpkins helping Danielle. "Ever After" is a Cinderella story portray with more reality. It shows the reality of England at its time because there were people living in poverty.

The Cinderella in the story is portrayed as Danielle in "Ever After." Danielle is not some vulnerable princess that needs a prince to save her; she is a strong and smart girl. Danielle is an orphan living with her stepmother and two stepsisters yet she doesn't long for her prince charming to come rescue her. She is a person that views life with enthusiasm. She is an individual that cares about others. In the movie she was able to stand up for herself and save one of her servants. Cinderella would never have the guts to do what Danielle would do. As a person that is strong-minded and stands up for herself, she was able to save the prince of England from a bunch of bandits. This proves that she does not need a prince to save her from anything. She is portrayed as an independent woman not looking for love.

The prince of England is portrayed as a man with no responsibility. His family wants him to marry at once yet he is not ready. He wants to be free and to do what he wants to do without rules. He is not a prince that is ready to find his princess. As he runs away from his responsibility of a prince he happens to meet a young madam by the name of Danielle. He is intrigued by Danielle's perspective of life. He is fascinated by her personality and the ways she talk. Never once did the story say she was beautiful. He asks her, " You save servants, climb rocks, what else do you do?" The prince is hypnotized by the way she talks and the way she stands up for herself.

The story is told decades later by her granddaughter. The narrator is Danielle's grandmother who tells the story through the first-person point of view but later transcends it to the third-person point of view by telling the story of her grandmother. Her granddaughter is telling the story to two writers who recently wrote their own version of Cinderella. Cinderella was a fiction story told as a fairy tale but Danielle's granddaughter tells them the true story of her grandmother. She starts off telling the viewer who she was and what difference her mother had made, later she transcends and tells the fairytale story of her grandmother. The theme of the story in "Ever After" was that Danielle ends up marrying her prince but not because of some glass slipper but because of what type of person she is. Cinderella fights for what she believes in even if that means she would not be able to marry the prince. She clearly stands her ground and goes out of her way to help other people knowing that she is also unfortunate as well. The theme of the story is that the stereotype of a princess is one who waits for her prince but this movie defies all rules by showing an independent woman who steals a man's heart.

"Ever After" is a movie that transcends the typical fairy tale into a story of two people who wins each other's heart not because of image or power but because of their individuality and personality. I think that this story is a happy ending just like Cinderella but the difference is that Danielle deserves it in every way. The tone of the story is formal in every way. The story is set in the 16th story where poverty exists. Cinderella is raised up as a servant yet she is a princess. She sticks to what she believes in and doesn't dream of a prince. She had a mind like no other princess. I look up to Danielle for she is an independent woman. She is an example to others that your personality and individuality is what's important.

Though "Ever After" is a story of a happy ending, the difference with "Cinderella" is that "Ever After" shows the reality in the 16th century. "Cinderella" is a story with no negativity. There were fairy godmothers, talking mice, and magic pumpkins. There is no such thing as poverty. In "Ever After" it showed how a women, a servant to her step-mother and step-sisters, can still be able to save other servants, fight bandits, and win a prince's heart.