"Fairy Tales: A Closer Look at Cinderella".
"Ever After: A Cinderella Story," is an updated version of the famous story of "Cinderella" in which Drew Barrymore plays a pro-feminist Cinderella. In this modern version of the story do not look for fairy godmothers or magic pumpkins and mice, and Cinderella may not be the demure damsel portrayed by Disney. An updating of one of the world's best-known fairy tale, this retelling has marvelous twists and creative alterations that bring the story in line with more modern thinking about gender roles while staying loyal to the spirit of the story of "Cinderella." The changes in gender portrayals seen in this film present a significant challenge to prevailing notions about sex roles and stereotypes. Drew Barrymore's character does not conform to fairy tale conventions.
The movie introduces its intentions immediately with an introduction in which a royal descendant of Drew Barrymore's character, Danielle, summons the Brothers Grimm after reading their "Cinderella" and tells them where they got it wrong. .
Mixing in pieces from several version of the story, the writers of this movie give originally superficial characters depth and emotion (the stepmother has serious psychological reasons for being so wicked) and create new obstacles like the prince being arranged to marry a Spanish princess, and Cinderella's dream of running the estate of her deceased father without her stepmother and stepsisters. Barrymore gives life to the heroine Danielle (Cinderella is just a nickname given by one of her stepsisters) with intelligence, independence and a charm.
Although she's still regulated to servant status after her father dies, Danielle stands up to her stepmother. Although the plot still involves romance with a handsome prince, when they meet she is posing as a noblewoman and finds him arrogant and has the audacity to "mouth off" to him, this behavior would never be found in the original versions on "Cinderella.