The late '90s were such a moment for makeover stories, and I feel like they always got labeled "Cinderella stories," as if being nerdy (She's All That) and unpopular (Never Been Kissed) and maybe slobby (Miss Congeniality) are equivalent to a stepmother who makes you scrub floors and pick lentils out of the ashes. We kept being asked to believe that the "before" version of these characters is just naturally unacceptable, in contrast to Cinderella, who has been put in a bad situation by other people.
At least we also got two legitimately good actual Cinderella movies, too — the Brandy one, and Ever After.
The late '90s were such a moment for makeover stories, and I feel like they always got labeled "Cinderella stories," as if being nerdy (She's All That) and unpopular (Never Been Kissed) and maybe slobby (Miss Congeniality) are equivalent to a stepmother who makes you scrub floors and pick lentils out of the ashes. We kept being asked to believe that the "before" version of these characters is just naturally unacceptable, in contrast to Cinderella, who has been put in a bad situation by other people.
At least we also got two legitimately good actual Cinderella movies, too — the Brandy one, and Ever After.