Ella’s childhood is charmed. She lives joyfully with her mother and father. Tragedy strikes and keeps striking when Ella’s mother dies unexpectedly from an illness. Ella’s father spends the next many years sadly. Then, he becomes remarried to Lady Tremaine, Ella’s new stepmother. The stepmother’s two daughters, Anastasia and Drizella, do not take a liking to Ella. Shortly after the marriage, Ella’s father also dies while away on business, leaving Ella in the care of her stepmother and two stepsisters. They make her do menial work and exclude her from the rest of the family. They renamed her “Cinderella” because of how dirty she gets while doing the work. Cinderella runs away into the woods, where she finds a handsome young man. She leaves without giving her name, so he sets up an elaborate ball to try to search her. With kindness, courage, and a little magic, things will probably work out for Cinderella.
Strong Points
Ella is able to say goodbye to her mother. She can give her agree to her father’s remarriage.
While Ella’s life does get very hard, these are two positive things.
Ella remains kind and courageous, even when life is hard.
Ella has a very positive relationship with her father. Her life is impacted for good by her mother’s influence on her, even after her mother dies.
Weak Points
I don’t know if it is helpful to people touched by adoption when the plot of a movie can be summed up by the announcement, “Your new family is evil and hates you.”
Ella’s stepmother covers up away all of the mementos of her birth mother.
watchers who have been abused might be triggered by the way that Ella’s family mistreats her, even referring to her by a new, insulting name, which is somewhat reminiscent of the treatment of Dave Pelzer in his memoir, “A Child Called It.” The family bars Ella from pleasurable activities and does not allow her to eat in their presence. Her stepmother requires Ella to call her “madam.” The stepmother also rips apart a dress that Ella acquired from her mother. The stepmother also tells Ella, “You’re a ragged servant girl. That’s all you’ll ever be.” It’s brutal.
Recommendations
I watched this one with my wife and two children who are like nieces to us, a five-year-old and a nine-year-old. The five-year-old: “I loved the part when she was a baby.” The nine-year-old: “I loved it but not the sad parts.” I agree with my young friends. There are happy moments, positive messages, and a happy ending, but there’s a lot of stuff that’s sad. Both of the children I watched it with cried during the movie, and I can imagine it being hard for young children, and especially for viewers who have experienced mistreatment by adults in charge of them. It might be best-suited to ages 10 and up, and even then, parents should be there when their children see it and process it afterward.
