"Step into Cinderella’s Ball"
What You Need To Know:
CINDERELLA is very well produced, with beautiful sets and costumes. The plotline is clear, and the acting is excellent throughout. Best of all, CINDERELLA has a very strong Christian, moral worldview stressing being kind, good and pure. CINDERELLA does have some magical content, but it’s set in a traditional fairytale world where magical fairies are real.
Content:
(CCC, BBB, Pa, O, FR, E, V, A, M) Very strong Christian worldview allegory about living a Christian life by manifesting courage and kindness as elements of the fruit of the Holy Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control) with PILGRIM’S PROGRESS themes with redemptive elements and strong biblical Christian moral values honoring being good and kind to others, forgiveness, loyalty, strong pro-family ideals presented, purity and innocence extolled, positive portrayal of loving someone with all their flaws, people come out of a church, some magical elements of fairies and fairy godmothers using magic with CS Lewis and Tolkien type analogies to angels and God’s miracles after heroine cries out in an appeal to her mother which resembles a prayer, plus one universalist comment as mother says she believes in everything (fairies and all) and one environmentalist scene about not hunting an animal; no foul language; no violence but character falls and rolls out of a moving transportation unit at high speeds; no sexual content but one light kiss between married couple; no nudity; light drinking; no smoking or drug use; and, lying.
More Detail:
CINDERELLA is Disney’s live-action version of the classic fairy tale where a girl has two loving parents who instill in her the message that being kind and good brings happiness, but when her parents pass away, she’s put in a position where kindness and goodness aren’t always easy. CINDERELLA has a very strong Christian worldview as an allegory about living a Christian life by manifesting courage and kindness that are in fact a summary of the fruit of the Holy Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control) with PILGRIM’S PROGRESS type themes with redemptive elements and strong biblical Christian moral values honoring being good and kind to others, forgiveness, loyalty, strong pro-family ideals presented, but it does have some magical fairy tale elements.
Ella has a loving mother and father. Her mother has always told her to be kind and good. She tells Ella that doing this will lead to happiness. Suddenly, Ella’s mother gets sick. On her deathbed, Ella’s mother makes her promise she will be kind and good no matter what the circumstances.
Years pass. Ella and her father are trying to recover from the grief of their loss. Her father decides to marry Lady Tremaine, a woman who has experienced the same grief. When Lady Tremaine and her two daughters, Anastasia and Drizella, move into the house after marrying Ella’s father, there is already a change in the air.
One day, when Ella’s father had been out on business travel, Ella receives word that he had passed away while on the trip, but that his last words were to Ella. Lady Tremaine has became jealous of the love Ella’s father had for Ella. She gets rid of the house staff to save money and makes Ella do all the work.
Little by little, Ella starts to serve her stepmother and stepsisters, who move Ella into her late father’s cold attic. Some nights she would sleep on the kitchen floor with the ash ambers getting on her face, so her stepsisters start calling her “Cinderella.”
Upset and saddened by this, Ella jumps on a horse and rides to the forest. There, she meets Prince Charming, but doesn’t know he’s the Prince. The two have an instant connection but Ella won’t tell him who she is. In order to find her, the Prince puts out a decree that anyone of any ranking or no ranking at all can come to a ball he will throw at the palace. Will Ella’s stepmother allow her to go to the ball?
CINDERELLA is very well produced. The sets and costumes are beautiful. The story has a clear plotline with good turning points and climactic moments. Lily James does a great job playing an innocent, kind Cinderella, as does Cate Blanchett as the mean stepmother, though her character never gets too mean to scare younger children.
CINDERELLA has a very strong Christian worldview as an allegory about living a Christian life in the midst of trials and tribulations by manifesting courage and kindness that are in fact a summary of the fruit of the Holy Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control) with PILGRIM’S PROGRESS type themes with redemptive elements and strong Christian, biblical moral values honoring being good and kind to others, forgiveness, loyalty, strong pro-family ideals. The basis of Cinderella’s character reflects Psalm 15 in her commitment to keep the promise to her mother to be good and kind to all those with whom she comes into contact. Cinderella is a loyal character, who has had strong parents who loved her so much that it has strengthened Cinderella’s character and confidence. Cinderella shows the Christian walk in the midst of trial and tribulation. She even sings beautiful songs of praise and thanksgiving.
In this new version of CINDERELLA, the filmmakers show that Cinderella is much happier being loving and kind than the mean stepmother, who is jealous and cruel. This shows to young girls (and everyone else) that it’s much better to be kind and pure than to be rude to others. This message is uncommon in today’s mass media, where many teenage characters are rude and spoiled, and talk back to their parents.
Like Disney’s 1950s animated version, CINDERELLA has some magical elements, but it’s set in a traditional fairytale world. The story’s premise in this CINDERELLA remains the idea that goodness conquers evil, including mean, hateful, jealous intentions.