Ever After

Ever After is a version of the fairytale Cinderella.  In this story, Danielle (Cinderella) is happy living with her father on the farm.  One day, he brings home a stepmother and two stepsisters.  The father dies of a heart attack and the stepmother takes control of the farm.  The stepmother, jealous of how much love Danielle got from her father, treats her Danielle like dirt.

One day, the prince comes across Danielle and, thinking that she is of high status, falls in love with her.  She pretends to be a countess for some time with the prince.  Throughout their times, she provides her “slave” opinions to him without giving away her secret.  These opinions make him fall even harder for her.

So far, this movie seems very similar to the original fairytale.  However, there are some controversial themes within this story.  After Danielle punches the rudest stepsister for stealing her mother’s dress, her stepmother whips her.  The next scene shows the other stepsister cleaning up Danielle’s wounds and speaking kindly to her.  At least in this story one sister has compassion!

After the stepmother finds out that Danielle was secretly seeing the prince, she has her sold to a creepy man.  This man always wanted Danielle to keep him company and be his sex slave.  She is able to get away from this man (by threatening to kill him with a knife) and reunite with her prince.  The stepmother and the evil stepsister are punished by forever doing the kingdom’s laundry.  The nice stepsister was able to live peacefully in the castle with Danielle and the prince.

Thankfully, this was not as gruesome as the Grimm Brothers’ version.  However, I do prefer the ending of the Grimm Brothers’ story because the evil characters do not get off easy.  They deserve a much harsher punishment than doing laundry!