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Cinderella Stories


This time of year the film awards talk begins, as well as anticipation for the remaining contenders to be released. This is usually a time when I feel out of step with society. Perhaps not every year, but most, I feel another film captivated me more than the film that wins all the trophies. A Star is Born has certainly been set up as the film to win all, and, once again, I’m not excited about it.
 I don’t want to dismiss the film, as I think the acting, the chemistry between the actors, and the directing were all top notch; it’s the story that just didn’t do it for me. It could also be the timing.
It’s not only the twenty-first century, but also the height of #me too and post-Kavanaugh hearing. Is an updated Cinderella story really what we need right now?
Lady Gaga’s character is magically seen and heard by this great man/prince and plucked out of obscurity, making her dreams come true (at least for a little while). It’s obviously messier and more dramatic than the Disney fairy tale, but it shows a woman who can’t make her dreams happen until a man decides she’s special.
Not surprising, I was pissed off by the film, especially with what the woman has to go through with a drug addicted/alcoholic man who tries to, after giving her this career, take it all away. I was mystified by a woman seated a few seats down from me in the theatre, and around my age, sniffing and sobbing at the end of the film. For me the film went downhill after Lady Gaga joined Bradley Cooper’s tour, and I was relieved to have his character out of her character’s life. The way he’d be removed seemed more than obvious for this kind of character.
I know, it sounds mean, and I don’t want to be that way, but I suppose we’re all a product of our life experience. I was an unplanned mid-life child with siblings who were teenagers when I was born. When I was at a critical young age I witnessed an older sister in a short-lived marriage to a man who became addicted to drugs. I didn’t understand everything then, but it cemented in me more than any Scared Straight video to steer clear of drugs and people who take them, and I have done both.
The fact that there were two popular Cinderella stories this year both baffles and unnerves me. Crazy Rich Asians also fits this fairy tale mold, in some ways easier than A Star is Born, as there actually is a real prince in the film. The Cinderella in this film has degrees and a career, but she seems willing to jettison it all to get her prince. I’m sure my younger self, sadly, would have gotten this film, but the current me was constantly hoping Awkwafina would appear for another scene, helping me laugh and endure this modern fairy tale that I have no interest in being a part of.
Mostly I just have to question the relevance of either film. Clearly I’m in the minority (what a surprise) when you look at ticket sales, but I do wonder if their appeal will last the entire award season.
I don’t think the creators of either film are misogynists, but, with both being male, it does lend to a more masculine gaze on story. This is why we really need more women writing, directing, shooting, and producing films in order to give a more balanced product at the box office. That would be a fairy tale for me to get excited about.

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