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What Shoe?

What Shoe?

- Alhena Saiyed 

I'm not much of a viewer for contemporary takes on fairy tales but I had watched a film called Another Cinderella Story (2008), which was a Musical Romance starring Selena Gomez and Drew Seeley. The film attempted to suit the likings and understanding of our generation and helped them connect at a deeper level with the imposed atrocities of our modern princess. 

It had our usual impoverished Cinderella, with a twist, that she was getting herself educated. Mary Santiago, our lead actor, is struggling to embrace her love for dance with her Stepmother and stepsisters constantly trying to demean and dominate her and treating her like a domestic worker rather than a member of the family. Nevertheless, she procures her skill set by secretly peeking in the dance academy her Stepmother could afford for two own daughters but not for her. 

Her life goes for a toss when the popular pop artist Joey Parker (Mary's childhood crush) takes admission in their college. The ball here is the Masked - theme Prom night, which she was able to sneak in stealthily with the help of her Friend Godmother who shifts her assigned chores to another company. Mary is successful in enchanting the audience with her dance at the party, especially our Prince Charming who's taken away by the mysteriously elegant Lady. The shoes are not the show stopper here; it's actually the iPod. It does the trick when she unintentionally drops it before her escape to her house in case her Stepmother senses her absence. The audience puller was the contest of Cinderella which was to guess the most played songs on the iPod. The spell bound Prince, with his determination, goes through a huge rigmarole yet finally emerges victorious in finding his love at first sight, at the Finale Showdown. 

The film is a feast if you're open minded about the remaking trend. The story makes it easy to relate with the youth as they are familiar with the aura and socio-cultural construct of the current times, as depicted in the film. The idea of Cinderella being independent and courageous doesn't waver in this story for me. The film may not give the authentic essence of the medieval era owing to the drastic paradigm shift in the ideologies and urbanization but It's still a depiction which inspires the teenagers to grapple with their qualms and apprehensions and get hold of their passion. It teaches them to endeavour no matter the circumstances which will ultimately lead them to their aspiring destination, and who knows, maybe their crush too.

 

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