A Cinderella Story

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details about A Cinderella Story's classification and consumer advice lines
• a review of A Cinderella Story completed by Young Media Australia (YMA) on 23 September 2004.

Overall comments and recommendations

This latest version of a Cinderella Story is nothing new. Set in current time, Samantha (Sam) is the Cinderella with a wicked step mother Fiona and obnoxious twin step sisters Brianna and Gabriella. Sam puts up with their abominable behaviour for many years before standing up for herself. Hilary Duff is a little hard to believe as a humble servant girl but Jennifer Coolidge is very good as the completely self absorbed, self serving step mother. While there are a few laughs this movie has limited appeal; however the teenage market will probably enjoy it.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) and the associated consumer advice lines.

YMA review

This review of the movie A Cinderella Story contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• use of violence
• material that may scare children
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie's message

A synopsis of the story

Sam is brought up in San Fernando by her widowed father Hal who owns a diner. They share a very close, loving relationship but her world is shattered when her father dies during an earthquake. Prior to his death he had married Fiona and brought her and her twin daughters Brianna and Gabriella, into their home. Fiona now takes over the running of the house and the diner relocating Sam to the attic and putting her to work scrubbing floors and waiting on tables in the diner. Sam has high hopes of attending Princeton College and tries hard to juggle work and school.

In high school Sam is mercilessly harassed as being the ‘diner girl’ however she has a good friend in Carter, a bit of a nerd, and gets good grades. She secretly admires Austin Ames, the good looking captain of the football team who is going out with Shelby, the ‘popular’ girl at school. Austin also wants to go to Princeton but his father has great ambitions for him to win a football scholarship to USC and carry on the family tradition. However unbeknown to Sam she shares an email relationship with Austin whom she knows as Nomad, and who appreciates poetry. They arrange to meet on the dance floor at the Halloween Ball, but of course on this night Fiona demands she works in the diner. With the help of her good friend ‘Fairy Godmother’ Rhonda, Sam arrives looking beautiful at the ball. Austin of course falls in love with her but she has to leave before midnight to rush back to the diner before becoming discovered.

Austin now has to find his beautiful princess and in the process has to decide what he really wants out of life – to be himself or do what his father wishes. Sam too learns to stand up for herself and uncovers a few surprises when she decides to move out of home.

Use of violence

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There’s a bit of comic violence in this movie:

• Sam hits Carter with a baseball accidentally
• Solarium lid falls on Fiona
• Brianna and Gabriella fall down the stairs dressed as Siamese twins
• Carter punches David (Austin’s friend) for persisting with Shelby after she says no to him
• Brianna and Gabriella get stuck in a car wash

There is also a lot of verbal harassment of Sam and Carter by the ‘cool’ people at school and Sam is publicly humiliated by the ‘mean girls’ and her twin stepsisters in front of a large crowd.

Material that may scare children

Under eight

Children under eight are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations, the death of a parent or child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

Children in this age group might be disturbed by the following:

• Sam’s father’s death. Nothing is actually shown; he just doesn’t come home one day.
• Fiona nearly crashes her car when one of the twins puts her foot on the pedal; this causes much havoc.

Over the age of eight

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

Children over the age of eight would not be scared by this movie.

Sexual references

There are no sexual references.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is no nudity or sexual activity but plenty of skimpy clothing and girls in bikinis.

Use of substances

There is no use of substances.

Coarse language

There is a small amount of coarse language, the occasional use of ‘butt’ and ‘oh my God’.

The movie's message

There are a few underlying messages such as reaching for your dreams, assertiveness and that parents shouldn’t try to live their lives through their children.

Values parents may wish to encourage include:

• friendship
• loyalty
• determination
• assertiveness.

The following content could be used by parents to discuss with their children what their own family’s values are, and what the real life consequences can be of some actions and attitudes:

• harassment and verbal abuse
• lying
• deceit
• selfishness
• putting too much emphasis on body image.