The one scene that I did not like - my thoughts

The one scene I didn't like at all was when she was walking with her friend in the market, the friend asks her why she is staying there, and she says because she wants to stay with the family home. The fact that there is a possibility she could actually leave but CHOOSES to say is really problematic.

The whole point of the Cinderella story is that she has to endure very abusive and difficult circumstances, and rely on situational optimism and hope because of how little control she has over her circumstances. She has nowhere else to go, being a young unmarried woman, so she has to make the best of her situation. And even after her fortunate turn of luck in which she is elevated to a position of power - from which the tables were turned on her wicket stepmother and she could be punished harshly - Cinderella chooses to forgive her, forget her, and move on with her life.

I felt that this was depicted very well in Ever After. They showed one of the very unpleasant alternatives for Danielle besides staying with her step-family (being a mistress to that depraved merchant). And, that wasn't even her choice. But in this film, by showing that Cinderella actually has a semblance of control over what she does or where she goes, it's almost like she's willing to take all that mistreatment for the sake of remaining in her family home - which is certainly not what her mother and father would have wanted.

I wonder if they did this to water it down because it's primarily a children's film. If that's the case, it really wasn't necessary, they could have explained the cruelty of Ella's circumstances without scarring kids. It could have been her friend saying, "I'm so sorry about what you have to deal with, I wish there was another way, you must be suffering" or something like that, and Ella could reply with acknowledging how hard her life was, but deciding to be resolute and endure it the best she could.

This post ended up being longer than intended, but, I really wish that plot point had been different!