WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Cinderella, streaming now on Amazon Prime.
The story of Cinderella is pretty simple: a peasant girl goes to the ball after her fairy-godmother uses magic to make a dress. And while there, the prince sweeps her off of her feet, but the girl has to run away by midnight per the godmother’s instructions. In her haste, she drops a glass slipper, which the prince uses to track her down. When he finds her, they live happily ever after. However, Kay Cannon’s new Cinderella takes that premise and changes some things up, including adding a massive twist.
Shockingly, when Cinderella ends, Prince Robert is no longer the heir apparent because he and Cinderella are going to travel the world, while Robert’s sister, Gwen, is going to be Queen. Here’s how it all happens.
From having Billy Porter play the part of the fairy-godparent to the evil stepmother not being evil, after all, the film is all about upsetting the status quo. One such change is that Prince Robert and Ella see each other before the royal ball. In fact, Robert only agreed to have a ball so that he could specifically meet Ella. The problem, however, is that in this version, Ella has no intention of being swept off of her feet by a know-it-all, braggadocios prince. And she only agrees to go to the ball to try and market her dress-making skills to others there.
So, when Ella shows up in Fab G’s creation, Robert is mesmerized, but she isn't convinced. She likes Robert but knows that becoming a princess means that she would not be able to chase her dream as a dressmaker. That leaves her to choose herself and her dream, rather than becoming a princess that’s confined to a particular role. Robert is, understandably, distraught, as that’s not how this fairy tale is supposed to go. Not having a better option, he resigns to marry someone else at the behest of his father, but his mother isn’t having it. She tells her annoyingly-lofty husband off and makes him agree to let Robert hunt down Ella.
When Robert finds Ella, he tells her that he also wants to choose himself, which means choosing to be with her regardless of his father’s expectations or traditions. Their love for each other is obvious, so they determine to work out a solution. As it turns out, King Rowan names his daughter Gwen -- who is clearly a capable and progressive leader -- as the heir apparent. With Gwen scheduled to handle the affairs of the state, Robert is free to travel the world with Ella.
In that way, the ending succeeds in subverting two major expectations. For starters, King Rowan was so concerned with getting Robert married to carry on his legacy that he ignored the fact that his son never really wanted to be king. At the same time, he looked over the fact that Gwen was a capable leader who was willing to take on the responsibility. But the ending allows a princess to be in line for the throne, rather than the expected prince. Ella also seems to have this conception that she has to choose between her dream and finding love, but Robert’s choice to abdicate his heirship proves to her that she doesn’t have to choose. By the end, she finds love with Robert and is able to travel, make dresses and peruse her passion.
To see how Cinderella subverts the expectations of the classic story, the film is available now on Amazon Prime Video.
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