Applying Todorov's Theory

A Cinderella Story (2004)


1. Who are the agents: the protagonist and antagonist?
Our protagonist is Sam Montgomery, who plays our 'Cinderella' like role, who seems to have the perfect life. This is shown at the beginning, and she in fact says 'What did I need a wish for? I had amazing friends and the coolest dad'.
The antagonist would be Fiona, who plays Sam's stepmother, who has help from her two daughters - Sam's stepsisters - Brianna and Gabriella.


2. Describe the Equilibrium. How is it represented? What kind of camera shots can you identify? Pick out 2 or 3 examples. Describe the mise-en-scene: what meanings to the props/costumes/lighting/framing carry?
The equilibrium at the beginning of the film shows Sam having the perfect fairytale life, with all her friends and her dad. At the beginning of the film, we see shots of mountains and a fairytale castle (the camera seems to be flying over the mountains during these shots), and when the camera then zooms out, we realise that it actually the inside of a snowglobe. When the camera fully zooms out to reveal the real world, we see Sam and her dad, and the scenery around them. This VLS establishes the location: we can see that they are on the top of a hill, and the exact location is given by the voiceover: San Fernando Valley. At the end of the shot we can see her dad put his arm around her, and this not only shows the close relationship between the two characters, but also reinforces the theme of Sam's perfect life.
The next scene and various shots are of 'Hal's Diner', which is the diner that Sam's dad owns. We first see the exterior, and then the interior, and we can see that the place is full of colour, people, balloons and smiles: which again reinforces Sam's perfect life and the equilibrium at the start of the film. We also see a close up of writing on the wall, which says 'Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.' This quote is in fact a quote from her father, and is a key quote in the film. It sort of has the 'if at first you dont succeed, try and try again' notion, which conveys a positive mood, so again reinforces the perfect place. The diner is also filled with vivid, bright colours - for example for all the balloons - are used in the diner show and help to portray the happiness of Sam's life, and back up her quote 'I was the luckiest girl in the world.', which is said just before the scene changes.


3. Is the Disruption or Disequilibrium introduced or hinted at?
Right after we see Sam blowing out the candles of her birthday cake and the voiceover saying 'What did I need a wish for? I had amazing friends and the coolest dad', the theme and mood change. This is shown by a pause in the music, and the voiceover then saying 'But I guess my dad thought I needed one more thing... Fiona.' Suddenly, the music changes, and so does the scene. We see a shot of her dad and Fiona getting married, and we are introduced to Fiona's two daughters, Brianna and Gabriella. We see that in the scene, they are about to have a wedding photo taken, and we see Fiona purposely dropping her bouquet of flowers for Sam to pick up, so she is purposely our of the photo, and we hear Fiona then say 'One's enough'. So this already shows the disruption in the equilibrium, as we can see that Sam's perfect life is starting to go downhill, with the entrance of her stepmother.
However, the final turning point is when there is an earthquake, and Sam's father dies. This is a key part of her background and story, and this is emphasised by the slow motion close up of their separation of hands, and a cutaway shot to her snowglobe which smashes to the ground. This is symbolic because the snowglobe represents her fairytale life, and since it smashes, her perfect life smashes too.


4. Are there any visual/verbal/aural clues that hint at what the hero's journey might be?
There aren't many clues that hint at what the hero's journey might be, as at the beginning of the film we just learn about her past and story so far. However, we do realise that her dad has died and her life has gone totally downhill, and this is reinforced by the voiceover, saying 'Since my father didn't leave a will, my stepmother got everything; the house, the diner, and to her dismay: me.'


5. From your knowledge of the film, how will the equilibrium be restored and what will be the new equilibrium?
Similar to the original Cinderella, she meets her Prince Charming, and lives 'happily ever after'. However, this film is a more updated and modern version, so she meets her 'Prince Charming' online. However, as they are online, they don't know who eachother are: he is in fact a popular jock called Austin, and she is known as a sort of loser, and is nicknamed 'Diner Girl' (as she works there). She is teased and doesn't have that many friends, but always talks to Austin online, and they fall in love (despite not knowing who is actually on the other end of the computer!). At the end of the movie, they find out who eachother are, and despite coming from different cliques, they date and then go to Princeton University together, and live 'happily ever after!' :)