Cinderella Semiotic Data

Scene(s) "Fairy God Mother" Helping - Marriage (Ending Scene)
Rhodopis (original Cinderella story)
- Rhodopis kidnapped from Greece & sold into slavery
- interacial relations
- Rhodopis has light skin, blonde curly hair, blue eyes
- Egyptians have dark skin, straight black hair, dark eyes
- Rhodopis has small feet
- The lost shoe is a mix between moccasin/gladiator sandal/TOMs; multi-colored
- The shoes here are considered very beautiful
- The source of the shoes comes from her old, sleepy slave-owner
- Her only friends are wild animals
- The marriage is forced (Egyptian prince's choice)
- Transition from slave to princess (poor to rich)
- No communication between Rhodopis and Prince before marriage; proposal a result of sign from
  one of the Egyptian gods

Cinderella (Disney adaptation)
- Cinderella's father died, leaving her to deal with family by marriage
- All characters are from the same culture (not a striking diversity)
- Cinderella has small feet
- The lost shoe is a glass-slipper
- The new shoes, dress, and carriage are considered very beautiful
- The source of the shoes comes from magic via a Fairy God Mother
- Her only friends are animals
- The marriage is forced (Prince Charming's choice)
- Transition from commoner to princess (poor to rich)
- Communication before marriage is one dance; proposal seems to be a result of looks/beauty
- The step mother and step sisters are not pretty; they have bigger bodily feature, are loud, and
   obnoxious

A Cinderella Story (movie starring Hilary Duff)
- Sam's father dies, leaving her to deal with family by marriage
- All characters are from the same region/culture (not a striking diversity)
- Shoe size is not adressed
- The lost shoe is not a shoe, but a mask for a masquerade ball
- The mask and outfit are outlandish compared to the other costumes
- The mask comes from a family friend and co-worker
- She has friends, but they are considered outcasts at the school
- The end relationship (dating) is a mutual choice
- The transition from poor to rich is not a result of the relationship, rather of Sam finding a will.
- Transition from socially awkward to popular
- Communication before dating is multiple convos via email; relationship based on personality
- The step mother is not supposed to be viewed as pretty- the plot addresses this by the multiple
   plastic surgeries and beauty enhancing techniques she uses, the sisters are not supposed to be
   viewed and pretty either (they are not in the "in-crowd" but are not as hated as Sam)

Syntagmatic Relationships
- Rhodopis story the only thing that changes is her new shoes, her appearance or accumulation of
  things does not change. In the other two, an outside source changes/masks the main character's
  appearance. Ex. a magical fairy god mother transitions regular, dull objects into sparkling, lighter
  colored objects; lighter = better

Paradigmatic Relationships
- Woven sandals vs. glass slippers vs. decorative mask (all are outlandish and envied by multiple
   other characters yet are all very different from one another; the mask, in reality, conceals the
   character's identity the best)
- Animal friends vs. human friends (the use of animals causes the viewer to pity the main character
   more and the friends are liked more causing the viewer to really root for the main character; when
   the friends are human, these feelings are not as intense, and one may root for "evil" cheerleader
   opposed to rooting for Sam)
- The source of the shoes/mask changes from a slave owner to a fairy god mother to a co-worker (all
   of these serve the same purpose, yet evoke various emotions from the reader: a slave owner
   admiring his slave dancing from afar and rewarding her with shoes is creepy, a fairy god mother
   is magical and gives the sense of privilege, a co-worker represents family, community, and
   empathy)

Adaptation + Genre (Princess/Love Story) Relationship between adaptations
- All female characters have fair skin, blonde hair, blue/green eyes (racism apparent in all)
- All address going from poor to rich (money is important in culture throughout time)
- All address rising in social status; however the means by which one is rising is different (we
  possibly value different aspects that represent higher class throughout time and across cultures)
- The genre is set up so that the viewer automatically feels sorry for the main character because of
   an initial hardship they endured. However in the most current story, the reader has more room
   to hold different views and may not end up rooting for the main female character; this is achieved
   by the plot and the use of human friends rather than animals.