Okay, so. There's stuff that defines your life. Most of my stuff is books. And, childish as it may or may not be, I still pretty much consider Ella Enchanted to be my favorite book.
Ella was my everything as a kid. She was smart and funny, independent and driven. When she wanted something, she didn't hesitate to figure out a way to go get it. She was brash, impetuous. She spoke a bajillion languages and was hopeless at being a lady. She might be a bit of a cliche now, in today's terms, but to eight year old me she was really something, and I've never lost that affection for her. I feel like I had all these amazing female characters to look up to when I was little - just endless awesome ladies who took names and went on adventures and didn't let shit get them down. I don't know what girls have now. Bella? I'm old. It's depressing. I remember reading so many novels with these fantastic sharp heroines who took their fate in their own hands and decided to live their own lives.
(Omg, so off-topic, but I literally JUST remembered this series of unicorn books I was SO OBSESSED with as a youngin' and I can't believe I ever forgot them. Anyone, Unicorns of Balinor? Anyone?? All I remember is there were talking dogs and the lead girl crossed over from the magical world into the normal world and back and the unicorns were all multicolored and the main one was named SUNCHASER.)
Being a girly sort of fables-obsessed child, I have read a ton of re-told and re-worked fairytales and I think Ella Enchanted still stands out as the most unique, fresh, interesting take. Is that nostalgia talking? It very well might be. But I very much like the idea of warping Cinderella in this way. Cinderella is sort of a paragon of girlish virtue, beautiful and dutiful, and it's very interesting to make that obedience something that is utterly beyond her control. It allows Ella to simultaneously fulfill convention and defy it, forcing her to develop and become stronger in ways she wouldn't have otherwise. It feels like such a 90s thing, really. Ella really wouldn't exist now.
The movie version is, of course, a piece of shit.
I think the also strikes a good balance in terms of character relationships. Opening of the novel (essentially, after the backstory) with the death of Ella's mother sets the tone, because it is the defining relationship of Ella's life. Cinderella stories often handwave Mom's death in that sort of ~oh exposition this is why she has a stepmother, but here it takes on the importance it deserves. Ella's mother is present throughout the entire novel, as someone Ella aspires to be like, as a source of intangible comfort; when Ella fulfills her Cinderella duty at the end and goes to the balls, it's wearing her mother's gowns. Conversely, I liked the contentiousness in her relationship with her father - how they both sense their prickly similarities and it that only serves to push them apart. I like how she is genuinely most at home with the servants, so the housework becomes not solely a trial or a sign of virtue but just something she does because she's comfortable with it and good at it. She's not very good at the stuff young ladies should do, but she can certainly cook and clean plates.
Her relationship with Char is my favorite, though there is admittedly a jolt when the text shifts into being openly romantic. Char is, essentially, a puppy. He is good-humored and goodnatured, and always respectful of Ella. He enjoys her company genuinely and without ulterior motives. I think it's the perfect romance for a little girl to read, honestly. And it further flips the fairytale, taking a shallow love-at-first-sight situation and making it a long and enduring friendship. I think it's interesting that the first place they meet is her mother's funeral. It's a good starting insight into both of them, really. Char is revealed to be both thoughtful and kind, giving Ella the space she needs and then offering her consolation in the best way, with a funny little anecdote about her mom. They fit together without really trying, and he's able to bring out her charm and humor even in her most painful moment.
And I just love that she saves his ass all the damn time. I love girl heroes. I love that she's smarter than Char and isn't afraid to be and that's what saves them more than once. And that Char just finds it delightful. I don't remember him chiding her to be safe so much as praising how well she can handle herself. I just think that's wonderful.
Ella spends the novel struggling against her fate, struggling to take control of herself and her life. She will never be free as long as she's cursed, but she can't look to anyone else to free her; magic is not a cure-all here and it can't fix things for her. Ella must take control of this like she does anything else - she must save herself.
This is where the movie offended me most. It was a horrifyingly terrible film on its own, adaptation decay aside, but the breaking of Ella's curse is where it fucked up the most. The film introduced this whole dumb subplot of Char's evil uncle trying to take over the throne and he orders Ella to kill Char (I think?) and wah wah blah blah she can't. Bullshit. Bull. Shit. Now, I can see why a dumb movie-making person would find book!Ella's curse-breaking hard to film, because it is entirely internal. But that's the point. It is Ella's battle and Ella's battle alone to fight. Char gives her an unintended order: marry me. And Ella wants to, more than anything. But she knows that saying yes means the entire loss of herself. She can be made to do all manner of things in such a high position. She will become an object of control, possibly destruction. She will lose herself and that's the worst thing - that's what she can't let happen. And I'm sorry, with a good actress and some editing and some careful voiceover, it could be done. Ugh, I'm old now and that scene in the book still makes me sob.
Ella and I have a long history together. My copy of that book is in shreds. When I was a little kid, I had a weird thing about sleeping with books I loved under my pillow - not fun with some of the Harry Potters, let me say - and Ella probably ended up there more often than most. We did this thing at school, this contest, where you had to memorize the first page of a book and recite it. I of course chose Ella. I still remember a stupid amount of it, really. But for those who don't, and for nostalgia's sake:
Up next: Sally Bowles