Fairy Tale and Film

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 
(Joel Zwick, 2002) provides 
another ‘Cinderella’ update in which romantic interests coincide with 
the heroine’s career ambitions. Toula (Nia Vardalos) is another outsider 
character, lacking self-esteem and stuck in a rut until night school offers 
a means of gaining control over her life. It is seemingly to fit in with 
her college peers that prompts the makeover we have come to expect 
from such scenarios, trading glasses for contacts and investing in outfits 
that defy her father’s limited appraisal (‘you look so old!’). The result is 
a visibly rejuvenated woman who gets herself a loving husband, largely 
through the increased confidence her new skills have given her. 
A further variation on the theme of outsider heroines is 
Miss Con-
geniality
(Donald Petrie, 2000) in which female cop Gracie Hart (Sandra 
Bullock), routinely overlooked, gets the chance to prove herself by 
going undercover at a beauty pageant. Cue a parody makeover in which 

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32 
Fairy Tale and Film
she is starved, plucked and groomed to fit in with the other contest-
ants, eventually earning recognition from her boss for successfully 
unearthing the security threat posed, and even becoming a national 
celebrity. From awkward tomboy, Gracie ends the film with a sense of 
personal as well as professional triumph, gaining a new admirer in the 
form of her work partner, Eric. In an interesting attempt to confront 
rom-com expectations, the film’s sequel, 
Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and 
Fabulous 
(John Pasquin, 2005), reveals that this romance ends after only 
three weeks, putting Gracie in a tailspin of depression.
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Allowing her 
bosses to make her ‘FBI Barbie’ again, she loses herself in the superfi-
cial role of a media PR person, and it soon becomes evident that the 
core relationship in this film is with her security officer, Sam (Regina 
King). Eventually bonding after countless fights, Gracie dispenses with 
the bitchy demeanour used to hide her pain and the film delivers its 
message: getting the man is not the point, and neither is prioritising 
looks. Eric is forgotten, Sam becomes her new partner at the FBI, and 
Gracie returns to the job that ultimately provides her with a sense of 
self-worth.
What these heroines share is a mutual sense of awkwardness that may 
attract amusement yet also makes them both endearing and inspiring. 
None conforms to the conventional stereotype of approved ‘femininity’ 
in terms of their dress and demeanour, yet neither do they rely on the 
idea that a man is the answer to their troubles. In fact, they each provide 
the solution to their problems through their own resources and abilities. 
As ‘Cinderella’ stories go, we would be hard put to find more empow-
ering messages. In addition to the non-stereotypical looks of the chief 
protagonists, or the relative absence of wicked stepmothers, who gets to 
play the fairy godmother is also of note, with men selected in most cases, 
revealing that gender roles are being interestingly revised. ‘Cinderella’ 
provides an apt means of playing with such ideas, with its emphasis on 
costume, disguise and transformation, and it seems film-makers are keen 
to take advantage of such features to play with convention.
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The most 
progressive examples revise our understanding of heroines as figures to 
be applauded rather than pitied. However, this is by no means the only 
fairy tale to have inspired cinematic updates via the rom-com. While 
‘Cinderella’ emphasises marriage as the heroine’s desired goal (an aspira-
tion altered in modern variations, which have heroines improve their lot 
through making the most of their abilities, rendering any love interests 
secondary), contrasting tales feature heroines who evince reluctance 
about finding a partner, yet are forced to overcome such feelings, with 
disguise and transformation key tropes once again.
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