Later the Brothers Grimm came along and made the story more- well, grim. In the Grimm version, Aschenputtel (the Cinderella character) was told by her dying mother to remain good and kind. She was buried, and a "wishing tree" grew on her grave which became this versions fairy godmother. Also, when Prince Charming comes to find the owner of the slipper, the stepsisters mutilate their feet so they can fit. The Prince realized the treachery when the blood started pouring out. And if that weren't enough, Cinderella's father seemed to be okay with her abuse.
There are many other versions of this story, and small details are always changed to suit. As a creative exercise, let's make a version of our own. And let's make it ridiculous, because that's my style.
Yo, Cinderella!
In this version, Cinderella lives in New Jersey. She works at a diner during the day, and in the evenings she goes to beautician school.
She still has the stepmother, only this time she is a jet-setting hedonist. Often off on a vacation to some idyllic island, she only shows up at the most unexpected times to make Cinderella miserable. Oh, and speaking of miserable, the evil stepsisters are also here. This time however, the stepsisters are some Guido-loving party animals. They often have parties at the house, which Cinderella is usually made to clean up after.
After a really big house party one night, Cinderella is cleaning the house when her stepmother shows up and freaks out. Of course, Cindy is blamed for the mess. After a huge argument, Cinderella flees the house and goes for a walk to cool off.
This is the part of the story where she meets the fairy godmother. I think it would be fun to make the godmother much like the godfather, and add some gangster cred to the story. The godmother takes pity on Cinderella and makes her an offer she cant refuse. Of course- much like the disney version- this character might only exist to move the story along without much logical reasoning behind her arrival. So another possibility is that the godmother is an enemy of the stepmother, this way it makes sense that she would curry favor with Cinderella. Possibly she is Cinderella's actual godmother, and was specifially called upon by the protagonist.
So however it happens, they meet up and they do what most New Jersey women do in times of trouble: go on a shopping spree. The godmother buys her a fabulous dress, and a pair of really expensive shoes.
At the godmothers urging, Cinderella goes to a party that night in a rented limousine. Of course the limo driver is only paid for until midnight to keep in line with the story. Cinderella meets prince charming, and they have their magical moment together, after which she leaves in a hurry.
The next day, Prince Charming and his goombahs are out scouring the jersey shore for the girl he met the night before. He was a bit inebriated, so he cant remember exactly what she looks like, but he does remember the shoes. When the stepsisters become hip to the Prince's search, they go steal Cinderella's shoes out of her room and put them on to try and trick the guy. But they are so annoying (because they have high pitched Jersey accents and the IQ's of fish), that the Prince decides a romance is not worth pursuing with them.
Cinderella finds out about her stepsisters treachery and liberates her precious shoes. She then goes to work at her diner while wearing the shoes. Of course the Prince comes into the diner, and is so depressed that he only stares at the floor. Cinderella comes over to take his order, and he sees her shoes! He realizes that this is the woman hes been searching for and confesses his love to her.
Re-imagining stories like this can be a great way to get ideas, and it can just be a fun exercise. Try it yourself sometime, and live happily ever after!
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