In a recent Episode of Las Culturistas Matt and Bowen brought up the true fact that Cinderella invented glam and that every single person to walk a red carpet after her is just trying to emulate what she did. Direct quote:

If you are in modern fashion and you do anything where you show up to a place and hope to gag someone with what you’re wearing, you are trying to do what Cinderella did first and that is period.

Cinderella’s gowns are legendary. And so is the myth around her, which inspired so many artists to spin their own take on the fairy tale.
The tale is as old as time of course. A poor but beautiful girl is forced to serve her evil stepmom and stepsisters (instead of serving c*nt). The evil ladies go to the ball to court the prince, Cinderella is forced to stay behind to clean up their messes. But the fairy godmother whips up a gorgeous gown for our homegirl so she may go to the ball as a beauteous lass and charm prince charming. We all know the catch, the spell only lasts until midnight and so Mr. Sir Prince goes looking for the girl, throws her more parties and eventually she loses one of her shoes. So, he and his one braincell figure out that there must be only one girl in town with her shoe size! A genius plan! However evil stepmom is ready to go above and beyond to get one of her daughters locked up, so she is getting the butcher knife and goes to town on her daughter’s feet. Thank goodness for pigeons. Of course, in the end true love wins. Details vary depending on which version the story is based on – the OG French, the Grimm version, … Depending on your bias you might get hazelnuts, a glass slipper or a pumpkin. Let’s not get lost in the details.
So why is this story so appealing to the masses? Is it the transformation montage? The not like other girls’ trope? The marrying rich to avoid domestic chores fantasy? Or is it really just the awesome magical dress?
We won’t be able to ever tell, but let’s have a look at some iconic Cinderellas in media.
In the most prominent iteration is of course Drei Haselnüsse für Aschenbrödel. A standard and must watch at Christmas.  
Then there is the animated Disney Classic from the 50s, brought to real life by Lily James in 2015. That version, directed by Kenneth Branagh, actually premiered here in Berlin at the Berlinale.
A very campy take on the tale can be found in the 2004 film Ella Enchanted starring Anne Hathaway, Hugh Dancy and let’s not forget about the Heidi Klum cameo. Protagonist Ella is not only being forced to work for her stepmom in this one, she literally has no other choice. Ella was “blessed” with the “gift” of obedience at birth. Horrors beyond imagination. This iteration is iconic for many reasons, two of them being Ella singing Somebody to Love to a room of giants and the grand finale of Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.
On the topic of musical numbers, let’s give some flowers to the movie adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods, in which Anna Kendrick plays a version of Cinderella that is not really that impressed with the Prince (Chris Pine). The Prince is tall? And has charm for a prince? I guess? They get married but that is not the end of the story, which makes for a nice change… Enough with the references.
In 2021 Camila Cabello delivered a performance as a Cinderella who wants to be a fashion designer! Her fairy godmother is Billy Porter, and her stepmother is Idina Menzel. They really took the term mother very seriously with this one.
On the other side of the spectrum, if you like gore and body horror you might want to check out The Ugly Stepsister. From the pov of Stepsister Elvira this interpretation of the fairytale offers a brutal and bloody commentary on beauty standards. Or as letterboxd Dan puts it:

The Substance but make it Bridgerton

In our cinemas right now!! More here
 
Now that we are getting to the end of this little story it is time to reveal the true motivation behind it. And that is of course A Cinderella Story. Starring Hilary Duff, Tristan from Gilmore Girls (sorry, that’s just who he is to me), Regina King and an incredible Jennifer Coolidge as the evil stepmom, delivering lines like “I can’t show emotion for another hour and a half” in a way that should have earned her an Academy Award.
A Cinderella Story is a stand-alone but also inspired a whole series of Cinderella Stories. Amongst them Another Cinderella Story with Selena Gomez, Drew Seeley (Troy Bolton’s singing voice in HSM 1, never forget) and Jane Lynch.
To conclude: We are screening A Cinderella Story at our Film Series Fetch this Month. Get your tickets now for June 18th, 8 pm, Odeon.