If you’re unfamiliar with “Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s Cinderella”, which stars R&B legend Brandy – aka ‘the vocal bible’, you’re very late. But it’s forgivable. Whilst this movie might be the absolute movie of my life it has several obvious criticisms.

The visual quality of the movie is quite low compared to more current versions of the fairytale – due to being released in 1997. But the five year old inside of me wants to scream that none of that really matters. It’s about how that movie made me feel.

Maybe even how it still makes me feel now… I mean I’m writing this blog post, right?

The feeling was pure joy. I finally saw someone on TV that I wanted to be. No offence to the other heroes of my time but this hero looked like me. I was seeing a dark skinned woman with BRAIDS. This woman had BRAIDS. I couldn’t believe it. Maybe I did have the coolest hair after all.

Of course at the time that’s not how I processed it. It was after growing up that I realised I had been clutching onto these heroes of mine that nobody else championed quite as much. It’s because for me, this movie made it okay for the black girl to be the desirable one. This was way before the time of Princess Tiana, the first official black Disney princess.

I didn’t have a princess I could look up to. Not one that was championed and adored the way Cinderella was. That’s why finding this movie was so important. My favourite princess was allowed to be black? Fugazy.

In this version of Cinderella, Brandy stars alongside late super legend Whitney Houston. The chemistry between the pair on and off screen is undeniable. By the end of the movie everybody wants Whitney to be their fairy Godmother. Houston was originally supposed to play Cinderella herself but due to her various work commitments production was continuously delayed. A few years passed and Whitney suggested that she could still be involved in the movie but opted for Brandy to play the lead role. She felt that she had outgrown the role by the time they wanted to film.

The musical moments they created were really special and the behind the scenes footage gives a glimpse into what it was like to be around Whitney. She seemed to be a real-life fairy Godmother for Brandy.

The film is star-studded to say the least. Whitney Houston. Brandy Norwoord. Whoopi Goldberg. Bernadette Peters. Victor Garber. Whew. I have to stand firm in my belief that the film is criminally underrated.

Many people adore Brandy (as they should). Her portrayal of Cinderella was a “lightbulb moment” for me. It was the first instance that I thought to myself “I could do that, I could act and be Cinderella too!”

“I could even sing like Brandy too!”

It’s the simple concept of “see it, be it”. It’s hard to imagine yourself being something that you haven’t seen. Brandy made little darkskin girls (specifically) feel represented. It’s hard to see yourself when the little black girls in every show never look like you.

I’m sure you guys know what I’m talking about. The entire family in a sitcom could be dark-skinned but producers will still find a way to cast a mixed-race/biracial daughter. Let’s make it make sense. There’s nothing wrong with casting parents that match the children and vice versa.

Funnily enough, one of the most interesting features of this movie is the use of colour blind casting. With a Black queen (played by none other than Whoopi Goldberg), a White king and an Asian prince as their son; the casting is certainly fluid. The original aim being to enhance the film’s “universal appeal”.

Modern attempts at color blind casting, if done with enough purpose and intentionality could reflect the increase in blended and multicultural families. The world is becoming a bigger and bigger melting pot so depicting what a ‘real’ family looks like is subjective.

However, we can’t be ignorant to obvious displays of colourism. I’d love to speak to a director who can tell me where all the dark skin girls are? Are they hiding? You couldn’t even find one?

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella has a score of 86% on Rotten tomatoes. I don’t take scores from these websites too seriously but I think that’s a fair score. Better than average, not quite perfect (unless you’re asking me).

Brandy’s more notable works include starring in ‘Moesha’ in the mid 90’s where she served uncountable black hair styles and serious fashion looks. But that’s a whole ‘nother post sweetie.