A Cinderella Story is a romantic comedy released in 2004. It was panned by critics, but did well at the box office, and is now considered a cult classic.

Sam Montgomery (Hilary Duff) lives with her cruel stepmother and stepsisters after her father’s death. She works at her father’s diner as a waitress, which makes her a target for bullies at school. Sam finds solace and company in online chats with a boy calling himself “Nomad.” Unbeknownst to Sam, Nomad is actually Austin Ames (Chad Michael Murray), the most popular boy in school. They both talk about their dreams of attending Princeton together and being free from their controlling parents.

During the Halloween masquerade dance at the school, Austin and Sam meet in person. Austin reveals who he is, but before Sam can do the same, midnight approaches. In her hurry to return to her shift at the diner, she drops her phone. Austin grabs it and becomes determined to find his anonymous princess. 

After some snooping, Sam’s stepsisters (Madeline Zima and Andrea Avery) discover that Sam was Cinderella at the party. They decide to team up with Austin’s ex, head cheerleader Shelby (Julie Gonzalo) to out Sam as Cinderella and embarrass both her and Austin.

Here’s how it went.

I have a major question about this scenario. How exactly was this meant to humiliate Sam to the point where she left in tears? 

I can understand Sam feeling embarrassed at having her private messages being read by anyone else, let alone her bratty, catty stepsisters or the school’s alpha bitch. But, what was revealed to all the students was pretty tame. “I want to let you know who I am, but I’m scared you’ll reject me” is honestly a reasonable thing to say. Sam didn’t know who she was speaking with. Nomad could have been one of the guys that picked on her, which narrowed the options down to almost the whole male student body. “I’ve never kissed a boy before,” while a little embarrassing, is still a reasonable thing to say. The characters are in high school and dating is treated like the be-all-end-all, but lots of people don’t get their first kiss while they are in high school. Shit, lots of people don’t get their first kiss until college or later. (Ahem.) 

Aside from those two nuggets of information, the only thing that was done to Sam was Shelby reaffirming what everyone at school already knew; that Sam worked in her family’s diner. It’s not a glamorous job, nor does it pay well. But, still, it’s a job. A job she needs so she can pay for her fucking college classes. Austin had an equally unglamorous job working at his dad’s car wash, and no one made fun of him.

But, what really confuses me was the part with the giant pie. Sam wasn’t fumbling around on the roller skates, nor did she fall into the pie. It was all stepsister Gabriella. The people at the pep rally laughed at Gabriella for about 2 seconds. But, when everyone started chanting “Diner Girl!,” Gabriella gets right back up, whipped cream all over her face and chest, and joins the chanting. Everyone else is focusing completely on Sam, who’s just standing at the back. I guess picking on someone with a job is funnier than the girl that just showed you her fucking bloomers and faceplanted into a pie?

If anyone should have been running off in tears during this pep rally, it should have been Austin.

Austin was definitely embarrassed for a few reasons. First, this revealed that he didn’t want to go along with his dad’s college plans for him; something he was NOT ready to talk about. Then, the skit revealed that he was emotionally cheating on his girlfriend at the time. Granted, Shelby was a massive bitch and Austin had his foot out the door. But, he started flirting with “PrincetonGirl” over chat and text before actually breaking up with Shelby. Lastly, Austin didn’t have the best interactions with Sam prior to this. He was civil to her, but he didn’t tell any of his football buddies or their cheerleader girlfriends to stop messing with Sam. It doesn’t seem like Sam suspected Austin was the one to leak their emails, considering how surprised he looked when he heard Sam’s name. But, he still didn’t stand up and say anything during the skit or the chanting. Knowing that the girl you fell in love with is “Diner Girl,” not standing up for her or yourself, and inadvertently affirming to her that you’re just as phony as she feared has to mess you up. 

This part of the movie always confuses me when I see it. Having your private texts being read aloud is embarrassing, sure. Having someone you deeply care about not step up to defend you is definitely painful. But, what essentially happened was everyone got reminded that Sam worked in a diner and didn’t have a boyfriend before, followed by her stepsister falling into a giant pie. This could easily be one of those “the school gets over it in a few days” scenarios, but it gets treated like the end of the world.