I really am so tired of people calling Cinder’s backstory boring and unimaginative. I guess one could argue that it was unimaginative, but the Cinderella story has been told since the time of the ancient Egyptians. While they definitely could’ve done more to make more creative, it’s pretty hard to revolutionize a tale that is basically 2,000 years old with hundreds, if not thousands of iterations all being the ultimate “rags to riches” story. A simple tale of a young woman who is deemed worthless gets the chance to finally be something else than a housemaid.
I get that we’ve waited years for Cinder’s backstory, but to call it pointless because it didn’t blow you away is very disrespectful to not only the people who did enjoy it, but the writers as well.
Could it have deviated more from the original source material? Absolutely. However, much like the other characters’ inspirations, they haven’t met the same end. For example, Ruby has yet to be eaten by a wolf, Weiss hasn’t been poisoned, and Yang isn’t running away from 3 bears. For Cinder, she is the Cinderella who couldn’t put up with the abuse any longer. Cinderella is often portrayed as a pure hearted person who endures all of her hardships no matter how difficult it became for her. What Cinder and Cinderella for sure have in common is that in the beginning their suffering continued without any end in sight. When their chance to get what they want was within arm’s reach, her cruel step-family stepped in to ruin that dream.
Also keep in mind that most iterations of Cinderella are usually older than Cinder was. They also have the patience of saints, this in turn makes Cinder’s struggle more understandable and gives it a sense of realism. Simply calling Cinder’s backstory “Edgy Cinderella” wouldn’t be the most accurate summation. Cinder is a child, a child who was pushed around and abused at an early age. Treated like trash for no reason other than existing.
She’s always in the wrong for protecting herself, even when she’s (somewhat) justified.
From Cinder’s perspective, she must be constantly asking herself why must she suffer? Why does no one love or care about her? And most importantly, Why is she not worth it? Unfortunately, due to Rhodes not understanding the severity of what Cinder was going through, the only conclusion she can come to is “You just aren’t worth it”.
And ever since she snapped and killed people who have done nothing but torment her for the last 4-6 years, all it did was reinforce this answer as Rhodes basically told her she’s no longer worth anything.
They are worth protecting. But you
No. You have to take it like a good law abiding citizen.
What a great lesson, right? Expecting Cinder to shrug it off just wasn’t happening.
To me, Cinder’s backstory, while not the most creative, is probably the most dark and tragic so far (beat only by Ozpin and Salem’s backstory) as Cinder basically had no chance and had every little bit of hope crushed into dust. One of RWBY’s core story elements is finding hope when there is none. In my opinion, the villains who really emphasize the opposite the most is Hazel and Cinder. Both had what little hope they had demolished before their eyes, because of that despair they fell into darkness. The heroes are the opposite, no matter how impossible their task seems, they still try to find a way to find hope. Another core story element is fear and what it does to people. Cinder is still scared of something, whether or not she’s letting that fear control her is up for debate.
Just writing off Cinder’s backstory as just edgy Cinderella or say she was just always angry is a little lazy to me. Calling it unimaginative tells me you didn’t care to look any deeper than what we got on the surface. There are so many other posts on Tumblr, Reddit, and Twitter that go even deeper into it than I have. Honestly, the people who say that about Cinder’s backstory are being extremely cynical. It tells me you weren’t that interested in Cinder to begin with and you just don’t want to care. I can understand expecting more or feeling it was too short, or maybe it didn’t deviate far enough from basic ass Cinderella.
Or maybe I’m the dumbass for trying to read too deep into this, who knows?
If you genuinely didn’t like Cinder’s backstory, that is fine, I have no ill will towards you.
