I see a decent amount of criticism of Giselle’s dress at the ball in ENCHANTED. How, viewers say, could Giselle go from this:
To this:
and think it an improvement?
This is not the ideal choice for a gown for Amy Adams, but I also think that’s the point.
The point is that Giselle spends the first part of the movie singlemindedly trying to leave the city and get back home to her fairy tale. Her growth is when she realized that’s not enough for her any more, and she wants to commit. To put down roots. To date, to adopt the customs of this new world.
This gown isn’t intended to be a “glow up” or a “rags to riches” or “she was beautiful all along”.
Similarly, Robert is introduced to us as a sterile lawyer:
Who ALSO has a dramatic costume change at the ball:
They are DOING THE SAME THING.
Robert is trying to show Giselle he understands that her needs and dreams are not only valid but correct – here he is dancing! In a period suit!
Giselle is trying to show Robert that she can adjust and compromise without losing herself! His world matters too! Here she is in a modern gown!
And neither of them are supposed to stay in those costumes – they’re both costumes. How does the movie end?
In outfits that are casual, maybe, but colorful and indicative of themselves. They’ve met in the middle, but become more themselves. She’s more dignified and he’s more lively.
To whine about Giselle’s ball gown is to miss that that is the critical moment, almost an O. Henry situation, where the two lovers reach so far to each other that they end up changing places.
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