Cruellas Real Meaning Explains Why Its Set In 1970s England
Cruella’s Real Meaning Explains Why It’s Set In 1970s England
Cruella may have started as the origin story a Disney villain, but it’s actually a movie about class warfare set during the 1970s punk movement.
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Cruella may have been conceived as the origin story for one of Disney’s most notorious villains, but in execution, it becomes a movie about class warfare. Set in 1970s London, the movie embraces Britain’s obsession with social status. Class is a major theme in the film as the impoverished and unpolished Cruella goes up against the Baroness, a member of the English peerage.
From the start, Cruella sets up a conflict between the rich and the poor. Estella, a.k.a. Cruella, is treated like the illegitimate daughter of the Baroness. Scared of the rival Cruella could one day become, the Baroness tried to dispose of the girl, preventing any future challenge to her fame and fortune. Although Cruella has a rightful claim to nobility, she’s raised in hardship by her adoptive mother, Catherine, a former servant. When Catherine comes to the Baroness for financial help, she’s killed. The scene itself even sets up a visual contrast between the rich and the poor. As Catherine and the Baroness quietly fight in the shadow of a glittering party, the Baroness tries to avoid the shame of publicly acknowledging her daughter.
Following the violent confrontation, Cruella runs off to London, where she’s forced to live on the street and commit crimes to survive. Cruella quickly becomes one of the millions of lower-class Londoners disdained by the city’s wealthy businessmen and socialites. Her frustration with Britain’s class system starts when she’s hired at luxury department store, Liberty’s, where her aspirations of becoming a famous fashion designer are quickly crushed. Rather than attempting to “make it” by following the rules of a rigged system, Cruella decides to tear the system down, thus nailing down the movie’s class warfare undertones. Her drunken vandalism of Liberty’s front window display is her first act of war in what eventually becomes a campaign against the Baroness, an eminently upper-class fashionista. With her sleek sheath gowns and elitist attitude, the Baroness embodies the upper echelons of British society. The Baroness is a member of an exclusive club that you have to be born into, and no matter how much hard work Cruella does, she’ll never become the woman’s equal.
Instead, Cruella embraces being a rule-breaker, claiming the anti-establishment attitude of a punk rocker. Like the punk icons of the 1970s, Cruella engages in illegal behavior, planning splashy publicity stunts and throwing underground concerts. She recruits Artie from a used clothing store and does most of her work out of an abandoned warehouse. Since Cruella can’t get an invitation to display her work at fashion shows, she decides to crash the party. It’s only when she decides to rebel that she is able to gain power and become a true rival of the Baroness.
Even the fashion in Cruella represents the class disparities as each one of Cruella’s designs reflects her economic means. Instead of using expensive fabrics or custom-made materials like the Baroness, Cruella makes her dresses out of newspaper, used fabrics, and whatever else she can get her hands on. One memorable moment has Cruella turn a pile of garbage into haute couture. At one point, the Baroness even references the class difference, saying of her stolen design: “It’s a ludicrously expensive dress, Cruella could never afford to make it.” Of course, per her pattern, Cruella destroys the dress and the rest of the Baroness’ spring line.
In the end, Cruella is actually about the title character’s quest for revenge — not only revenge against the Baroness personally, but revenge against the class system that cast Cruella aside. In the battle against the Baroness, who has wealth and social influence, Cruella’s weapons are public image and popularity. Cruella turns the Baroness’ traditional designs and obedience to social norms into weights that drag her down. Since Cruella can’t win in the Baroness’ world, she creates her own world where the strengths of the nobility turn into weaknesses.
More: Cruella Continues The Worst Disney Parents Tradition
Jasmine Gallup is a writer for ScreenRant, covering fantasy, science fiction and superheroes. She’s worked as a freelance reporter since 2018. By day, Jasmine writes for a small North Carolina newspaper near her hometown of Cary. By night, she explores the depths of film and television alongside her twin sister.
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