@QueenBoadicea

1 year ago

It sounds like they left out a lot of the book material that would explain why Sophie is sent to the School for Evil. In the original novel, she's really rather selfish behind her sugary sweet facade. She doesn't have an evil stepmother. Her widowed father is dating again and she bitterly resents his taking any attention off her to be with another woman. This other woman is actually a decent person, warm and loving, but Sophie doesn't care about that. She doesn't want anything to get in the way of her life with Daddy, thank you very much. She sleeps for nine hours and has an exhaustive beauty regime that takes several hours a day. You see, two children get kidnapped every year, taken away to this mysterious school, where they will be chosen to fulfill their parts in fairy tales. Will they be good or evil? They won't know until after they're "chosen". Parents fear the loss of their children but Sophie is actually looking forward to being taken. She thinks she's princess material. How can she not be? She's pretty, sweet and adorable. However, she cherishes the malicious delight in showing her father just how great she'll be once she becomes a princess. She'll have fabulous dresses, lovely shoes and a prince for a husband. That'll teach him. Her father isn't mean to her at all. But Sophie thinks he actually wanted a son. That's nowhere indicated in the book; it's just another of her delusions, I suppose. She gives her father disgusting vegan food to eat and turns her up nose at his wistful desire for muffins. She doesn't do this just to keep him healthy. She thinks this shows what a stellar personality she has, looking out for daddy's health and not giving him food that might make him fat. What a good person she is! She offers muffins to Agatha who initially refuses because she knows how dreadful Sophie's baking is. Sophie lies to her and tells her that she's offering delicious treats. Imagine Agatha's misery when she realizes Sophie has deceived her and it's just more health muffin garbage (probably bran). It's these selfish motivations behind her seemingly good actions that condemn Sophie. Agatha, on the other hand, is actually a decent human being. She proves to have the smarts, loyalty, decency, compassion and kindness you glimpse in her from her first appearance. Sophie demonstrates time and again that she is deceitful, lying, treacherous, conceited, vengeful, manipulative and a poor friend. Agatha embodies Good while Sophie finds, to her horror, that it is she who seems to be Evil. If all this nuance is left out of the movie, no wonder it makes no sense.

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