The various elements of characters, values, gender roles, and symbolism from the story Cinderella are recycled or reused to the film Miss Congeniality to express a profound change in the contemporary role of women. In Jack Zipes' translation of Cinderella, the female characters possess different characteristics and personalities, which, in contrast, all gravitate towards the concept that male dependency is desirable. The director of Miss Congeniality, Donald Petrie, uses these characteristics and transforms them to convey the idea of female independency using the intimidating character of FBI agent Gracie Hart. These elements are recycled to Miss Congeniality, not only to display similar ideas from Cinderella, but to provide the idea that women are independent and self-reliant individuals.

Symbolism is an apparent reused element in Miss Congeniality. When Cinderella plants the twig on her mother's grave, it quickly becomes a beautiful tree in which a little white bird appears...