Like a lot of other people, I have not really ever blogged before. I didn't mind doing it for this class as much as others may have, but that might have been due to the fact that I recently watched Julie & Julia and I love Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. This semester I realized how much I actually enjoy discussion based classes as opposed to the strict lecture format as is the case for most of my major classes. As such, I felt like this blog was an opportunity for us to continue various strains of thought as well as to bring up totally new ones. I think that sometimes it's easy to get lost in the chaos of a live class discussion, so I appreciated the open-endedness of the blog where you could say whatever you wanted to say without being interrupted.
As much as we have discussed and debated fairy tales, I still don't think we ever came up with a concrete definition as to what qualifies a story as a fairy tale. Some people would argue that it has to have magic in it, but then how do we label something as magic? Are miracles magic? Is fate? I feel like people are so inclined to see fairy tales everwhere, for example in advertising, sports, prom, romance, movies & Tv, music, etc. (case and point- T.Swift's "Today Was A Fairy Tale") I would even suggest that the fairy tale has become more of a trope itself instead of an actual genre.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
The Notre Dame Spell
So this, for me, is a makeup blog post. I know, Gretchen, you said to just comment on others so it’s not so blatantly obvious but I promise I’ll make this good and juicy so it’s worthwhile.
Has anyone ever considered the idea that Notre Dame is in itself, is very analogous to a fairy tale? It has elements of magic, has a mythical creature as its icon, a golden palace (well you might as well equate it to a palace). It’s associated with its own rise tale, the story of Rudy, and has ambiance that seems to convey the idea that anything is possible. It most certainly is associated with the idea of rags to riches, of an individual overcoming adversity and all obstacles to achieve success. Within that is some element of magic, something that is planted in the back of our minds that tells us if things are really bad, some magical force will pull us through…maybe a fairy godmother?
You have to admit there was a hint of this feeling in each and every one of us when we received that acceptance letter in the mail. And now that graduation is approaching, and we’ve spent four years here, I’m wondering: do you still feel the same? Has the feeling gone away? Has it been hidden somewhere deep inside you and is creeping back with the sentimental feelings of graduation?
Much like how we grow to realize that the Disney versions are not true to real life, for me, the fairy tale has faded. You could almost say that Anne Sexton has swooped in and rewritten it. There are still some remnants of wishes to the fairy godmother up on the dome and hoping that things don’t end when the clock on the basilica strikes twelve, but for the most part my fairy tale has now moved into the realm of a modern retelling. It is not pessimistic, but rather just realistic about the way things really are, and real life is waiting around the corner, and at the end of the day, a girl’s gotta get herself prepared for what comes after the fairy tale wedding.
Has anyone ever considered the idea that Notre Dame is in itself, is very analogous to a fairy tale? It has elements of magic, has a mythical creature as its icon, a golden palace (well you might as well equate it to a palace). It’s associated with its own rise tale, the story of Rudy, and has ambiance that seems to convey the idea that anything is possible. It most certainly is associated with the idea of rags to riches, of an individual overcoming adversity and all obstacles to achieve success. Within that is some element of magic, something that is planted in the back of our minds that tells us if things are really bad, some magical force will pull us through…maybe a fairy godmother?
You have to admit there was a hint of this feeling in each and every one of us when we received that acceptance letter in the mail. And now that graduation is approaching, and we’ve spent four years here, I’m wondering: do you still feel the same? Has the feeling gone away? Has it been hidden somewhere deep inside you and is creeping back with the sentimental feelings of graduation?
Much like how we grow to realize that the Disney versions are not true to real life, for me, the fairy tale has faded. You could almost say that Anne Sexton has swooped in and rewritten it. There are still some remnants of wishes to the fairy godmother up on the dome and hoping that things don’t end when the clock on the basilica strikes twelve, but for the most part my fairy tale has now moved into the realm of a modern retelling. It is not pessimistic, but rather just realistic about the way things really are, and real life is waiting around the corner, and at the end of the day, a girl’s gotta get herself prepared for what comes after the fairy tale wedding.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Final Blog Post!
I have to agree with Cara’s first comment – I also love blogs. When you find the right people/blogs to follow, you will encounter many thought provoking posts (and with some people on a daily basis!). I actually started a blog over the summer as a ploy to try to (one day) get my dream job as a venture capitalist (many of the best venture capitalists out there keep their own blogs and look at applicant’s blogs as part of the interview process), so this was an interesting way to be able to write about a completely different subject.
When we were first assigned this blog, I was very worried. How on earth would I be able to find fairy tales in everyday life once a week for an entire semester?! Once I started, however, it turned out this wasn’t too difficult. I enjoyed the process of trying to notice ways that fairy tales affect every day life, even though I did not see it as much as some of you. As you may have noticed, I did see it a lot in music, which surprised me. I became much more aware of the lyrics to many of the songs I listen to on a daily basis. I was surprised to see how much others noticed fairy tales affecting everyday life and this process has definitely made me more aware of how pervasive fairy tales have become. While I cannot recall any specific instances, participating in this blog has definitely made me aware of social issues arising from some of the constructs and themes that exist in fairy tales. The class (not necessarily the blog) has definitely made me more critical of fairy tales and I hope to take that critical eye with me as I leave Notre Dame.
When we were first assigned this blog, I was very worried. How on earth would I be able to find fairy tales in everyday life once a week for an entire semester?! Once I started, however, it turned out this wasn’t too difficult. I enjoyed the process of trying to notice ways that fairy tales affect every day life, even though I did not see it as much as some of you. As you may have noticed, I did see it a lot in music, which surprised me. I became much more aware of the lyrics to many of the songs I listen to on a daily basis. I was surprised to see how much others noticed fairy tales affecting everyday life and this process has definitely made me more aware of how pervasive fairy tales have become. While I cannot recall any specific instances, participating in this blog has definitely made me aware of social issues arising from some of the constructs and themes that exist in fairy tales. The class (not necessarily the blog) has definitely made me more critical of fairy tales and I hope to take that critical eye with me as I leave Notre Dame.
...
I'm definitely not a blog type of person. A friend of mine tried to get me to do a collaborative blog with her a few years ago and she has posted on it very consistently...but I only posted once and that was only because I was stuck here for the summer taking orgo and bored out of my mind. Ooops. But now that I had deadlines for posting blogs it has actually grown on me a little bit, although I still enjoy reading others posts more than writing my own.
Coming up with a topic every week was certainly a struggle at times, but it was very interesting to see all the different places that I could find fairy tale references. I knew before that fairy tales were a big part of our lives, providing us with moral guidelines when we are young. What I hadn't really thought about before was how much it influences the basic script we have in our heads for how life is supposed to work and how people should interact with each other. This definitely became very clear when I was actively looking for fairy tale references in daily life, and I frequently noticed friends saying simple things that they don't even think twice about like "My boyfriend treats me like a princess." Something else that I thought was interesting was seeing how some modern retellings of fairy tales reflected how the values in our society have changed. For example, the short film I wrote about in my first blog gave voice to a segment of society that is marginalized in traditional fairy tales; the elderly. Although our society still idolizes youth and beauty, I think that people are becoming more sensitive to the thoughts and feelings of the elderly. Disney's "The Princess and the Frog" also reflects how cultural diversity and acceptance of these different cultures is becoming more important in our society, providing the first African American princess and a prince who is racially ambiguous, coming from the fictional country of Maldonia.
Going off of cultures and fairy tales, a lot of what I got out of this blog actually came from discussing potential topics for the blog with Ga Young. While discussing things we were thinking about using as topics, we would frequently go off on random tangents and I would learn a lot about how fairy tales differ or are the same in Korean culture. In particular, I was shocked when Ga Young was easily able to identify a character in a Korean tv show as Snow White solely based on their outfit, which was the same outfit worn by Disney's Snow White. I wouldn't think this was surprising for an American that was raised on Disney. I think this really shows just how influential Disney is in terms of shaping people's general idea of fairy tales and their characters. Overall, I think that writing this blog definitely helped me to realize that fairy tales are so prevalent in daily life because they are something that everyone, no matter what place and time, can understand and relate to on some level.
Coming up with a topic every week was certainly a struggle at times, but it was very interesting to see all the different places that I could find fairy tale references. I knew before that fairy tales were a big part of our lives, providing us with moral guidelines when we are young. What I hadn't really thought about before was how much it influences the basic script we have in our heads for how life is supposed to work and how people should interact with each other. This definitely became very clear when I was actively looking for fairy tale references in daily life, and I frequently noticed friends saying simple things that they don't even think twice about like "My boyfriend treats me like a princess." Something else that I thought was interesting was seeing how some modern retellings of fairy tales reflected how the values in our society have changed. For example, the short film I wrote about in my first blog gave voice to a segment of society that is marginalized in traditional fairy tales; the elderly. Although our society still idolizes youth and beauty, I think that people are becoming more sensitive to the thoughts and feelings of the elderly. Disney's "The Princess and the Frog" also reflects how cultural diversity and acceptance of these different cultures is becoming more important in our society, providing the first African American princess and a prince who is racially ambiguous, coming from the fictional country of Maldonia.
Going off of cultures and fairy tales, a lot of what I got out of this blog actually came from discussing potential topics for the blog with Ga Young. While discussing things we were thinking about using as topics, we would frequently go off on random tangents and I would learn a lot about how fairy tales differ or are the same in Korean culture. In particular, I was shocked when Ga Young was easily able to identify a character in a Korean tv show as Snow White solely based on their outfit, which was the same outfit worn by Disney's Snow White. I wouldn't think this was surprising for an American that was raised on Disney. I think this really shows just how influential Disney is in terms of shaping people's general idea of fairy tales and their characters. Overall, I think that writing this blog definitely helped me to realize that fairy tales are so prevalent in daily life because they are something that everyone, no matter what place and time, can understand and relate to on some level.
Insert Creative Title Here
I love blogs. I’m not really into technology, but somehow, blogs completely captivate me. You can figure out in a few posts what people value and cherish, you can figure out who loves the experience of writing and sharing their work, and you can figure out who just wants to make a couple of bucks.
Blogging is also intense. There’s constant pressure to be new and entertaining while still remaining true to your core audience, the people you found you and loved you from the very first post they read. I felt a similar pressure when writing blog posts for this class. How do I write about fairy tales while still being myself? How can I make fairy tales relevant to my life?
Turns out the task wasn’t too difficult. References to fairy tales are literally everywhere. In addition, fairy tales influence some of the most important aspects of our lives: our gender identity, the expectations we have from our partner, our sexual orientation, the way dating, marriage, and “happily ever after” should be. I found myself continually discussing topics I want to explore in my future career. In addition, I found myself constantly debating whether we are a reflection of fairy tales or whether fairy tales are a reflection of ourselves. Are men and women truly so different or have we become that way because of the roles we are required to play? Isn’t the world we live in socially constructed? Didn’t we create fairy tales, and as a result, create ourselves?
In conclusion, I have truly enjoyed this aspect of the class, though, at times, I did go struggle to find a topic to blog about (fairy tale shampoo = struggle city).
Corbys?
Blogging is also intense. There’s constant pressure to be new and entertaining while still remaining true to your core audience, the people you found you and loved you from the very first post they read. I felt a similar pressure when writing blog posts for this class. How do I write about fairy tales while still being myself? How can I make fairy tales relevant to my life?
Turns out the task wasn’t too difficult. References to fairy tales are literally everywhere. In addition, fairy tales influence some of the most important aspects of our lives: our gender identity, the expectations we have from our partner, our sexual orientation, the way dating, marriage, and “happily ever after” should be. I found myself continually discussing topics I want to explore in my future career. In addition, I found myself constantly debating whether we are a reflection of fairy tales or whether fairy tales are a reflection of ourselves. Are men and women truly so different or have we become that way because of the roles we are required to play? Isn’t the world we live in socially constructed? Didn’t we create fairy tales, and as a result, create ourselves?
In conclusion, I have truly enjoyed this aspect of the class, though, at times, I did go struggle to find a topic to blog about (fairy tale shampoo = struggle city).
Corbys?
The Final Chapter
So I'm submitting my blog a bit late. Not because I forgot to submit it, but because I thought I should stick with what I've been doing the rest of the semester. This is the first experience I've ever had with blogging, but perhaps it won't be the last. I'm a fairly opinionated person, and a blog allows me to bitch and moan with nobody to argue against me.
This class has been one of the most unique I've ever taken, and as a finance major this certainly was a bit of a shakeup from my average classes. That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed our discussions, and don't feel too bad about saying that I feel as though I held my own against you Arts & Letters types. This blog has in some instances allowed us to continue debates from class, and occasionally prove one another wrong (which coincidentally is something I enjoy doing more than I probably should).
However, many times I thought the things we were relating to fairytales were stretches, to be generous. With 20 people writing about one topic weekly, this was expected. I would skim most of the posts and only read more in depth if something caught my eye because so many of the posts looked so similar. As a suggestion for the future, I believe this problem could be helped by having a "theme" for each week's posts. This could be as generic or as specific as you'd like, but it would assist in preventing post after post from talking about dresses, weddings, and big girls who can't grow up.
Overall, I think the experience was a good one, but I hesitate to say great. It really was hit or miss with each post, and I had a tendency to lose interest especially later in the semester. That being said, some posts were very well done and truthfully thought provoking.
I Hate You All...
Just kidding. This blog was my favorite part of any class this semester, though debating whether Chicago skyscrapers resemble genitalia sits in a close second (remember?). It was certainly amazing to see how fairy tales related to, well, EVERYTHING. We've seen the Democratic Party, slutty halloween costumes, video games, the NCAA tournament, and P90X. Who knew that LOST related to fairy tales? But the real reason this thing has been so great actually has little to do with princes that have their way with comatose princesses or little men who rip themselves in half at mention of their name (fairy tales, duh). This blog has been a great medium for each person in the class to have their own voice and to express themselves in whatever manner they wish.
For example, who knew Cara could get so pissed off? That was definitely one of my favorite posts of the year. Karen taught us new languages, Greg gave us our "Song of the Week", and we found out Maureen is just a little bit excited for her wedding (congrats). Whether you wanted to express political belief in a subtle way or just rage out against the prom, the opportunity was there. I attempted to compare Snow White to passing out on St. Patty's day for heaven's sake. Anything and everything was fair game, and I think that's what really made this great (thanks Gretchen for allowing everyon... er.... my nonsense).
So here we are at the end, and I don't know if I've learned anything about "gender/racial/class/national identity" from the blog, but oh hell did I have fun with it. It was honestly one of the coolest things I've ever contributed to in a class, definitely a "happily ever after" to a very interesting (2.8) academic career. Best wishes to everyone in whatever they do post-ND.
Completely unrelated (you knew it was coming), here's a slightly inappropriate video I made for another class:
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