Sara Evans - Suds in the Bucket

This may be sort of a stretch, but I completely forgot to write my blog (sorry Gretchen! Please have mercy!) and have been working on a huge assignment for the last 8 hours (and listening to music the whole time..). As I was working on that assignment, I heard Sara Evans’ song “Suds in the Bucket.” The song begins:

“She was in the backyard, say it was a little past nine,
When her prince pulled up, a white pickup truck.”

She goes off with him to Vegas to get married, when:

“She left the suds in the bucket
Ant the clothes hangin’ out on the line.”

When I hear this song, I imagine the “prince” to be the quintessential redneck, driving a rusty old white pickup truck instead of the typical white horse and shining armor. It is interesting to me that Sara Evans seems to be saying that not every girl needs the stereotypical prince to be happy. This “grounded girl” is apparently very happy with her “prince” and his pickup truck. Sara Evans also says “you can’t fence time and you can’t stop love,” furthering this point. Anyone can love anyone. They do not need to be of the same class or nobility, the just need love. I know that I believe that love can be found anywhere – you just need similar beliefs and some sort of common interests that bond you together – and this song seems (to me at least) to be reinforcing that. I know that this is a sort of idealistic view of love, so I wonder what anyone else thinks?

Here's the music video:

Twilight a fairy tale?

On Monday, I watched the movie Twilight in a screening for my film class. I picked up many things that I had forgotten since my original viewing of the film. These realizations included the less-than-oscar-worthy performance of the leads, despite this poor acting I had somehow still managed to fall for Edward Cullen, and the interesting gender roles played by Bella and Edward. Then something occurred to me: is Twilight a fairy tale? It seems to incorporate many structural necessities of a fairy tale: magical interventions, mythical creatures, and a love story (not that all fairy tales include a love story). Something that was strikingly obvious to me was that the roles played by Bella and Edward paralleled those played by typical princes and princesses in well-known fairy tales. Edward acts as the assertive, strong protector, and Bella assumes the passive female role. Edward, her prince, frequently saves her from danger, and she passively awaits his coming in various scenarios.
However, others have different opinions. A blogger responded on wikiAnswers: “Twilight can’t be a fairy tale. First, it’s too long. Second, it’s not for children (you know, the ones fairy tales are written for?) Thirdly, it’s the most God-awful series on the planet.” Some of these claims may be more truthful than others, however, I thought this nicely showed some of the stereotypes about fairy tales out there that still exist. Others have argued that Twilight represents a type of restoration tale, as Edward and Bella both better themselves through their relationship with the other. Some have taken it to even higher extremes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AikiLAzMMIM

I’m not completely sure where I stand, but I do appreciate it at least for functioning as an entertaining work of vampire fiction.

Are You a "Princess Maker?"

Have any of you ever heard of a computer game called “Princess Maker?” As most of you are aware, the animation and game market is huge in Asia, and growing up I was exposed to a variety of computer and video games, especially due to geographical and cultural similarities to Japan where the game industry is largely based. Like in the states, first person shooter games such as Halo and Sudden Attack were obviously very popular, but real time strategy games including Starcraft, gained immense popularity in Korea, and so did a bunch of games of different kinds. One of the genres that became really big in the late 90s was Role playing games (RPG), and Princess Maker was a revolutionary RPG that people of my generation loved regardless of gender and age.

So the basic idea of this game is that you, the player, are the patron of a young, female character, and the goal is to help the child reach her adulthood to become the princess of the country. There are many different factors that come into play in becoming the princess, but basically you have to get the child a good education, make her compete in the pageant (miss kingdom contest, etc.), and raise her properly to become a lady-like female who is fit to become the princess.

Princess Maker was so popular that it had four sequels following its original release in the early 90s, and each version has a different main character, story plot, and paths that lead to the successful ending. The one I played the most was the third version named “Princes Maker~Fairy Tales Come True~,” and it actually is the only one that has a subtitle other than just a numeric symbol indicating the sequence of release.

In this version, the main character is a fairy who wants to become a human princess, and just like other versions of the game, your job as the player is to help her dream come true. There are courses and jobs available for the fairy, and everything you do (meaning, everything you choose for her to do and how you treat her) affects the little fairy’s health, intelligence, attitude, social status, and most importantly, her future. The game offers a variety of endings that corresponds to the fairy status ranging from a prostitute, gambler, or criminal to a princess, hero, or prime minister.

There are many factors that made this game so appealing to different groups of people in Japan or Korea, but I think of one of the reasons was that it allowed people to project their fairy tale fantasies to the main character. Not surprisingly, Princess Maker attracted many young females who were formerly not the main target consumers for video games, and by raising the game character to become a princess, girls can vicariously experience and fulfill their subconscious fantasy. It may sound a bit odd to say that the game was also quite popular among the male gamers, but I think this game might have stimulated the male sense of duty to seek out and help guide the female character to become a princess. Another guess is that the young, pretty character brought out their fatherly senses, especially since in most versions of the game the patron is specifically called “father” by the game character.

SyFy Tackles Fairy Tales

In February, SyFy announced that they are producing a series of movies that are based on fairy tales. Thomas Vitale, an official at SyFy, said, "It's exciting to take a treasured brand and put our own sideways spin on it. By turning familiar timeless stories inside out, we're creating an entertaining new genre for our popular Saturday night movie franchise." But from what I’ve read about the first movie, “Beauty and the Beast: A Dark Tale,” it really doesn’t seem that different from previous versions of the tale. There is a prince who has been cursed and beautiful girl who is not repulsed by his beastly appearance. But the refreshing thing about this version of the story is that it sounds like Beauty has a much more active role. Not only does she help the prince break the curse, but also to stop an evil nobleman from taking his throne AND taking on the evil witch that put him under the curse in the first place. This version of the story is definitely aimed at adults though, with lots of violence and sexuality.

SyFy's next fairy tale project will be called “Red” and will be based on "Little Red Riding Hood." The protagonist of this story, Red, is the descendant of the actual Little Red Riding Hood and her family hunts werewolves. A werewolf bites Red’s fiancé and her family insists that they must kill him, but Red attempts to save him. Again, this doesn’t seem that different from some of the versions of “Little Red Riding Hood” that we have read, specifically those by Angela Carter.

So far, SyFy plans to make three other movies based on fairy tales: “Aladdin,” “The 8^th Voyage of Sinbad,” and “Hansel.” I personally think that “Hansel” sounds the most interesting and unique. It takes place twenty years after Hansel escaped from the witch. Apparently in this version of the story, Hansel and Gretel did not kill the witch. So Hansel returns to the forest to take revenge on her only to find that Gretel, who he thought was dead, has become her apprentice.

Even though these versions of the fairy tales don’t sound that different from some of the ones we have read in class, they are very different from the typical Disney versions that the general public is used to. Perhaps SyFy producing these darker and more mature versions of the tales will help to break the “Disney Spell” and make people realize that there are other versions of these stories.

Seriously, what the %$&@.

Let me preface this post by noting that I have no intention of getting married any time soon. I enjoy watching bridal shows and occasionally flipping through wedding magazines, but I do NOT want to get married until I am at least 30 (I’m 21 now). Also, this is not because I think getting married early is stupid, a poor life choice, etc. Personally, I just don’t want to be married for another nine years.

With that being said, I had a moment this weekend that scared the crap outta me. I was at the Backer on Saturday night. For those of you who haven’t been to the Backer, read Bob Kessler extremely accurate description of the Backer here: http://www.thingsnotredamestudentslike.com/2009/06/26-either-loving-or-hating-backer.html. If you’re too lazy to copy and paste, Kessler, though an ardent supporter of the Backer, describes the contents on the floor as “5 parts beer, 3 parts sweat, 3 parts mud, 1 part vomit, and a dash of semen.” Basically, the Backer is the vilest bar in South Bend. The point of this whole digression was to explain that the Backer is the least romantic place in my opinion. Nonetheless, some people were having a bachelorette/engagement party on Saturday night. They brought along a bridal veil, and at some point in their drunken, sweaty debauchery, they left the veil on the counter. At this point, I thought the veil was perfectly harmless. However, I sound found out this was not the case.

After some time, my friends and I tried on the veil. I’m struggling to find the right words to describe how trying on the veil made me feel mainly because it made me feel like a princess and that makes me feel like a pathetic loser that buys into Disney’s garbage. To be completely honest, when I tried on the veil, I felt beautiful, magical, and powerful. I truly felt the strongest urge to get married, walk down the aisle, and have the whole world (e.g. my wedding guests) enjoy my extravagant fairy tale day. At that moment, the ONLY thing I wanted to do was get married. Seriously, what the %$&#?! How is it possible that a simple veil can literally shit on my plans regarding marriage? How is it possible that a silly game of trying on a veil can scare me into questioning whether I really want to wait until I am 30 to get married? How is it possible that a piece of fabric can change how I view myself? And, I know that sounds dramatic, but I truly feel like I'm having an existential crisis.

I never understood Bridezillas until I tried on that veil. I get it now. The wedding industry, fairy tales, matchmaking websites, etc. have truly permeated our subconscious and transformed us into people that are nearly unrecognizable to who we thought we were. As someone who is more realistic than optimistic, who has only once bought a Disney product (a Kermit the Frog shopping bag for my mom), who has no intention of getting married early, who does not want a huge fairy tale wedding, who believes relationships are built on communication and commitment, not solely undying passion and love at first sight, I got caught up in how magical my life would be if I could just get married and wear that beautiful white veil.

Seriously, what the %$&@.

Happily Ever After

This week, my roommate Erin and I discovered that "happily ever after" does exist in real life. Upon returning from a road trip with her team, Erin sat me down in front of Youtube to show me the most incredible happy ending I've ever witnessed. The best part of the whole story is that it is not a fairy tale, but rather it is a true story.

First Erin asked me if I've heard of Christian, the Lion. I responded that I knew there was a book entitled thusly, but that I was unfamiliar with the story. She warned me to prepare myself for an emotional story of true love and friendship, and I was expecting some version of The Lion King to appear on my screen. Instead I witnessed the short story of a relationship between two men and a lion cub, set to Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You." Before I go any further, watch the video...

Now that you're in tears over seeing this wild animal and his wild animal wife cuddle with these two full-grown men, I'd like to say a few more words about how this is a "happily ever after."

First, Rendall and Bourke, Christian's saviors, rescued him from Harrods department store. The lion was sold to the establishment from a zoo (can't figure out how that happened) and made quite a nuisance of himself by escaping regularly and chewing on merchandise. Although Rendall and Bourke introduced Christian to life outside of his cage, they realized within a year that the meager space and exercise that they could provide the lion was simply not enough for him to live a full life. With the help of Adamson, a conservationalist, the two men were able to release Christian back into the wild, and later relocate him.

Most of us would expect Christian's instincts to have fully taken over his psyche in a year's time, and yet we were all surprised (and moved, thanks in part to Whitney) when Christian not only recognized Rendall and Bourke, but also literally cuddled with them. It was like Christian was thanking his saviors for giving him the means to live a normal, lion's life, and the men were glad that their sacrifice (saying goodbye to their friend, Christian) resulted in him successfully leading a pride. Christian and his pride lived happily ever after on the savannah in Africa, and Rendall and Bourke lived happily ever after knowing that they saved a life.

Escapism

I heard something in class last week that really made me think. I forget who said it, but the statement was something to the order of, "if I want to hear about sad things, I'll turn on the news." (It was put more eloquently, but I can't remember the exact wording...that was the gist of the comment.)

Since I can remember, I have had the same philosophy. Maybe it's because my mom was diagnosed with cancer and died when I was 14. Maybe losing both grandfathers, multiple aunts and uncles, and dealing with so many family members battling cancer has given me a bleak outlook on life. I grew up fast, I've dealt with a lot of stress and responsibility, and I still have a strong, nagging feeling of guilt when I think about moving away from home and leaving my father and siblings alone.

So, when I sit down to watch a movie, I want my damn happy ending. I'm not ignorant, I know life doesn't work out that way all the time. But I want a break. I want to see things work out and have a happy moment at the end of a movie when the family reunites, the couple gets back together, someone gets home safe, or the protagonist wins. I want to walk away feeling recharged and content, even if it is short-lived.

I don't want anyone to think I'm looking for pity or being a martyr or anything like that. I'm not. I enjoy life, I love my family and friends, and I have big aspirations. But I've learned the hard way that you can be blindsided by bad things. I think knowing this makes you all the more aware of how great life is, and how much you should live life to the fullest. At the same time, I don't want to read or watch things that are negative, depressing, violent, etc. I don't need it, because I'm looking to be happy.

Basically, I think "escaping" into a movie or a book that has a fairy tale happy ending really isn't a bad thing at all. Obviously not everyone will agree with me, but I don't find any harm in escapism. I have a firm grasp on reality and I'm not living in a fantasy world; I'd just rather read something with an uplifting ending than some dark, "thought-provoking" story that brings me down with a "realistic" ending. Life is realistic enough, I don't need an author to tell me what's real.

Fairy Tales and Self-Image

This is an excerpt from a recent paper I wrote that compares Disney's The Princess and the Frog to other princess films in the Disney tradition. This section deals specifically with ideas on the effects of the "White privileging" of fairytales on multicultural children as described by Dorothy Hurley in her article "Seeing White: Children of Color and the Disney Fairy Tale Princess."

"The simple fact that Tiana is the first African-American princess has stirred a great deal of controversy. While some advocate and approve the increase in Disney princess racial diversity, others still criticize Disney for a variety of issues, such as the fact that it took nearly 75 years for the incorporation of an African American princess into the Disney tradition. Dorothy Hurley’s article “Seeing White: Children of Color and the Disney Fairy Tale Princess” speaks to the concern that images of predominantly white heroes and heroines negatively impacts the feelings of self-worth of non-white children. Hurley writes that “children, if they are to develop a positive self-image, need to ‘see’ themselves or their images in texts.” She explains that because of the extreme dominance of Disney fairytale films children have come to believe the Disney version of a fairytale is the real one as opposed to those told by Perrault, Grimm, or Andersen. According to Hurley the Disney ideal privileges “whiteness,” and as a result non-white children associate goodness and beauty with being white. The negative impact on young non-white children is that they develop feelings of “social worthlessness” because they do not recognize themselves in the “good” white protagonists offered by Disney fairytales and because they lack positive models with which they can associate themselves. Hurley suggests that the remedy to the lack of positive self-image in all children is for writers to “retell classic tales” that would feature positive descriptions through visual and written texts of characters of color with whom children outside the white realm could identify.
The Princess and the Frog works to eliminate the equation of whiteness with goodness by casting non-white, specifically African-American, protagonists. Tiana as the story’s heroine is still beautiful but she is also smart, dedicated, and extremely hardworking. Her motivation is not romance or fantasy but a very realistic goal of working hard to earn enough money to buy her restaurant. Not only is she a strong female role model for her perseverance for African-American girls, but her redeeming qualities cross racial lines and she also serves as an exemplar for all girls with a dream they must work hard to achieve. One could even argue that she is a more realistic role model than most of the white princesses who remain passive in their dreams instead of taking action to accomplish them as Tiana does. Tiana’s African-American background speaks to cultural aspirations for an increase in racial equality and representation, which is certainly a modern development since the naissance of Disney princess culture. Critics like Hurley may find solace in the notion that non-white children are gaining more positive examples from which they can draw inspiration they could not have previously with all-white protagonists."

Disney Movies

Within the last month or two, I have noticed an interesting change in my friends. I live in a house with five other girls, and between the six of us, we have a LOT of Disney movies. Some are ones we have had since we were kids (yes, we have a VCR player), some are part of a Disney-themed room four of the girls had sophomore year, and some are ones we've just bought recently. Regardless, we have quite a lot between all of us. Most of the time, when we choose to watch a movie, or someone stops by to borrow one, the usual chick-flicks or action-adventure movies are picked out, but within the last month or two, I have noticed an increased desire to watch Disney movies from my friends. One girl is systematically working through all of the ones we own with her boyfriend (whether against his will or not I don't know) and other girls come over saying that they were really in the mood for "something Disney".

Where has this sudden yearning for all things Disney come from? Is it merely coincidence, or does it have something to do with the fact that, in less than two months, we'll be thrust out into the unfriendly world on our own, forced to deal with life's harsh realities of bills, student loans, and making ends meet without our parents holding our hands? I think this change is quite relevant. As we are all figuring out what to do with the rest of our lives and how we're going to do it, I think we're struggling with the idea of "growing up" and leaving our childhood behind. Of course, in moments of crisis about life, it's nice to regress a little and feel like you're a kid again. In our society, the easiest way to feel like a kid is through the magical world of Disney, and I think that is what everyone has been doing. Obviously everyone is under pressure from parents, friends, and professors to know what their plans are, and I have had many tell me that the next person to ask them "So, what are you doing next year?" will be beheaded, so everyone needs a little escapism right now.

The element of escapism or unrealism present in Disney movies is one of their critics' biggest problems. However, my question is, what's wrong with a little escapism? Many will speak of how Disney portrays relationships, gender roles, and elements of fantasy in a completely unrealistic, and therefore unhealthy, way. While I see that some aspects of the films (especially the gender roles) can be detrimental to a child's self-perception, I think that there is nothing wrong with wanting to watch something that is pretty, mindless, and happy once in awhile, or wanting to watch something in which a conflict is resolved in 90 minutes or less. No, fairy tales aren't like real life, and that is just the point. They aren't supposed to be. And sometimes, when things get too overwhelming and "life-like", everyone could use a little escape.

Maleficent

While looking for something to write about this week I came across an article about Maleficent, a new live-action Disney movie spin-off of Sleeping Beauty. There has been talk about the movie being directed by Tim Burton after the success of Alice in Wonderland and of Angelina Jolie playing the title character.

After reading and discussing Coover’s Stepmother this seemed especially interesting to me because the movie would tell the Sleeping Beauty story from the perspective of Maleficent, the villain in the story. This goes along with what was mentioned in class about the book of fairy tales that included retellings from the perspective of the stepmothers in Disney world. Someone mentioned that this book, like Coover’s, had made the stepmothers seem less evil and cruel, and more like concerned parents.

This article mentioned how Maleficent is one of Disney’s darker and more evil villains, and it left me wondering how they would approach the story. Maleficent is also, in my opinion, one of the more mysterious Disney villains, and so there are a lot of different ways that her story could go. Would they retell the story leaving maleficent evil, or would they take the approach that Coover took in his story and provide justification for the evil deeds that she does commit?

I think that it is very interesting that movies are now following the model set out by oral and written stories which involve retellings from many people and different points of view. Each new director and writer offers his or her own unique perspective on the same story, just like each narrator and author did. Changing the focus within the story, from the hero to the villain, has been a more recent development, but it has already been explored in writing. After the success of Alice in Wonderland, which put a new spin on a familiar tale and focused a little more on the peripheral characters including the evil ones, it is not surprising that Disney wants to move forward with more similar projects.

Lucy Harris Smart Smart Smart

To begin my blog post, I wanted to give a little insight into how I do the blogging assignment. Every week, I type a fairy tales related term into Google News and see what comes up. Most of the time, this scientific method produces results that are relatively to moderately hilarious. This week was no exception. As the South Park aficionados in the audience know, the title of my post is a reference to the now infamous Mormon episode. Anyways, the very officially titled Dieter Uchtdorf, who holds the office of the Second Counselor in the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, gave a speech as part of the General Young Women Meeting (which somehow seems grammatically incorrect but I digress). Anyway, in this meeting, Dieter addressed how super awesome he thought the words "Once upon a time" truly were.
These words "promise something: a story of adventure and romance, a story of princesses and princes. It may include tales of courage, hope and everlasting love. In many of these stories, nice overcomes mean and good overcomes evil. But perhaps most of all, I love it when we turn to the last page and our eyes reach the final lines, and we see the enchanting words 'and they lived happily ever after."
He also goes on to say:
"In that story, the main character may be a princess or a peasant; she might be a mermaid or a milk maid, a ruler or a servant," he said. "You will find one thing all have in common — they must overcome adversity."
Sandwiched between their "once upon a time" and "happily ever after," they experienced hard times, he said.
"Why must all experience sadness and tragedy? Why could we not simply live in bliss and peace, each day filled with wonder, joy and love?" President Uchtdorf asked. "In stories, as in life, adversity teaches us things we cannot learn otherwise. Adversity helps to develop a depth of character that comes in no other way.
"It is your reaction to adversity, not the adversity itself that determines how your life's story will develop."
In closing, President Uchtdorf promised that "happily ever after" is not something just found in fairy tales.

Sorry to make this so quotation heavy but I wanted to put the story in proper context because we all know that no one is going to actually read the story. (http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700020052/General-Young-Women-Meeting-Overcoming-adversity-key-to-happily-ever-after-says-President-Uchtdorf.html?pg=1) Of all the things that I have read in the recent past, this is certainly the most naive. First off, while not only unrealistic, Dieter's comments rhetorical question about why we can't live in a utopian world is literally one of the dumbest things I have ever heard anyone say. Yes, happily ever after is something just found in fairy tales and it is not always even found there. Having read some fairy tales and done even a semblance of literary analysis would have made this idiot release that the very virtues he champions are often wholly lacking in this idyllic world he addresses. Though we have talked about it many times, Cinderella is raped...there is no happily ever after after that, and I don't care what anyone says. To take a postmodern slant on it, people use these words and conjure up these ideas without any semblance of what they are saying or even the meaning conveyed by these ideas. Some fairy tales are happily ever after. A lot aren't. Disney pandered to his audience. That doesn't mean all fairy tales are emblematic of this perfect world. The sign and the signified have become wholly detached from one another because of people who don't think about what they say or do. One of the speakers even goes on to say that each young woman should "see yourself as our Heavenly Father sees you. … You were born to be a queen." First off, what the fugue does that even mean? Absolutely nothing. It is empty words. Maybe every girl doesn't want to be a queen. And they shouldn't necessarily want to. I guess in essence what I am trying to see is for the love of all things holy, think about what you are saying before you say it. Also to end cap my rant here is a portion of the "All About the Mormons" episode of South Park. Both unfortunately and fortunately, it's in German. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvaTLs3XYZQ

The Lookingglass Theatre - Arabian Nights

Over the summer, I was in Chicago for a few days, and decided to go see Arabian Nights at the Lookingglass Theater downtown. I only recall this because I have since received numerous mailings from them asking that I support their cause and donate to the Theater. Unfortunately, I am in no financial shape to be able to donate money to their cause, but it doesn't mean I can't give a shout out for their performance.
For those of you who have never been to the Lookingglass Theater, it is actually quite small, probably only sitting about 100 people total, and is located in the old Chicago Water Works...not exactly what you normally picture a theater being. Inside there is one small, square stage, with all the props for ALL the scenes already laid out, but covered with various blankets. It certainly appears pretty bootleg at first sight. There are only about 8 performers in the whole play, and several played multiple roles throughout the evening. However, once the production begins, it truly is a great performance. Many of the aspects that initially made Arabian Nights so controversial in Europe, such as the sex, language, violence, etc. are still incorporated. Yet, in a manner typical of many plays today, the performers expertly make light of them, several times even directly addressing the audience and mocking some of the more absurd elements. The performance has aspects that are absolutely hilarious, dead serious, and everywhere in between. There is singing, dancing, and just talking...even some rapping.
I am moving to Chicago for my job at the end of the summer, and I guarantee that at some stage I will go back to the Lookingglass Theater to see another performance. If it is anything like the Arabian Nights one I witnessed, I know I will not be disappointed. If you get a chance to go, I highly recommend it.

Breakeven

At this moment, I have very little to say about fairy tales. This blog post is already late and I just got done driving 7 hours round trip to Indy for the interview from HELL. I also lack the energy to read any other posts (although I managed to watch Matt's dancing bear video), and therefore cannot comment on (mooch off of) someone else's fairy-tale laden thoughts.

I was going to re-comment on Alice, but apparently no one agrees with my view of the movie (totally fine) so I'm just going to cut my losses there.

Fairy tales ... let's talk about The Script's "Breakeven," a current favorite of mine. I like this video because it's sort of an after-happily-ever-after story. The girl dumps the guy, he's crushed, his heart's broken. The lyrics wisely point out that although someone's heart is broken, someone else's is not, aka all's NOT fair in love and breaking up. I feel like all of us (read: ME) who have ever been dumped can totally relate to "although a heart breaks, no it don't break even."

This kind of relates to feminist re-tellings, especially the ones that depict princesses rejecting their princes/lives (ie Cinderella pretending her shoe is too tight). It's like the princess is saying, "Sorry Prince, I'm dumping your ass and I'm not that beat up about it," and then the prince ends up as the lead singer of The Script (he's cute enough to be my prince, anyway).

That's about all the effort I can muster today, weak sauce.

Here's the video.

Disney Takes on the Tale of Rapunzel

Disney has a history of taking classic fairytales and retooling them into family-friendly cartoons. Arriving in the fall of this year will be the Disney version of Rapunzel. The movie will not take on the title of Rapunzel, however. The film will be called “Tangled” in order for Disney to tap into a key demographic: young males. After failing to find success with this audience in their ticket sales for “The Princess and the Frog”, Disney is taking measures to ensure that their numbers improve. It makes one wonder who the original intended audience was for these fairytales was. In modern times, fairytales have adopted the stereotype of being ‘girly’, and it will be interesting to see how Disney attempts to adopt the original story so that it may appeal to modern day young men.

After undergoing some major changes from the original Brothers Grimm fairytale, Disney’s Rapunzel looks barely like the Rapunzel versions we’ve read in class. The Brothers Grimm’s Rapunzel is a very innocent and superficial character who instantly falls in love with another

generic and superficial male prince. As we’ve seen in our readings of Anne Sexton, the character with the most potentially interesting plotline is the witch. Disney’s movie, however, focuses mostly on the relationship between the blonde-hair, green-eyed typical Disney girl and the Errol Flynn-esque male prince. The film will portray Rapunzel as a cloistered 18-year old girl who comes into contact with and attempts to figure out a prince who has seen the world. Disney’s Rapunzel will apparently be a “feisty teen”, and the prince (named Flynn Rider, haha) will be an “infamous bandit who meets his match”.

Sure, Disney will undoubtedly propagate some of the same values and stereotypes that it has since it released Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Attractive and beautiful people will fall in love, and the ending will be a happy one. However, by ‘tangling’ the components of the original story, the Grimm’s tale will be challenged and we will hopefully see a more complex and developed relationship between Rapunzel and her prince.

Disney reports that the film will transport audiences “to a stunning CG fantasy world complete with the iconic tower, an evil witch, a gallant hero, and of course, the mysterious girl with the long golden tresses. Expect adventure, heart, humor, and hair…lots of hair.” The movie will be out in November of this year.

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그러면 각각의 글자가 벡터의 모양으로 바뀐후 ë ˆì´ì–´ë¡œ 분리되게 됩니다.다시 마우스 오른쪽클릭한í세요 글자를 ì“°ê³ 2. 글자를 마우스 오른쪽클릭한후 팝업메뉴에서을 ì„ íƒí•˜ì‹œë©´ 됩니다.그러면 각각의 글자가 벡터의 모양으로 ë°”ë˜ê²Œ 됩니다.다시 마우스 오른쪽클릭한í세요 글자를 ì“°ê³ 2. 글자를 마우스 오른쪽클릭한후 팝업메뉴에서을 ì„ íƒí•˜ì‹œë©´ 됩니다.그러면 °€ 디카로찍은 사진에 워터마크 ë„£..
더보기 역대 가장 ê°•ë ¥í–ˆë˜ 지진 10위까지 .. 추노보다가 궁금했습니다. 노비 낙인.. 방송용어 같은데 '지미짚'이 뭐예요? 피겨에서 트리플악셀이 ë­ì£ ? 추노보다가 궁금했습니다. 노비 낙인..
방송용어 같은데 '지미짚'이 뭐예요? 더보기 역대 가장 ê°•ë ¥í–ˆë˜ 지진 10위까지 .. 추노보다가 궁금했습니다. 노비 낙인.. 방송용어 같은데 '지미짚'이 뭐예요? 피겨에서 트리플악셀이 ë­ì£ ?
추노보다가 궁금했습니다. 노비 낙인..
방송용어 같은데 '지미짚'이 뭐예요

Fairy Tales in Advertising

I found a segment of Sarah Haskins’ “Target Women” from Infomania that specifically looks at how advertisements use fairy tale characteristics in order to appeal to women. The first commercial that she looks at opens with the words “A Philly Fairy Tale” at the top of the screen. A narrator describes the day of a seemingly ordinary accountant whose life suddenly seems wonderful after eating some Philly cream cheese. She discovers that she has the money to have a fun night out with her friends and is even invited to a man’s beautiful Tuscan villa. It ends with the words “Snack Happily Ever After.” The commercial seems imply that simply by eating this product, your life could become wonderful like a stereotypical fairy tale, complete with a rich and handsome “prince.”

Another commercial that Sarah Haskins talks about has the components of a more traditional fairy tale with a princess, a King, and a challenge that must be overcome. It tells the story of a princess who cannot get married because she has “ugly” hair (she has snakes on her head). The King promises her hand in marriage to whoever can tame her hair. Many men try, but it is finally a wise and humble peasant who succeeds in taming her hair by giving her a glass of milk. And of course there is a wedding at the end. I personally like this commercial since it is a rise fairy tale (and plus the cow is cute). But of course, this commercial targets women and encourages them to drink milk, so it is more about the princess, her predicament, and the fantastic magical properties of the milk rather than the wise peasant. You can see through this commercial how the intended audience and ulterior motive of the narrator can affect what is emphasized in the story.

Here is the video:

A Proppian Analysis of a Bride-to-be's Visit to Kleinfeld's Bridal Salon

TLC’s “Say Yes to the Dress,” which follows brides-to-be on their search for the perfect wedding gown at Kleinfeld’s Bridal Salon, an upscale boutique in Manhattan, NY, is one of my favorite shows. After checking out Kleinfeld’s website, I realized that a bride’s search for a wedding dress is just one of many small adventures that lead up to the bride walking down the aisle. In many ways, one’s engagement begins the frame tale, buying the dress, finding the venue, etc. make up smaller tales within the larger story, and the frame tale concludes with the wedding. It is easy to see how this fairy tale is problematic when it concludes with the wedding day and not the couple’s life together.

In the following post, I will analyze a typical bride’s visit to Kleinfeld’s (based on the embarrassingly large number of episodes I’ve watched) using Vladimir Propp’s 31 functions.
1.Absentation: The bride leaves home in order to search for the perfect wedding gown at Kleinfeld’s.
2.Interdiction: “Don’t settle for anything less than you deserve! Find the perfect dress!”
6.Trickery: Mother, mother-in-law, sorority sisters, evil twin sister (she really existed in one episode!), etc. convince the bride to love something that she doesn’t really want.
7.Complicity: Bride-to-be believes these enemies (who according to the bridal consultants are just jealous of the bride-to-be) and sometimes buys a dress she isn’t wholly satisfied with.
9.Mediation: Bride-to-be realizes that she has agreed to buy something she really hates.
10.Beginning Counter-Action: Bride-to-be turns to bridal consultant in order to rectify this situation.
14.Receipt of Magical Agent: Bridal consultant finds the perfect wedding dress for the bride-to-be.
16.Struggle: Bride-to-be and mother, mother-in-law, sorority sisters, evil twin sister, etc. battle over the two wedding gowns.
25.Difficult Task: Whoever is paying for the dress says, “I won’t pay for the dress unless you buy the cheaper one.” This is often the dress is bride-to-be does not want.
26.Solution: Bridal consultant finds the designer of the dress (who is almost always hanging out in the boutique) and sees if the price of the bride-to-be’s favorite dress can be lowered. The price can be lowered. Bride-to-be can buy her perfect dress.
29.Transfiguration: Bride-to-be dons favorite dress and exclaims, “Yes!,” when asked whether this dress is The One.
30.Punishment: Person buying the dress has to pay an exorbitant amount for taffeta, silk, and sequins.
31.Wedding: The bride-to-be does not get married yet since this is just one story within the larger wedding tale; however, she does leave the store extremely pleased with her perfect dress.

My Fairy Tale Week (From Hell)

My week has totally sucked. Being that I’m exceptionally bitter about the whole thing, I’ll relate some milestone events to some well-known fairy tales. This post will be mean-spirited, sour, and angry, but bear with me; hopefully it’s slightly entertaining as well. Please ignore the fact that I will identify with women in just about every instance.

Notre Dame Basketball Loses to Obscure-Team-From-Virginia: Rumpelstiltskin

Ill-fated maiden (ND bball team) calls upon Rumpelstiltskin (gimmick offense) to spin gold (win games). Messenger (the educated basketball community) learns of Rumpelstiltskin’s real name (and the fact that it is insanely dumb), thus causing Rumpelstiltskin to stop spinning gold (winning) and to rip himself in half (lose to Obscure-Team-From-Virginia).

Econ Test From Hell: Cinderella (Me)

Already dejected (failed the first test), Cinderella (me) works (studies) diligently at an absurd pastime (Econ) for hours (and I mean hours), and prays to her fairy godmother (God) for deliverance (a passing grade). She is encouraged when she is invited to the Prince’s ball (does well on the practice tests), but is dejected once again when her carriage (my brain) turns into a pumpkin (utterly useless) at midnight (test time).

Disgusting St. Patrick’s Day: Snow White (Me)

Snow White (me) wanders into the forest (Clover Village) and mooches off seven dwarfs (seven nearest kegs). Evil witch (vodka) disguises herself (in green beer) and tries to poison her. She takes the poison (vodka beer), and falls into a deep sleep (PTFO) until she’s woken by a shining prince (my roommate telling me the dining hall is closing).

My Favorite Band comes out with Shitty Album: Aladdin (Coheed and Cambria)

Aladdin (C&C) wants to win the princess’s (my) love (money), so he dresses up and pretends he’s a prince (produces a completely lazy and shitty album, yet masquerades it as their “most melodic and best work yet”). Princess finds out the truth (after listening to the shitty album), and loses trust in Aladdin (C&C). Aladdin will now have to make it up to the princess (me), or be forced to live in poverty (I will not support them, ever again).

Disgusting St. Patrick’s Day Continued: Beauty (Me) & the Beast (Her)

Belle (me) finds an enchanted castle (fridge) and becomes enamored by its charm (mainly, its selection of Guinness, Jameson, and Soco). Totally enchanted by the castle (fridge), Belle falls in love with its owner (makes out with the ugly girl who lives there). She is regretful of this decision when a mob of townsfolk (my friends) invade the enchanted castle and try to harm her (berate me for hooking up with ugly girl).

March Madness and Cinderellas

Since it is that time of year again, one of the greatest months in sports, I figured there deserved to be a post about Cinderellas in the Big Dance. In order to do this subject justice, I decided to find out just when Cinderella was used to describe a mid-major that beats some one who isn't suppose to lose to such a "lowly" team. While I couldn't find an exact date when this became popular, Wikipedia (I know, I know) tributes it to Bill Murry's line in Caddyshack, "Cinderella story. Outta nowhere. A former greenskeeper, now, about to become the Masters champion." So by that calculation, 1980. Since 1980 there have been numerous Cinderella teams in the NCAA tournament, most notably Villanova in 1985.

In the last couple of years, the term Cinderella has been given not to just an underachieving team that is now performing, or to an average team that starts over performing, but it is given to mid-majors. While it is practice to give this label to a mid-major team that makes it to the Sweet 16 or farther, it is not necessarily fair, to either the team itself or to the fairytale.

For the mid-major that gets labeled as a fairytale, it can be unfair to them because although they are playing great ball and just because they aren't in one of the BCS conferences, they are labeled a mid-major and considered a "weak" team. For the players on the team, it feels like a slap in the face to be labeled a Cinderella story because they feel like the victories aren't an upset. For example, one of the Cinderellas this year, Northern Iowa (thanks alot for killing my bracket,)is shunning their label as a Cinderella. Another reason that its not fair to the teams is that it implies that it took some sort of magic or a miracle for them to win the game.

For the fairytale itself, it is wrong to label these teams as Cinderella, because for the most part, these teams are a rise tale and not a restoration tale like Cinderella is. To be more accurate to the fairy tales, maybe we should start calling these mid-majors Alladins (too keep the Disney familiarity).

One thing I know for sure is that I love the Cinderella stories of sports (except when they kill my bracket). This tournament has been crazy so far and the Cinderellas compose a quarter of the Sweet 16 this year: Northern Iowa, Cornell, St. Mary's, and Washington*. Who knows maybe for once the Cinderella won't turn into a pumpkin and will win it all this year.

*Washington is not a mid-major but has severely underachieved this season, so they just made it into the tournament and was given an 11th seed.

Old School

I know I've mentioned in class that I grew up with both sides of fairy tales: fairy tale books full of "original" versions of stories as well as the Disney versions. Last night I called my little brother and asked him a question and a favor.
"Blaise, name a fairy tale."
"Robin Hood."
"Ok, interesting answer, I like it. Now, go look in the nursery...there's a big red book of fairy tales. I want you to take a picture of it and send it to me, and then read the stories and tell me what you think, OK?"
"OK!" He was stoked. He found the book and immediately started asking me questions about it, like how old I was when I was reading it, where we got it, etc.

I wanted him to read this book because my sister and I used to spend a lot of time reading, and I explicitly remember a few fairy tale books from when we were in that five-to ten-years-old range. In general, kids these days have way more technological toys and games and activities to keep them occupied...furthermore, when my miniature adult of a brother reads, he chooses interesting reading material for fun. For instance, I caught him reading "What's Wrong With Democracy?" on spring break. That was my text book from a class last year. No joke. He's twelve years old.

Blaise is going to report back to me soon about the fairy tales. I'm excited to hear what he has to say. I didn't give him any bias going into it--no comments about Disney or happy endings, and no explanations about fairy tales or their origins. I want to see what happens, and how he reacts. I'm betting he likes these more "original," non-American versions of stories even though he probably hasn't experienced them much until now.

Princesses do get to think about more than just their princes

I found this in a blog post at http://blondesense.blogspot.com/2007/04/modern-fairy-tale.html

A Modern Fairy Tale

Once upon a time
In a land far away,
A beautiful, independent,
Self-assured princess
Happened upon a frog as she sat
Contemplating ecological issues
On the shores of an unpolluted pond
In a verdant meadow near her castle.

The frog hopped into the princess' lap
And said: "Elegant Lady,
I was once a handsome prince,
Until an evil witch cast a spell upon me.
One kiss from you, however,
And I will turn back
Into the dapper, young prince that I am
And then, my sweet, we can marry
And set up housekeeping in your castle
With my mother,
Where you can prepare my meals,
Clean my clothes, bear my children,
And forever feel
Grateful and happy doing so. "

That night,
As the princess dined sumptuously
On lightly sauteed frog legs
Seasoned in a white wine
And onion cream sauce,
She chuckled and thought to herself:

I don't fucking think so.


I found this retelling of The Frog Prince hilarious and very interesting for several reasons: 1) the princess is an environmentalist contemplating ecological issues- when has the princess ever before been allowed to think about something outside the context of the fairytale plot? 2) the prince automatically assumes that it is indeed the princess’s sole goal in life to marry a prince, keep house for him, and be happy doing it- little does he know how wrong she is; 3) the fact that the prince wants to move in with his mother is all too telling, especially the fact that he makes a specific point to mention it; 4) the amount of detail spent on how the frog legs are cooked is hilarious; 5) good punch-line, excuse the language. This version pokes fun at the assumptions made in fairytales regarding the way in which characters think. It reminded me of the animated opening of the film Enchanted in which Prince Edward and Giselle know instantaneously upon their first meeting that they are meant for each other and will “be married in the morning.” The character of the frog prince in this case probably wholeheartedly believes that simply by revealing his title of prince to the princess he will get what he wants and in his mind live happily ever after with his new wife waiting on his hand and foot. The princess, however, is clearly thinking outside the box when it comes to her “fairytale” situation. She doesn’t want what the prince has to offer, so why should she accept it? While in a realistic situation (not that princes are in reality transformed into frogs) the princess’ decision to kill and eat that which threatened her freedom, it gets the point across that in this case the princess does not owe it to any fairytale trope to lay down and let an arrogant prince walk all over her.

Arthur Rackham and Fairy Tale Illustrations

The influence of imagery in our understanding of and familiarity with certain fairytales is ubiquitous. When one thinks of Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretel, Red Riding Hood, and Beauty and the Beast, familiar images of scenes or characters pop up naturally in our heads. While the majority of people will first think of the Disney interpretation of certain fairytales, the original art interpretations of fairytales are drastically different. In the world of fairytales in printed collections, the name of Arthur Rackham reigns supreme.

Rackham was an English artist and illustrator who has been mostly known for his work on fairytales. Born in 1867, Rackham lived in the Victorian era and provided images for the tales of the Brothers Grimm, Alice in Wonderland, A Midsummer-Night’s Dream, Rhinegold and the Valkyrie, Wind in the Willows, and countless fairytale books.

Rackham’s illustrations and interpretations of fairytales have common characteristics among them. Rackham enjoys portraying scenes in a dark yet innocent fashion: the scenes he depicts are filled with black, dark browns, and intense shadows, and the main characters in the scene are often colored with muted tones. His lines are very soft and, and he combines hard angles of trees and houses with the supple lines of his characters. His backgrounds are just as detailed as his characters, as seen in these examples.

The sharpest contrasts between our common conceptions of fairytales and Rackham’s famous interpretations are the following: he draws fairy godmothers to be ugly (actually, witch-like), his scenes are filled with dark colors, and fairies are drawn as humans with wings rather than small pixie-like creatures. Like modern illustrations, Rackham portrays female protagonists as beautiful and delicate, and male heroes as handsome and strong.

Here are the four examples:

1. Sleeping Beauty
2. Hansel and Gretel
3. Cinderella
4. Red Riding Hood

Scrubs Goes Happily Ever After

As a fan of Scrubs, I recently watched an episode in which Dr. Cox and his wife, Jordan, attempt to tell their son a bedtime story. Dr. Cox begins to tell a story about the only thing he knows, hospital life, when his wife stops him and reminds him that he is speaking to a child, and should tell a story about something more appropriate. He begins the story again as a fairy tale, indicating that fairy tales are meant exclusively for children. The episode then turns into a parody of fairy tales, in which JD and Elliott, referred to as “the idiot and the princess” have a near brush with romance when they almost kiss, but then decide that their infatuation is not enough to make them fall for each other. The episode intertwines a classic fairy tale story with real life problem of a young girl needing a kidney transplant. In this way, it mocks fairy tales for being such an exaggeration of reality, yet at the same time reminds the audience of the lasting significance fairy tales have in the lives of adults. Although the story is being told to Dr. Cox and Jordan’s young son, at the end of the tale, Jordan is still anxious to know how the story ends, hoping for a happy ending for the princess and idiot. In a way, this was saying that fairy tales, which allow magic and supernatural creatures to have the ability to solve all problems, give us hope for solving problems in reality, even throughout our adult years.

Feel free to view a short clip of the episode:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rXB1Lwg9e0

A Three Year Old's Prince Charming

So I was at dinner with some friends sometime before break, and that day’s topic on the table was this YouTube video in which a three year old girl was getting all emotional about a singer, Justin Bieber. The girl’s name in the video was Cody, and throughout the first half of the video, she was sobbing hysterically because her feelings for the singer were so intense that she felt overwhelmed. At first I thought it was just silly and funny to watch the girl crying over Bieber, but then I was like wait a minute, why is she feeling so heart broken with the fact that he doesn’t love her back when she in fact doesn’t even know Bieber in person? It’s not like I don’t understand where she’s coming from because I once was an obsessed little girl falling and screaming over boys bands like N’sync and Backstreetboys, but she seemed like she was specifically upset because her expectations for her celebrity prince charming were not met. I’m not sure how much she actually understands that Bieber is a celebrity, not just a popular boy from her preschool. But I was under the impression that she was almost projecting herself onto one of the heroines of the fairy tales, thinking that she’s the sought after princess. As much as she understands that her hopes are unrealistic, she still holds on to the idea that she might have a chance with him. This was clear to me towards the end of the video, when someone calls the house, and the girl says in giggly voice, “Oh maybe it’s Justin Bieber!” and excitedly chases after the person with the phone. According to the person who claimed to be the girl’s mom, the girl threw the phone angrily at the mirror with disappointment when she found out that the caller wasn’t her prince charming and got a spanking as a punishment. Maybe I’m stretching it a little too much, but I do believe that fairy tales have influenced girls in a way that they are left with fantasizing about their own prince charmings and happy endings. Even as adults, doesn't a part of us want to believe that fairy tales are true although we realistically know that we have to compromise some aspects of our own fairy tale ending?

A "Supernatural" Take on Fairy Tales

Having gone home for Spring Break, I found myself with a lot of free time I didn't want to waste doing school work, so I watched some tv as a means to avoid work, and came across the show "Supernatural," which I have recently started to get into to some small extent. The episode I happened to stumble onto was called 'Bedtime Stories,' and focused on a girl in a coma who was unconsciously causing fairy tales to happen in real life in order to her father that the reason she had spent the years since she was 10 in a coma was that her step-mother had poisoned her. Three over-weight brothers are arguing over the best materials to use for building a house, and two of them are ripped apart by a man with a Wile E. Coyote in front of the brother who had recommended they use bricks, and then a pair of hikers, lost in the woods, get drugged and cooked by an old hag. The main characters of the serious, supernatural hunters Sam and Dean, learn that a little girl was seen at both crimes, and eventually realize that the only person who can be responsible is the young woman who has been in a coma for more than a decade, and they find her father reading the woman fairy tales as she sleeps. The brothers find Cinderella, having been beaten by her stepmother, and Dean sees the little girl turn into a bright red apple, forcing the realization that Sleeping Beauty is the cause the problems. Sam manages to reconcile the girl and her father just in time to help Dean save a young girl (read Little Red Riding Hood) from the Big Bad Wolf.
There were a couple of things about this episode that I found interesting, one being that such a modern (episode is from 2007) show actually recognized that the Disney versions of fairy tales are not the only versions, and that the originals were not always as sweet. However, in keeping with our recent discussions of more modern retellings of fairy tales, the most interesting thing to me was that the episode manages a happy ending despite the death of the Sleeping Beauty character. Her death allows there to be peace in the life of her father, and stops Dean from killing the poor fellow who has unknowingly been playing the Big Bad Wolf while still saving Little Red. I found it refreshing to see an ending that avoided the "happily ever after," yet still manages a happy ending for most of the characters involved. And on a side note, I'd strongly recommend the episode for anyone who is looking for a means of procrastination in the upcoming weeks. ;)

Fairy Tale Hair Products??!

Fairy Tale Salon, located in Long Island, New York, confuses me. Why are these hair care products a fairy tale? Is it because the products make children’s hair “soft and manageable?” Or because the shampoos and conditioners contain “only the finest all natural, organic vitamins, minerals, oil extracts, citrus and fruit enzymes”? Or maybe it’s because these products “act as a natural deterrent to lice and other insects”?

Is anyone else confused? Why is this product a fairy tale? It seems as though people have forgotten (or perhaps never learned) what a fairy tale is. In addition, due to the fact that the fairy tale industry (e.g. Disney products, weddings, prom, matchmaking websites, etc.) is a trillion dollar business, companies know that fairy tales promise amazing, mystical, intangible feelings that an individual cannot obtain with “ordinary” products. As a result, shampoos and conditioners marketed by lice infested children, or should I say, formerly lice infested children, are considered a fairy tale.

So, who cares? Why does it matter that a small company in New York uses fairy tales to market an extremely useful product? The problem lies with the fact that the phrase “fairy tale” can sell almost anything. And the reason these words can sell anything and everything is the beautiful, magical, albeit unrealistic, life these words promise. Why is this a problem? Because people truly believe that hair care products, magical weddings, and matchmaking websites can change their lives, can make them real life princesses and princes. And when reality catches up to them, they're devastated, heartbroken, and bitter, yet somehow, they're still willing to literally buy into the fairy tale.

http://www.fairytaleshaircare.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=1

"Honest Fairy Tales"

Check the link first:
"Honest Fairy Tales"

Besides being hilarious, I thought this related fairly well to the interpretations of tales we've been discussing in class. The writers at CollegeHumor usually do a fantastic job of mixing in smart humor with the traditional video montages of kids flipping out over their cancelled World of Warcraft accounts; this is no exception.

The author, Ariel (myparentsclearlyhadachubbyforthelittlemermaid) Greenspoon, remarks on the often dark elements in tales and some misunderstood characters that suffer as a result (ex. Little Spoiled Brat Robs Innocent Animals). She definitely sees past the Disney "spell" and understands that some stories have a coarse way of delivering their messages, whatever they may be.

It'd be interesting to ask Ariel what she thought about these fairy tales when she was a kid, then relate that to her article. Did she think the three bears got a raw deal when she was six? Are these fairy tales really sending good messages for kids as they're originally written? Does the Disney "spell" righteously censor the tough material? Would Ariel be slightly flattered or entirely creeped out that I'm writing an analysis on this article? Hmm....

I know that I've completely overanalyzed this, so here's a cool band's music video with giant cartoon monsters and robot explosions:

Los Campesinos! - You! Me! Dancing!

Alice in Wonderland

Disclaimer: This blog post contains (minor) spoilers about Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.

Over break, my fifteen year old sister and I went to see Tim Burton's latest theatrical production. It was incredible. Done in the brightly colored, incredibly detailed, and wonderfully elaborate signature style of Burton, Alice is not only visually appealing, but also tells a story in a satisfying manner.

What makes this film unique is that it corrects a lot of the criticisms we have made towards traditional Disney movies in class, yet it is clearly a fairy tale. By featuring a pretty blonde heroine, a magical land with talking animals, and royalty, Burton makes it obvious to his audience that he is telling a fairy tale. However, Burton expands on the traditional fairy tale by creating characters with depth and insight. Alice is not simply a curious young woman. She has recently lost her father, who was brilliant and adventurous, and is proposed to by a rich, noble man who she despises. Alice suddenly finds herself in a bizarre world (created by Burton, so I'm sure you can imagine how bizarre it really is) where she can grow and shrink and is met by talking animals. Alice breaks through the "stock-character" barrier as the audience watches her grapple with her own sanity and self-doubt. Eventually, Alice finds inner strength, probably inherited from her father, and becomes the out-right hero of this fairy tale.

In addition to creating a believable heroine, Burton surrounds her with equally deep friends. The Mad Hatter, for example, acts insane to mask his cunning and intelligence. Without his scheming and guidance, Alice would be unable to complete her task in Wonderland. Another way Burton avoids fairy tale stereotypes, is by surrounding Alice with sort of ugly talking animals. Alice befriends these creatures despite their looks (and her previous encounters with them), and again, their help is later required by Alice.

I do not think I would have appreciated this movie as much if I was not in this class, because by having my attention drawn to flat characters in previous Disney productions has lead me to truly appreciate the Burton's characters in Alice in Wonderland.

Alright, forgive me for a wedding related post. I promise it applies to what we have been discussing!

I'm currently reading a book about the wedding industry, One Perfect Day: the Selling of the American Wedding by Rebecca Mead. The book focuses on the development of the wedding industry and the reflection an average American wedding has on American culture. Now, it would be a stretch to apply the entire book to fairy tales. However, there is one section where Mead discusses why brides think that they must have a bigger, fancier, and more elaborate wedding and speficially mentions "happily ever after." Mead points out that the wedding industry, particularly wedding media, sells the idea of the bigger the wedding, the happier your happily ever after will be. The bride is the main character of her own personal fairy tale, and it is her responsibility to make that fairy tale come true. To illustrate, I received a magazine (free) with the headline "Enchanted & Engaged!" (I also instantly thought of this class). Mead notes that otherwise sensible brides suddenly become insensible monsters with unrealistic demands- they become bridezillas, fed by the never ending fluff spewed out by the wedding industry.

Bridezillas and the idea of a happier happily ever after stem from pre-established notions that American brides have, according to Mead. This fits within the feminist criticisms of fairy tales. Women buy into the notion that happily ever after begins with a wedding. I am not arguing that fairy tales created the current bridezilla trend, but I tend to agree with Mead that the ideas introduced to women and men (there is now such a thing as a groomzilla) through unrealistic fairy tales is the basis on which the wedding industry feeds. Other books exist around this same theme, including one titled Cinderella Dreams: the Allure of the Lavish Wedding by Celes Otnes. How different would American culture and American weddings be if fairy tales resembled Angela Carter's retellings more so than Walt Disney's retellings? Would weddings be the elaborate, unrealistic affairs they tend to be? Or would weddings be more somber and spiritual?

Link to the book on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/One-Perfect-Day-Selling-American/dp/B001QXC4V8/ref=tmm_pap_title_0/175-0038621-6098825

Shrek 2

I received the movie Shrek 2 from my 12-year-old neighbor last Christmas. Never did I think that this film could tie into one of my college classes. I popped in the movie for the first time a couple weeks ago, and the film proved to be a smorgasbord of fairytales surrounding a classically structured fairytale story. Just for kicks, I’ll apply Vladimir Propp’s structuralism to this cartoon story:

1. Ogres Shrek and Fiona leave their home after their honeymoon to the kingdom of Far Far Away to meet Fiona’s parents.

2. Shrek doesn’t feel comfortable with going and to his dismay is disapproved of by the King.

3. The evil Fairy Godmother wants to break them up so her son, Prince Charming, will marry Fiona.1. Ogres Shrek and Fiona leave their home after their honeymoon to the kingdom of Far Far Away to meet Fiona’s parents.

2. Shrek doesn’t feel comfortable with going and to his dismay is disapproved of by the King.

4. The evil Fairy Godmother threatens the king to help her get rid of Shrek.

5. The King and the Fairy Godmother hires an assassin (Puss in Boots) to get rid of Shrek, but Puss in Boots does not kill him.

6. The Fairy Godmother allows Shrek to drink the “Happily Ever After” potion.

7. Shrek drinks the potion, and turns himself and Fiona into a human.

8. Fiona thinks Charming is Shrek.

9. Shrek realizes Fiona has been tricked by Charming and gives up – he thinks she’ll be happier with him.

10. Shrek then decides to counter-act, kiss Fiona by midnight and reveal the Fairy Godmother’s evildoing.

11. Shrek is chained up by the Fairy Godmother.

12. Shrek’s magical friends help him escape.

13. The magic friends help him break into the castle.

14. The Fairy Godmother and Shrek battle.

15. The evil Fairy Godmother is defeated, and the King blocks her evil spell.

16. At midnight, Shrek and Fiona return back into their Ogre selves.

17. The King is revealed as a hero and turns back into the Frog Prince.

18. Everyone parties. Shrek and Fiona marry.

The film stuffs many classic fairytales into the story: Puss in Boots is the assassin (still possessing his wit and cunning from the original fairytale) who uses an adorable doe-eyed look to lure his victims in. Shrek’s forest friends include Pinocchio, the gingerbread man, the three little pigs, and the wolf from Little Red Riding Hood. Princess Fiona’s father is the Frog Prince.

Although Dreamworks has flipped some of the usual fairytale characteristics on their heads (the main characters are good and want to be ogres, the Fairy Godmother and Prince Charming are evil, the wolf is good, etc.), the movie delivers an ordinary fairytale with a happy ending.

I would, however, suggest watching it, because the references to fairytales and characters from tales that we’ve read are interesting to watch and Puss in Boots is quite adorable.

Cinderella - It's Awesome Baby

Last night, the NCAA tournament brackets were announced. Undoubtedly some teams were disappointed, whether it was from a bad draw, too low of a seed, or worst of all not making it into the tournament at all. Others, for the exact opposite reasons, were probably thrilled.
While everyone certainly loves to see the powerhouses (albeit this year without North Carolina, Indiana, UCLA, and Connecticut to name a few) continually make runs deep into the tournament, what really makes an NCAA tournament special is the "Cinderella story". This could be when #15 Hampton shocked #2 Iowa State (which had several NBA players on its roster), or when #14 Weber State knocked out powerhouse #3 North Carolina out. We are still waiting for the day a #1 seed loses in the first round. Arguably the best Cinderella story was when #6 seed NC State won the national championship, the lowest seed ever to do so.
It is pretty funny, and somewhat pathetic, that the dream run of the underdog is personified by Cinderella. Certainly she was an underdog in her own right, overcoming the persecution of her stepmother and sisters to ultimately be rescued by the prince. However, unlike what the NCAA tournament's "Cinderella" embodies, Cinderella does next to nothing to earn her place at the top. In contrast, the NCAA "Cinderella" generally gets their one shining moment through hard work, perseverance, teamwork, and a fervent belief in their ability to succeed. Cinderella hardly embodied most of these things, feeling largely dejected until her fairy Godmother comes to her aid. In the NCAA tournament, a little more than some magic is needed to move on, especially for the underdogs.
Notre Dame is a #6 seed (too high in my estimation) and playing the best it has played all year. Here's to hoping we can become this year's Cinderella, invited to the Big Dance and coming back victorious.

Fairy Tales on the Catwalk

Fairy tales were used as the inspiration for some of the looks featured at Paris Fashion Week this year. Vivienne Westwood (pictured above) said that her models looked like people you would encounter in the Black Forest in fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm. When discussing why she chose fairy tales as her inspiration, Vivienne Westwood said, “The traditional folklore fairy tale is very important for children as there is deep psychology in it. Fairy tales are about dealing with danger, injustice and terrible morality. They help children to become independent and mature by facing up to all kinds of things on an imaginative level. The great thing is the hero always wins in the end, even when he is a simpleton or an un-empowered person.” Overall, it sounds like she takes the psychoanalytical perspective on fairy tales.

Westwood was considering calling her latest Gold Label “Sleeping Beauty” but ultimately went with “Prince Charming.” She had some of her models wearing large rubber crowns, penciled-on mustaches, bobbed wigs, and tights to make them look the part. Some of the clothes did give the models a somewhat masculine appearance since they were bulky with broad shoulders. Westwood said that she was thinking of the "Principle Boy" in pantomimes when she was putting together the whole look. Not all of the models looked so masculine; some models looked like princesses and others looked like they could be Gretel. And then there were some that didn't really look like any fairy tale character in particular.

Westwood never specifically said that she was commenting on gender roles or the female identity and how they have (or have not) changed since the Grimm’s fairy tales were first published. It's still an interesting possibility, especially for someone in the fashion industry.

Here is what Westwood had to say about her new collection and a video of her runway show is below.