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.
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