The popularity of the fairy tale wedding lies in the implied happily ever after: a perfect wedding will be the first event in a perfect life. You can be just like your favorite princess as you marry your prince charming. I don't have the courage to look up the price of any of the wedding dresses or the cost for renting Cinderella's castle for your wedding (I know it has been done because I have watched the special episode of it about six times). The idea of happily ever after and Disney go hand in hand. This website is simply another way for Disney to sell the idea to grown women, like in Megan's post.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings
When I first found this site, there was only a collection of wedding dresses and flower girl dresses. My friends and I had fun looking at the dresses that matched our favorite princess when we were little. Now, Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings covers the engagement ring, the wedding dress, bridesmaids' dresses, and more! There is even a link to Disney's site for planning the wedding and/or honeymoon at a Disney park or resort. The title of the sites, like the Disney cartoon's, leaves no question who this concept of the fairy tale wedding belongs to - Disney. Although the words are rarely said in any classic Disney movie, the princesses always get married and "live happily ever after." Even Mowgli in the Jungle Book has an implied happily ever after with a pretty girl.
Is this the middle or the end of the Tiger fairytale?
Tiger Woods has been a household name for over a decade. Our generation has grown up with perhaps the most dominating athlete to ever grace this planet, and we’ve been able to follow him from that initial triumph at Augusta, to the stunning performance at Torrey Pines in 2008 (ironically destroying the “Cinderella” story that would have been, Rocco Mediate). American’s tend to view many celebrities lives as fairy tales, and this distinction perhaps fit nobody more than it did Woods. He had been considered a prodigy since the age of 2, and his career took off at an extremely early age. He has earned an incredible amount of money through his successes on the course, as well as numerous endorsements, that also served to make him even more recognizable to the American public. He seemed perfect, and for many of his fans, those who stood in his path were villains just waiting to be vanquished (because they bad guys always are in fairy tales, right?)
Then, in late November last, everything changed. An Escalade, a golf club, a tree, and a beautiful Scandinavian woman quickly put Tiger Woods in a new place. He was being scrutinized and now Woods became the villain. We learned that this perfect athletic specimen, with a beautiful wife, two children, and more money than any of us could fathom, decided that this wasn’t enough. A busted face and a few weeks in a sex rehab clinic later, we still don’t know how this story will end. Is this a restoration tale that we are only in the middle of? Or is this one of the most blessed men in the world doing his best to show us that fairy tales really don’t exist in real life? I’m an optimist and I love to think about the reality of fairy tales, so I’m predicting a Tiger comeback. And let it be a dramatic comeback, a big victory at the Masters, the site of his first triumph.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/113210/saturday-night-live-tiger-woods-accident
The Obsession with Princesses - For Children or Adults?
My twenty-one year old best friend from home just called me a couple of weeks ago to tell me that she had gotten engaged the night before. Her fiancé, a twenty-five year old in the army, was just sent to Haiti until next month and had proposed before he left. Last night, I spent two hours on the phone with her planning everything from her color scheme to the centerpieces, and was surprised with some of the things that she decided.
My friend, Laura, had always been a sporty, blunt, guy's girl in high school, and her sense of style had always been simple and no fuss. However, when we looked at the wedding dresses she had fallen in love with, she said, "They're exactly the opposite of what I thought I wanted", which was also something simple and no fuss. Of the dresses she showed me, on the contrary, some were ballgowns, some were completely covered in lace, others in beading and embroidery. They had bows, they had flowers. This is definitely not what I would have pictured Laura wearing on her wedding day ten years ago, or even two years ago, but nevertheless, this is what she is drawn towards now.
Aside from the dress, Laura's vision for the atmosphere of her wedding was also a digression from what I expected. Having decided to have the wedding at home, she talked of votive candles in her pool and hanging from the trees, twinkly lights wrapped around every tree trunk, chinese lanterns hanging inside the tent, and lights hanging from the draperies of the tent. She said, "I just want twinkly lights and candles everywhere!"
This conversation with Laura got me thinking. Why is it that when my friend was faced with the reality of a wedding, she drops her personal sense of style and starts planning the stereotypical "princess" wedding, something far from her personality? She was surprising herself with what she wanted, because she had always thought she wanted something simple and in line with her everyday style, but deep down this is not the case at all.
I have decided that girls are taught from a very young age that they have one day in their lives on which they can be a princess and go over the top, and no one will think the worse of them for it - their wedding day. While obviously some women choose to stay away from the princess wedding, I know it is quite common to want nothing else. The power of Disney and of fairy tales is the most evident in the business of weddings. While many women think that their love of princesses has disappeared with their maturation, it has a tendency to sneak back to the surface when that woman gets a ring.
While I agree with Professor Busl as she wrote in her post on Sex and the City that there comes disappointment when a woman has unrealistic expectations of her wedding, I think that the real danger appears when people think only about their wedding and not about the marriage. If a woman wants to plan a beautiful wedding that makes her and her husband happy she should do so, but they have to enter into a marriage with an understanding of what marriage is and that it will not be a perfect fairy tale. As I was looking on Youtube today while thinking about this, I stumbled upon an ad that was quite disturbing to me. No wonder, after watching things like this, women in our society think that their weddings are the culmination of their entire lives up to that point (For some reason my computer won't upload the video, so here's the link).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InV7Sh5zNtg
Sunday, February 7, 2010
I was shocked when I saw "The Brave Little Tailor" on the Grimm Brothers fairy tale list; I had never thought about it being an actual fairy tale when I watched it as a Disney cartoon as a child (not to say it doesn't have the makings of a "real" fairy tale, but I just didn't give it much thought at the time). The Disney version stars Mickey Mouse as the tailor, who kills seven flies in one smooth move with two fly swatters (yes, I know, "seven in one blow" haha... it's funny...). Though he doesn't make himself a banner to wear as the tailor in the original story does, Mickey brags to those in the town about his great feat. Unfortunately, because the buzz in town involves a giant, Mickey is misunderstood by his neighbors and the rumor that he has killed seven giants at once makes its way to the king. Obviously, the semi-human king's daughter is Minnie, and it is obviously fated that everyone's favorite Mouse is going to defeat the giant and get Minnie's hand in marriage.
I don't want to ruin the rest of the story, but there are a lot of differences between Mickey and the original tailor. In the Grimm's brother's version, the tailor takes advantage of the easily misunderstood statement "seven with one blow" and outsmarts giants, the king, and other men in various ways to improve his social status. It is difficult to say if this was the plan all along or just a bit of pride that got out of control, but the tailor did not seem at all reluctant to put himself in more perilous situations; in fact, he was incredibly confident and took advantage of the king's offer to give him half of the kingdom as well as his daughter's hand in marriage.
Though the Grimms' version of the story is more "traditional fairy tale," I have a hard time liking the tailor because he seems overly confident and he's a liar. At least Mickey was innocently dragged into fighting a giant and improving his life because of a misunderstanding.
I don't want to ruin the rest of the story, but there are a lot of differences between Mickey and the original tailor. In the Grimm's brother's version, the tailor takes advantage of the easily misunderstood statement "seven with one blow" and outsmarts giants, the king, and other men in various ways to improve his social status. It is difficult to say if this was the plan all along or just a bit of pride that got out of control, but the tailor did not seem at all reluctant to put himself in more perilous situations; in fact, he was incredibly confident and took advantage of the king's offer to give him half of the kingdom as well as his daughter's hand in marriage.
Though the Grimms' version of the story is more "traditional fairy tale," I have a hard time liking the tailor because he seems overly confident and he's a liar. At least Mickey was innocently dragged into fighting a giant and improving his life because of a misunderstanding.
"Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty"
The short-film “Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” was recently nominated for an Oscar. What I personally like so much about this 6-minute film is that it clearly demonstrates how oral fairy tales can reveal a lot about the person telling them. By listening to what aspects of the story they emphasize, leave out, or change you can understand more about that person’s feelings and beliefs. The short film starts out with an ordinary enough situation; a grandmother telling her grandchild a fairy tale before bed. It quickly becomes evident that Granny has some repressed issues, which are apparent in her retelling of “Sleeping Beauty.” Through her retelling of the story, you can tell that Granny has a lot of bitterness towards a society that idolizes beauty and youth while marginalizing the elderly.
Initially Granny is reading the story out of a book and everything seems very normal. There is the birth of a beautiful princess named Beauty and all the young lovely fairies are invited to the christening party. Granny identifies with the old fairy that was not invited to Beauty’s christening party. It is when this character appears that the grandmother sets the book aside and takes the story into her own hands. Her version of the story revolves around the elderly fairy; Beauty never gets past her christening party. Instead, most of the story consists of the grandmother ranting about how the elderly fairy was not invited to the party because others think of her as old and repulsive. She goes into great detail about how others look down on the elderly fairy. Granny’s version ends with the elderly fairy exacting revenge by putting a curse on everyone so that they will die as soon as they fall asleep. Then the grandmother calmly walks out of the room telling her grandchild to sleep well.
With lines in the story such as, “And she was very beautiful, so they called her beauty. Beauty was indeed very beautiful,” it is not hard to understand Granny’s bitter feelings. It makes me wonder if such stories are perhaps just as responsible for young girls’ lack of self-esteem and poor body images as all of the magazines and other media with pictures of skinny, young, beautiful models. After all, these are the stories that are read to children when they are most influential and just starting to figure out what is important in life. With stories constantly describing main characters and good characters as beautiful first and foremost, it is no wonder that our society is obsessed with youth and beauty. That’s why my favorite retellings of fairy tales are ones where other virtues, such as intelligence or courage, are prominent characteristics of the protagonists (like in “Ever After” or “The Princess and the Frog”). As Granny points out, “when it comes to the harsher lessons of this life, beauty is not going to get you very far, very far, very far…”
Here's the video:
Initially Granny is reading the story out of a book and everything seems very normal. There is the birth of a beautiful princess named Beauty and all the young lovely fairies are invited to the christening party. Granny identifies with the old fairy that was not invited to Beauty’s christening party. It is when this character appears that the grandmother sets the book aside and takes the story into her own hands. Her version of the story revolves around the elderly fairy; Beauty never gets past her christening party. Instead, most of the story consists of the grandmother ranting about how the elderly fairy was not invited to the party because others think of her as old and repulsive. She goes into great detail about how others look down on the elderly fairy. Granny’s version ends with the elderly fairy exacting revenge by putting a curse on everyone so that they will die as soon as they fall asleep. Then the grandmother calmly walks out of the room telling her grandchild to sleep well.
With lines in the story such as, “And she was very beautiful, so they called her beauty. Beauty was indeed very beautiful,” it is not hard to understand Granny’s bitter feelings. It makes me wonder if such stories are perhaps just as responsible for young girls’ lack of self-esteem and poor body images as all of the magazines and other media with pictures of skinny, young, beautiful models. After all, these are the stories that are read to children when they are most influential and just starting to figure out what is important in life. With stories constantly describing main characters and good characters as beautiful first and foremost, it is no wonder that our society is obsessed with youth and beauty. That’s why my favorite retellings of fairy tales are ones where other virtues, such as intelligence or courage, are prominent characteristics of the protagonists (like in “Ever After” or “The Princess and the Frog”). As Granny points out, “when it comes to the harsher lessons of this life, beauty is not going to get you very far, very far, very far…”
Here's the video:
Saturday, February 6, 2010
The Simpsons: Once Upon a Time in Springfield
Last week’s Simpsons episode featured Krusty the Clown in a heartfelt fairytale-like romance that, surprisingly, ended with happily never after.
Here is a quick summary of the episode:
The studio that produces Krusty’s show hires actress “Princess Penelope” as a regular on The Krusty the Clown Show. Princess Penelope’s routine (complete with unicorns, flowers, rainbows, singing, etc.) is the complete opposite of Krusty’s usual crass and slapstick humor. Although he is furious with the drastic changes to his show, he falls in love with Penelope, who has coincidentally been in love with him since she was a young girl. They begin singing and dancing together in subsequent episodes, and Krusty proposes to her on air.
Lisa is thrilled with the show’s changes, but Bart and Millhouse are disgusted by the new Krusty and attempt to sabotage the marriage by revealing to Penelope all of Krusty’s past failed marriages. She still wants to marry him, and it is at that point that Krusty realizes that he is not good enough for her. The heartbroken Penelope moves to Paris.
In a magical moment under the moonlight over a bridge, Penelope sees that Krusty has come to apologize for leaving her. She accepts his apology, jumps into the Seine with him and they float downstream declaring their love. The camera pans up to a unicorn flying across the midnight sky (a horse with a cone on its head being pulled by a rope) as dreamy music gives way to the ending credits and the words “Thanks for twenty great years. The best is yet to come” glittering across the screen.
The show uses a fairytale storyline to celebrate its 450th episode. Elements of popular fairytale are present: two opposite characters (one of them a ‘princess’) falling in love, additional characters attempting to sabotage the couple’s love on their wedding day, and the couple overcoming these obstacles at the end of the story. But in true Simpsons fashion, the episode pokes fun at the popularly known elements of fairytale. Using Bart and Millhouse as critics, the episode highlights the “girly” aspects of fairytale, including princesses, glitter, sparkles, handmaidens, pink colors, unicorns, and happy singing. Bart is horrified that Krusty has succumbed to the forces of love, whereas Lisa becomes enamored with the show’s idyllic world of unicorns and magic. I believe that this is a satire on women’s high hopes of a fairytale romance and men’s disgust of such a romance. The best example of this is when Lisa begins cooing over a unicorn on the show as Bart points out, “that is so fake! You can see the strap on its horn!”. Lisa quickly retorts by whispering, “just give me this!”.
I highly recommended watching the episode here:http://www.hulu.com/watch/118515/the-simpsons-once-upon-a-time-in-springfield
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Sex and the Fairy Tale
It's not uncommon to hear the HBO series Sex and the City referred to as a "modern day fairy tale." The 2008 feature length SatC film finally makes that comparison explicit, with repeated allusions and intertextual references to the most beloved of all fairy tales, "Cinderella." It's no accident that it's "Cinderella" that Carrie reads to Charlotte's young daughter, nor that the princess makes an appearance on the Valentine's Day card Carrie plucks from her mailbox.
Some critics are dissatisfied with the ending of the SatC movie, believing that it suggests that women should settle for less than the happiest of endings. If you look carefully, however, I believe the movie suggests that it's when we walk into love with unrealistic expectations - the kind that stem from fairy tales like "Cinderella" - when we get hurt. It's not that we should settle for less than happily ever after, it's that we should realize that a fairy tale wedding plus happily ever after isn't the only option out there.
As Carrie says, "we were perfectly happy before we decided to live happily ever after." And they ARE clearly happy, before Carrie gets caught up in creating the kind of fairy tale wedding that every little girl is supposed to dream of, before the day becomes more about her wearing a princess dress and less about the life-long commitment of two people in love. When Carrie forgets that her story is not a fairy tale, she ends up jilted at the altar.
Of course, as Carrie says, "some people do get their fairy tale." Charlotte gets everything she's ever wanted: a loving husband, a beautiful home, and two children. But that's Charlotte's fairy tale, not everyone else's. Samantha leaves a five-year relationship because she'd rather be alone. That's certainly not a traditional decision, but in Sam's fairy tale, she's single. It doesn't devalue that relationship for her to not live happily ever after in it - as Carrie says, "some love stories aren't epic novels, they're short stories, but that doesn't make them any less filled with love."
In the end, Carrie takes Mr. Big back. But I don't believe this is a lesson in accepting less than you deserve. I think this is a lesson in understanding that real life doesn't always live up to the expectations that fairy tales set up for us. What SatC suggests to me is that there isn't only one way to love, or only one way to get your happily ever after. When Carrie reads "Cinderella" to Lily, then says to her, "you know, things don't always happen like this in real life," I don't believe it suggests happy endings are impossible. I believe it means that things don't have to end up exactly like they do in the fairy tales for the ending to be happy.
Some critics are dissatisfied with the ending of the SatC movie, believing that it suggests that women should settle for less than the happiest of endings. If you look carefully, however, I believe the movie suggests that it's when we walk into love with unrealistic expectations - the kind that stem from fairy tales like "Cinderella" - when we get hurt. It's not that we should settle for less than happily ever after, it's that we should realize that a fairy tale wedding plus happily ever after isn't the only option out there.
As Carrie says, "we were perfectly happy before we decided to live happily ever after." And they ARE clearly happy, before Carrie gets caught up in creating the kind of fairy tale wedding that every little girl is supposed to dream of, before the day becomes more about her wearing a princess dress and less about the life-long commitment of two people in love. When Carrie forgets that her story is not a fairy tale, she ends up jilted at the altar.
Of course, as Carrie says, "some people do get their fairy tale." Charlotte gets everything she's ever wanted: a loving husband, a beautiful home, and two children. But that's Charlotte's fairy tale, not everyone else's. Samantha leaves a five-year relationship because she'd rather be alone. That's certainly not a traditional decision, but in Sam's fairy tale, she's single. It doesn't devalue that relationship for her to not live happily ever after in it - as Carrie says, "some love stories aren't epic novels, they're short stories, but that doesn't make them any less filled with love."
In the end, Carrie takes Mr. Big back. But I don't believe this is a lesson in accepting less than you deserve. I think this is a lesson in understanding that real life doesn't always live up to the expectations that fairy tales set up for us. What SatC suggests to me is that there isn't only one way to love, or only one way to get your happily ever after. When Carrie reads "Cinderella" to Lily, then says to her, "you know, things don't always happen like this in real life," I don't believe it suggests happy endings are impossible. I believe it means that things don't have to end up exactly like they do in the fairy tales for the ending to be happy.
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