I wasn’t sure if the Oscars would be too easy of a target for this blog, but then again we are looking for fairytale references that just pop up in life and where better to look than the epitome/showcase of the Hollywood dream. I may have missed some, but the fairytale allusions I picked up were in the opening number (Neil Patrick Harris sings, “Can’t imagine Cinderella without the ball”), the announcement of the nominees for Best Animated Feature Film (“Once Upon A Dream” from Disney’s Sleeping Beauty played in the background), and, of course, Oprah’s detailed and dramatic introduction to Gabourey Sidibe’s nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Oprah told the story of how Gabourey’s new life began over a three day period in which she auditioned for a role in the film “Precious” and was selected for the part, and she gives her the ultimate aspired-to label of success when she calls Gabourey a “true American Cinderella” and says, “If that ain’t a Hollywood fairytale, what is?”
In the general sense of the words, there seemed to be quite a few “fairytale endings” at the 82nd Academy Awards. Once could see this in the amount of “firsts” emphasized: Kathryn Bigelow as the first woman to win Best Director, Sandra Bullock’s first Oscar nomination and award, and countless others who received their first Oscars after having been nominated in past years. It is interesting how much we focus on the rise element of the Cinderella-story with a special emphasis on the fact that it can happen to anyone from any background. Once again it becomes obvious how so many people in society devote their lives to achieving their seemingly unattainable dreams and how they find solace and hope in witnessing the success of others. Many Oscar winners’ speeches included messages about doing what you love, doing what is right in the face of adversity, and never giving up on your dreams. In the face of songs such as TSwift’s “Today Was A Fairytale,” which doesn’t venture past stereotypical ideas on teenage dating, fairytale references such as those seen at the Oscars, while admittedly overused and rather cliché, seem to somehow manage to give the idea of the fairytale a bit more respect and dignity in that they are about passions and the culmination of years of working hard on a vision that got those winners where they are today.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
iTunes "Fairy Tale" Movies
I was searching iTunes movies this weekend and discovered that under the "Romance" category, there is a smaller subcategory of movies that is called "Fantasies, Fairy Tales, and Princesses." (I love the last part..."and Princesses" haha) Movies in this category include:
As for Maid in Manhattan, Enchanted, and Cinderella Story, we're back to the Disney/beating-you-over-the-head fairy tale plot. These are fairy tales, but definitely more of the modern, happy, Americanized idea of the genre.
Ghost and Roman Holiday are a stretch... I feel like they needed somewhere to put these and plopped them in there. I realize you could categorize "Ghost" as a fantasy, but there are a lot of other films that involve ghosts, heaven, hell, angels, devils, and other religious symbols that aren't included in this "Everything Fantastical Catch-All Category." Furthermore, if prince charming said "ditto" when the princess told him "I love you," I think the fairy tale would lose a lot of the romance...
- The Time Traveler's Wife (fantasy? maybe)
- Enchanted (no way, is that a fairy tale spoof?)
- 13 Going on 30 (again, fantasy)
- A Cinderella Story (I think this is the movie with Hilary Duff? so "princess" theme?)
- Ever After ("fairy tale")
- Roman Holiday (I don't think this fits)
- Ghost (um...fantastical elements of heaven/hell/devils/ghosts?)
- Maid in Manhattan (extremely original modern pseudo-Cinderella story)
- a slew of other movies that really don't fit into this category at all
As for Maid in Manhattan, Enchanted, and Cinderella Story, we're back to the Disney/beating-you-over-the-head fairy tale plot. These are fairy tales, but definitely more of the modern, happy, Americanized idea of the genre.
Ghost and Roman Holiday are a stretch... I feel like they needed somewhere to put these and plopped them in there. I realize you could categorize "Ghost" as a fantasy, but there are a lot of other films that involve ghosts, heaven, hell, angels, devils, and other religious symbols that aren't included in this "Everything Fantastical Catch-All Category." Furthermore, if prince charming said "ditto" when the princess told him "I love you," I think the fairy tale would lose a lot of the romance...
Beauty and the Benicio Del Toro
I was given the unfortunate task of watching The Wolfman for another class. Somehow, I found myself relating it to Happily Never After. Congrats, Gretchen, on interscholastic domination.
The movie takes place in 19th century London, apparently a time when Benicio Del Toro is even uglier and Anthony Hopkins more boring. BDT is bitten by a werewolf, who turns out to be his father (Hopkins), thus commencing a montage of ripping out vital organs. I'll save you ten bucks by describing the next hour of the movie: kill, kill, kill, screaming, blood, Del Toro awkwardly flirting with dead brother's wife, more killing, more blood, make out scene with bro's wife, Anthony Hopkins turns into a wolf (his true form in real life)/gets head chopped off by wolf-Del Toro in epic wolf-fight, wolf-Del Toro has precious moment with bro's wife who promptly shoots him in the chest. Fade to black.
How does this relate to fairy tales? Well, after Del Toro is bitten by the wolfman, a stereotypically soothsaying gypsy describes how his beast-like curse may only be lifted by the love of a woman. BDT encounters his dead brother's wife and promptly falls in love (perfectly normal in London, I guess). She knows of his curse, but learns to love him back. There is the initial fear, the awkward flirting, the declaration of true love, and that precious scene in the end where the woman and cursed hell-animal both look through their physical limitations to find only true love. Sounds a lot like Beauty and the Beast to me.
However, the difference between this low-income abomination and a fairy tale Beauty and Beast story is the happy ending. More accurately, the lack of one. True love saves the beast, but only in the form of him turning around long enough for the beauty to shoot him in the chest. In effect, she saves him from himself and his natural inclination to make hors d'oeuvres out of unsuspecting townsfolk. Not exactly Disney-worthy. But the fact that this story contains fairy tale elements, even in a horror setting, shows the transcendent nature of some of the stories we've been reading.
I'd love to end this with something witty, but it's midterm week, so here's a link to a dancing bear instead:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0UQ27J5w_c
The movie takes place in 19th century London, apparently a time when Benicio Del Toro is even uglier and Anthony Hopkins more boring. BDT is bitten by a werewolf, who turns out to be his father (Hopkins), thus commencing a montage of ripping out vital organs. I'll save you ten bucks by describing the next hour of the movie: kill, kill, kill, screaming, blood, Del Toro awkwardly flirting with dead brother's wife, more killing, more blood, make out scene with bro's wife, Anthony Hopkins turns into a wolf (his true form in real life)/gets head chopped off by wolf-Del Toro in epic wolf-fight, wolf-Del Toro has precious moment with bro's wife who promptly shoots him in the chest. Fade to black.
How does this relate to fairy tales? Well, after Del Toro is bitten by the wolfman, a stereotypically soothsaying gypsy describes how his beast-like curse may only be lifted by the love of a woman. BDT encounters his dead brother's wife and promptly falls in love (perfectly normal in London, I guess). She knows of his curse, but learns to love him back. There is the initial fear, the awkward flirting, the declaration of true love, and that precious scene in the end where the woman and cursed hell-animal both look through their physical limitations to find only true love. Sounds a lot like Beauty and the Beast to me.
However, the difference between this low-income abomination and a fairy tale Beauty and Beast story is the happy ending. More accurately, the lack of one. True love saves the beast, but only in the form of him turning around long enough for the beauty to shoot him in the chest. In effect, she saves him from himself and his natural inclination to make hors d'oeuvres out of unsuspecting townsfolk. Not exactly Disney-worthy. But the fact that this story contains fairy tale elements, even in a horror setting, shows the transcendent nature of some of the stories we've been reading.
I'd love to end this with something witty, but it's midterm week, so here's a link to a dancing bear instead:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0UQ27J5w_c
"Marry Him" author encourages women to "settle"
Lori Gottlieb, the author of Marry Him: The Case for Settling for Mr. Good Enough, surveyed women and men and discovered that when asked, “If you got 80 percent of everything you wanted—of your ideal traits in a mate or partner—would you be happy?,” the majority of women said, “No, that’s settling.” On the other hand, the majority of men said, “Eighty percent? I’d be thrilled; that’s a catch.” The women in Gottlieb’s survey are clearly searching for the fairy tale ending, the soul mate who will complete them.
Gottlieb differentiates between lowering your expectations and lowering your standards. She notes: “Lower your expectations is saying, ‘be realistic.’ If you just put us all in a dating lineup, we’re not going to get perfect ratings from the world at large. We should lower our expectations in the sense of, we have to realize nobody is perfect. If you have unrealistic expectations, it’s going to be hard to find a real human being who can meet them.” Lowering your standards is settling for traits that are undesirable for many people, such as domestic violence.
Why do women (and a small minority of men) set such high expectations for their partners? I believe, and Gottlieb would agree, that our society equates success with perfection. The perfect life includes beautiful children (a boy and a girl, of course), the large house with the white picket fence, and a great career, that is not only emotionally, but financially satisfying. These aspects of “perfection” must include the perfect mate, who is not only physically attractive, but kind, funny, emotionally secure, and the person who completes us, who never fails to support us, and who is always there for us. But, I think we are asking too much of love, too much of our mates. The first relationships built on love were built on mutual respect and affection. The idea that a single person can completely satisfy us emotionally and physically is simply asking too much of love.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/02/24/lori.gottlieb.marry.him/index.html?hpt=Sbin
Gottlieb differentiates between lowering your expectations and lowering your standards. She notes: “Lower your expectations is saying, ‘be realistic.’ If you just put us all in a dating lineup, we’re not going to get perfect ratings from the world at large. We should lower our expectations in the sense of, we have to realize nobody is perfect. If you have unrealistic expectations, it’s going to be hard to find a real human being who can meet them.” Lowering your standards is settling for traits that are undesirable for many people, such as domestic violence.
Why do women (and a small minority of men) set such high expectations for their partners? I believe, and Gottlieb would agree, that our society equates success with perfection. The perfect life includes beautiful children (a boy and a girl, of course), the large house with the white picket fence, and a great career, that is not only emotionally, but financially satisfying. These aspects of “perfection” must include the perfect mate, who is not only physically attractive, but kind, funny, emotionally secure, and the person who completes us, who never fails to support us, and who is always there for us. But, I think we are asking too much of love, too much of our mates. The first relationships built on love were built on mutual respect and affection. The idea that a single person can completely satisfy us emotionally and physically is simply asking too much of love.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/02/24/lori.gottlieb.marry.him/index.html?hpt=Sbin
Zoo Fairytale
So in trying to find something about fairytales to do this blog, I came across an article about a Frog Ball taking place at the Oregon Zoo on March 14th. You can read it here. Basically in collaboration with the release of The Princess and the Frog on DVD, the Oregon Zoo is having a Frog Conservation Ball. Normally I wouldn't think much of this type of thing since zoos are always having various special exhibits to raise awareness about a certain species or animal in particular. What I thought was a little over the top with this one is not only will it be about Frog Conservation, but they will also incorporate fairytale themed activities. Some of the activities they are planning are an interactive watershed exhibit, frog kissing, a costume parade, and picture opportunities at the royal castle scene. Radio Disney will also be handing out goodie bags to all kids and one lucky winner will get a $150 The Princess and the Frog gift basket.
While the idea of tying in the amphibian conservation effort with the release of the DVD is a great way to generate knowledge of the efforts as well as to get people to go to not only the exhibit but the zoo itself, I feel they have gone a little overboard with the whole fairytale tie-in. I mean the kids are going to want to go and win the gift basket, not learn about clean water efforts in the Portland area. While frogs are cool, the kids would rather be playing dress-up and doing prince and princess activities than learning about what should be done to save a frog. And another thing that bugs me is that while they are trying to teach the kids about conservation of amphibians, they are serving the kids a frog themed lunch! Sorta hard to conserve frogs when you are eating them...
I think this just goes to show how ubiquitous fairytales, especially Disney ones have become in the world today. I know that I personally am starting to get sick of seeing the Disney Princesses everywhere and to think you can't even escape them when you go to the zoo anymore. Next thing you know there will be a professional sports team named the Princesses.
While the idea of tying in the amphibian conservation effort with the release of the DVD is a great way to generate knowledge of the efforts as well as to get people to go to not only the exhibit but the zoo itself, I feel they have gone a little overboard with the whole fairytale tie-in. I mean the kids are going to want to go and win the gift basket, not learn about clean water efforts in the Portland area. While frogs are cool, the kids would rather be playing dress-up and doing prince and princess activities than learning about what should be done to save a frog. And another thing that bugs me is that while they are trying to teach the kids about conservation of amphibians, they are serving the kids a frog themed lunch! Sorta hard to conserve frogs when you are eating them...
I think this just goes to show how ubiquitous fairytales, especially Disney ones have become in the world today. I know that I personally am starting to get sick of seeing the Disney Princesses everywhere and to think you can't even escape them when you go to the zoo anymore. Next thing you know there will be a professional sports team named the Princesses.
Snow White in Madison, WI
I was in Madison, Wisconsin yesterday for an interview and afterwards decided to walk around the town before heading back to South Bend. I walked into a bookstore and as I was looking around, I saw some magnet figurines that were supposed to look like famous people and characters. I saw one with a bright yellow skirt and a purplish top and somehow Snow White immediately came to mind. I checked the tag and this magnet was an image of Snow White … it looked nothing like her (I really wish I had taken a picture, but I forgot – I’d drive back and take one but then I would probably miss class). It was quite ugly, but I was very surprised how quickly I, who have probably only seen the Disney Snow White movie once in my life (a long, long time ago), could recognize her. Those movies I watched as a young child must have had a fairly profound impact on me if I still see a small doll with a yellow skirt and a purple top and immediately see Snow White. This got me wondering just how much Disney has impacted my life and in what other ways. How differently would I see things if I hadn’t watched Disney movies growing up? What other preconceptions and reactions I have are because of those stories? Has any of my personality or my beliefs been shaped by the movies I watched as a young child? I don’t know if I’ll ever know the answer to those questions, but my experience yesterday certainly made me think about it.
New York's Governor Race Heats Up
I'm from New York. No, not the city. It's actually a large state, and 95% of its land mass is occupied by people who choose not to live within miles of 8 million of their closest friends, murderers, rapists, and mother-in-laws. The state of New York is almost as big of a political joke as the city of Chicago. We even beat out California and DC. Remember our last elected governor? That would be Eliot Spitzer, the man who needed a hooker every week. Then David Paterson took over, the state legislature fell apart, and now his top aide is beating his wife. Where am I going with this? Kristin Davis has thrown her hat into the ring as a candidate in the upcoming gubernatorial election. Not Charlotte from the oft mentioned Sex and the City, this would be Spitzer's "Manhattan Madam". Without going into too much detail, she's exactly what you're thinking she is.
This isn't yet a fairytale, and may never be. But Kristin Davis is giving New Yorkers a new type of protagonist to root for. This struck me in light of our recent conversations on feminism and fairy tales. Ms. Davis is writing her own fairy tale, one in which the woman is standing up for herself, and taking it to the men who have used her (cough Spitzer cough). And she sure as hell isn't waiting for a knight in shining armor. During a press conference she laid out her platform quite simply, P squared. Prostitution and Pot. She argues that legalizing these two "vices" will bring in enough tax revenue to not only cover the deficit, but allow New York to cut some of the highest taxes in the Union. In addition, Kristin believes she is standing up for women's rights, telling the government that they have no right to instruct a woman how to use her body. She won't be winning any evangelical popularity contests, and frankly her chances of winning are almost as low as the odds of the Mets becoming relevant. But she's a shock to the system, a messed up system that residents are sick of. I probably don't agree with everything Ms. Davis believes, but she can't be worse than what we have. This November, I will be voting to make this fairytale come true.
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