Who's Fairy Tale?-Aaron Deck

In this week’s reading Yours, Mine, or Ours? Perrault, the Brothers Grimm, and the Ownership of Fairy Tales, by Donald Haase I found some pretty though provoking information. I started off the college experience with my undergrad degree in history, so usually, I find all things historical interesting. It is also very fascinating how history plays into literature, and of course, history was a large part of this Fairy Tale course as well. With all that being said, I had no idea that the Grimm’s tales played a huge role in the nationalist movement in Germany with Hessians. I knew that some of the Prussian Army fought with Napoleon, but I’m sure that this was an occupational thing and totally against the German nationalist mindset. It was probably insulting to the Hessians as well.

Germans are typically a proud people, and this pride has traditionally been linked to strong nationalistic fervor, along with a strong military presence. I’m speaking before to and up until World War II, so it is very intriguing historically the dialogue between French and German when it comes to the nationalistic vibe of the Grimm’s fairytales. I also was not aware that as Haase stated “by the end of World War II, the German fairy tale had fallen into such disrepute that during the Allied occupation of Germany fairy tales were viewed with serious suspicion and banned from the public school curriculum” (438). And this postwar view continued almost 40 years later into the 1980s according to the essay (Haas 438). I’m not sure what childhood would have been like without some of these fairytales, I would feel differently about these fairy tales because they would be unfamiliar. Maybe this is also why Disney decided to use a Perrault version of Cinderella opposed to a typically Grimm version. There’s not much difference honestly, but it was interesting to read that essay because I’ve never thought of fairy tales being any particular nation’s property. Whether there were German elements, or French, I’ve always thought of these stories as being a shared collection of tales which do change and may be considered sacred, although I couldn’t imagine a childhood without fairy tales and the stirring of a child’s imagination.

 

Haase, Donald. “Yours, Mine, Ours? Perrault, the Brothers Grimm, and the Ownership of Fairy Tales.” The Classic Fairytales, 2nd ed. Edited by Maria Tartar, W.W Norton and Company, 2017, pp. 435-446.

Review of a Modern Fairy Tale - Cinderella

  The contemporary rendition of Cinderella released in 2015 followed some of the guidelines which we have seen in previous versions by Disney. The story also stayed within the parameters of the classic tales of the Grimms and Perrault to a certain extent less the violence of course. In design, the 2015 version of Cinderella was ultimately made for children viewers, but also adds a little more interest to the adult audience than the typical cartoon version with which we all are probably familiar. The overall theme of the movie is to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. In the words of Cinderella, “we must have courage and be kind,” as this phrase was repeated multiple times in the movie. So generally, if you are kind unto others then that kindness, in the end, will reciprocate to good fortune upon you. There are of course other themes like living plainly and not gaudy which parallel this particular mindset, but this would seem to be the main point of the movie.

  For some reason, just like with older Disney versions of Cinderella or Snow White there are magical elements to this movie which add a little panache and help to arouse the imagination of children who watch these films. Of course, I’m talking about the Fairy Godmother in the story, but also with the enchanted like mice who act like people and seem to understand what Cinderella is telling them. It seemed as if Cinderella had a special connection with nature and her natural surroundings. This helped to empower her in the movie and especially when the prince and his entourage were searching for her.

  Just like with many versions of Cinderella the parents fell upon tragedy and the father who neglectfully traveled regularly leaves his daughter alone to be ridiculed while he is a merchant on the road. The stepmother played by Cate Blanchett in this movie in comparison to Cinderella was mean, deceitful, jealous, and cunning, almost the total opposite of her. She was the representation of what not to be, on a mission to further herself through her daughter’s happiness. This behavior is starkly juxtaposed to the actions of Cinderella. She was kind to her even after realizing that the prince had come to take her away from her attic dungeon. Cinderella told her stepmother that she forgave her for what she had done.

  Some of the striking similarities to this version compared to other older versions of Cinderella were the father’s trip. This was where he promises to bring something back for his stepdaughters and daughter. Cinderella requested for him to bring back a branch, while the stepsisters asked for a dress and some facial products. This was similar to the Grimm version. The glass slippers seem to be a central theme to Cinderella, although the fairy godmother and magic are more of a Disney addition. The stepmother did get banished although there is no comment besides her exiting the kingdom after the prince and Cinderella are married. And one interesting difference in this movie compared to other versions of the story was how the prince and Cinderella first meet. In this film, they seem to fall in love almost at first sight when they meet early on in the forest while the Prince is on the hunt. He then toys with the idea that he wants to marry a commoner, but the King wants him to marry nobility. This is one of the internal struggles of the Prince who loves his father and wants to obey his will, but his heart does not follow suit. In the end, his father saw how his son felt and how wonderful Cinderella is and gave into his previous idea about nobility versus love.

  Largely this movie was an excellent adaptation of the story of Cinderella which appeals to a family audience, adults, and children alike. Cinderella had a feel good theme and taught a good moral lesson in which good begets evil and kindness wins over wickedness. The characters were picked well and put on a heartfelt performance, which didn’t come off as corny or typical.

Works Cited

Cinderella. Directed by Kenneth Branagh, performances by Cate Blanchett, Lily James, Richard Madden, Stellan Skarsgard, Holliday Grainger, Derek Jacobi, and Helena Bonham Carter, Disney, 2015.

Fairy Tale Revision-Cinderella

There was once a single middle-aged woman named Lady Tremaine who had two beautiful daughters. Unfortunately, Tremaine’s husband had passed away some time ago, and she was looking for a little bit of stability, less the type provided by her stature and ties to all the richest elite ladies in the fine Southern city of Atlanta. She also longed for more than anything the happiness which could only be given by a male hubby who could provide for her while she starred on the TV show The Real Housewives of Atlanta.  So it would come to pass that this misses would find a good Southern charmer to her liking that had more than a few things in common, to include a daughter of his own. His daughter was very tomboyish and unlike Tremaine’s daughters and because of this his daughter’s name just happened to be Cinderella.

No matter how much Lady Tremaine tried to appeal to Cinderella, incorporating her into what she and her daughters were doing and treat her like her daughter, it was apparent that she was just a loner and wanted nothing to do with any of it. No matter how many Versace Dresses, and Louis Vuitton handbags Tremaine would buy for Cinderella, it would not matter. She instead preferred to wear a t-shirt and yoga pants and just sit around the house on her cell phone or playing video games. This was when she was not playing around with the animals in the stables on the family’s five-acre estate just outside the city in the burbs. Cinderella was staunchly her mother’s child and was not agreeable with Lady Tremaine nor her daughter. And it was not as if Cinderella’s father was there to help; it’s almost as if Cinderella could do no wrong in his eyes.

So, it came to pass that one day that one of the state appointed officials of the great city put on a rave to which he invited all of the upstanding young ladies of the burbs. He did this so that he could find his son Atticus a possible big booty boo. Lady Tremaine saw this as an opportunity to get her daughters hooked up. They were quite fine and about the right age and stature to start thinking about finding a man and getting out of the house. Tremaine graciously invited Cinderella to attend, thinking that the young girl could get cleaned up and have a good time. Cinderella did not want to participate because that means she would have to get all dolled up and get out of the house. She did not see the point in getting all dolled up for a man and preferred her video games and horses. And besides, she had been working on getting her Farmer’s Only profile started anyhow. Cinderella also preferred not to shower on a daily basis because it did not fit into her hipster lifestyle.

Lady Tremaine’s daughters attended the rave, and one of them was getting some hard looks from Atticus. Her name happened to be Drizella, she was one of the finest ladies in the club, and it was no wonder that she caught Atticus’ eye. After some wining and dining, Drizella decided that it was time for her to make her way home and since she was a little naïve, she did not realize that Atticus was interested, so she left without saying goodbye. However, on her way out she broke one of her heels on the piece of metal where the dancefloor attaches to the regular tile floor. Because of this, she decided to throw her shoes away in the trash and make her way home barefoot and besides she caught a cab just outside next to the bouncer. Atticus realized that Drizella left without telling him and he tried to pursue her to tell her how fine she was and instead found some heels in a waste basket.

Atticus was mesmerized because of this experience and wanted to find this excellent looking boo who so had caught his eye. The next night Atticus searched and searched the all the dance clubs in the city but could not find anyone who would fit the heels. He paid hella cover charges in this process of trying to find Drizella. Finally, the prince came to a country ho down bar and it just so happens that Cinderella had decided to go out after meeting a couple of guys on Farmer’s Only. Now unbeknownst to the family besides Cinderella, not only did she spend quite a bit of time with horses in the stables but there were also some enchanted chimpanzees which made the young, unkempt woman’s company. Now, these chimps had been fed and taken care of for quite some time by Cinderella after escaping from the Atlanta zoo. These chimpanzees knew that Cinderella had never had a boo and wanted to do something nice for her. Since they were enchanted, they could, of course, make the impossible possible. The enchanted chimpanzees decided that they wanted to see Cinderella happy, so they magically cleansed her and made fixed her up with new clothes, with a wave of a magic monkey paw. When the prince came to the country themed club, he saw Cinderella, and they got to talking. He decided to see if the heels fit her. Now it so happens that Cinderella’s feet just happened to be the same size as Drizella’s, unfortunately for her. Even though Atticus knew this was not the same woman he swept Cinderella off her feet, took her to back to his place. This is considering that Atticus was quite a player anyway and was the type of guy who had a different girl just about every other day. Even though Cinderella’s man wasn’t exactly faithful, eventually she moved into his place, because apparently, she couldn’t do any better and deep down she liked the drama.

So it came to be that poor Drizella lost out to the happily ever after drama story because of the trifling behavior of Cinderella and her chimpanzee. It is not clear whether the prince ever found out about Cinderella and her real hipster nature because the enchanted chimpanzee would follow her to the Atticus’ crib and before she awoke cast a grooming spell on her to make her more desirable to him each day. It so how appears that even though the stepmother Lady Tremaine was so kind to Cinderella, she did not repay the kindness and never talked to her family again. Although Lady Tremaine did put that trifling Cinderella out on “front street” on The Real Housewives Reunion Part 1, but that’s another story.