Fairy Tale Origins
The stories behind the fairy tales, myths and legends we live by.
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I was a bit shocked to see this image this morning on Sociological Images. The first African American Disney princess likes watermelon? Really, Disney? This is really in very poor taste and I’m shocked Disney would let this one slip past them. The origins of the stereotype that African American love watermelon dates back to pre-civil war days when it was used in propaganda posters to show that slaves were simple minded people that were happy with a watermelon and a bit of shade and would be too overwhelmed with the concept of freedom so they were best left slaves. In that light this was really tasteless and thoughtless to include on packaging for kids, especially for a character as empowering as Tiana has been for many children who now have a Disney princess that looked like them. Way to drop the ball on this one, Disney.
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The Real Housewives of Disney
Probably the best spot from Saturday Night Live last night was their spoof on Real Housewives reality shows with a Disney rift (with LiLo as Rapunzel who just escaped the tower, natch). These fairy tales are such a ubiquitous part of our culture that the princess in-jokes could effortlessly be reduced to a series of one line zingers even if they were largely in poor taste.
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Photo reblogged from Fairy Tale Scrapbook
Just wanted to show what I was talking about earlier with regards to modern retellings of Little Red Riding Hood and the inversion of the roles to be found therin, particularly in modern American retellings.
“Little Red Mugging Hood”
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Photo reblogged from Fuck Yeah Fairy Tales
Many modern fairy tale retellings take the fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood and flip it to make her the hunter and the wolf the prey. This illustration takes things one step further and also has her hunt the other prey of the wolf. She is no longer acting in self defense (the wolf’s head on the wall proves that) but instead has replaced him and has picked up where he left off with his destructive, devouring ways as she prepares to eat the three little pigs. There’s a line between empowering women to be strong, wily, no longer defenseless, and turning them into needlessly violent characters that seek out defenseless prey themselves for their own sick enjoyment.
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Photo reblogged from Close your eyes and make-believe
An interesting twist on the fairy tale of the Three Little Pigs with the Big Bad Wolf giving up his huffing and puffing ways and instead enlisting the help of the Angry Birds to get at his prey.
(Source: itsfarah)
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Photo reblogged from Fairy Tale Mood
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An ad spot for The Guardian takes the fairy tale The Three Little Pigs and shows how it would play out in the 21st century with the main stream media descending, news pundits putting in their two cents, digital recreations of the crime scene being created alongside conspiracy theories, and of course people from all over the world tweeting and voting and commenting on it via social media. The result is a fascinating view into how our culture devours news stories (in a wolf like manner) and uses those same stories to mirror ourselves (like a vain evil queen) as we personalize and internalize these issues. The climax is viewing this news coverage as a call to arms to protect out own (like valiant princes everywhere) and by extension ourselves. How the happily ever after eventually comes about has yet to be seen.
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ABC recently announced an order for a new one-hour pilot based on Beauty and the Beast – about a week after The CW announced their own pilot for the same kind of show (though they claim theirs is a crime drama). Add to this the successful 3D re-release of the 1991 Disney animated film and it seems like it’s shaping up to be a great year for Belle and all her talking-furniture friends.
We’ve already revisited some other Beauty and the Beast-like girl-loves-ugly-boy couples – now let’s look at the many interpretations of the original French fairy tale that have surfaced throughout pop culture.
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Quote reblogged from Fairy Tale MoodListen, then,” said the old woman. “After the marriage ceremony is over, and when it is time for you to retire to rest, you must ask to be dressed in ten snow-white shifts. And you must then ask for a tub full of lye,” (that is, washing water prepared with wood-ashes) “and a tub full of fresh milk, and as many whips as a boy can carry in his arms,—and have all these brought into your bed-chamber. Then, when the Lindworm tells you to shed a shift, do you bid him slough a skin. And when all his skins are off, you must dip the whips in the lye and whip him; next, you must wash him in the fresh milk; and, lastly, you must take him and hold him in your arms, if it’s only for one moment.“Prince Lindworm” from East of the Sun and West of the Moon by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Engebretsen Moe (read it at Project Gutenberg)
(Source: fairytalemood)
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Photo reblogged from Norman Conquests are a Family Speciality
“The North Wind Went over the Sea” from East of the Sun, West of the Moon by Kay Nielsen.
