I feel like the fairy tales piece is right *next to* something interesting. (And disclaimer, I haven't read it!) Fairy tales, when first canonized in the 1700s and 1800s, did deliberately reinforce norms of their time. Charles Perrault, a seminal fairy tale author in early 1700s France, used his stories to promote chastity, suitable marriage for girls, and other values of the French bourgeoisie at the time. His "Red Riding Hood" ends with an explicit warning about predatory men. The Brothers Grimm first published their stories in 1812. In subsequent editions, they removed sexual content (e.g. the prince didn't just *kiss* Rapunzel in the original) and increased some of the violence. Maria Tatar's "The Hard Facts of the Grimms' Fairy Tales" discusses this and is a pretty great book!
So, these fairy tales have been canonized, more or less, for 200-300 years. They've been further tidied up by Disney and re-canonized for the last 70 years, and again molded to reinforce the current culture. For example, the Queen wants Snow White's lungs and liver in the Grimms' version, but that's a little too much violence for Disney (understandably.)
I think the idea of reworking fairy tale themes is great for adult readers: e.g., Angela Carter's "The Bloody Chamber" and Neil Gaiman's "Snow, Glass, and Apples." But the key is to have an original to explore. If your original is how Cinderella goes to college, queers something, and opens a diverse business...who'd ever want to read more? It's the blend of fantastical and disturbing that makes the originals so enduring. Just as you said, taking that away seems purely destructive. And...thank you for coming to my TED talk. LOL.
As always, super awesome analysis of both pieces. It's crazy it's so controversial to say women are women and men are men - what would Charles Perrault think?
I feel like the fairy tales piece is right *next to* something interesting. (And disclaimer, I haven't read it!) Fairy tales, when first canonized in the 1700s and 1800s, did deliberately reinforce norms of their time. Charles Perrault, a seminal fairy tale author in early 1700s France, used his stories to promote chastity, suitable marriage for girls, and other values of the French bourgeoisie at the time. His "Red Riding Hood" ends with an explicit warning about predatory men. The Brothers Grimm first published their stories in 1812. In subsequent editions, they removed sexual content (e.g. the prince didn't just *kiss* Rapunzel in the original) and increased some of the violence. Maria Tatar's "The Hard Facts of the Grimms' Fairy Tales" discusses this and is a pretty great book!
So, these fairy tales have been canonized, more or less, for 200-300 years. They've been further tidied up by Disney and re-canonized for the last 70 years, and again molded to reinforce the current culture. For example, the Queen wants Snow White's lungs and liver in the Grimms' version, but that's a little too much violence for Disney (understandably.)
I think the idea of reworking fairy tale themes is great for adult readers: e.g., Angela Carter's "The Bloody Chamber" and Neil Gaiman's "Snow, Glass, and Apples." But the key is to have an original to explore. If your original is how Cinderella goes to college, queers something, and opens a diverse business...who'd ever want to read more? It's the blend of fantastical and disturbing that makes the originals so enduring. Just as you said, taking that away seems purely destructive. And...thank you for coming to my TED talk. LOL.
As always, super awesome analysis of both pieces. It's crazy it's so controversial to say women are women and men are men - what would Charles Perrault think?