"Fairy Tale"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8JRtGMBUz0

this is song from the Eurovision contest that was held this past year in Moscow. The interesting thing about this song is the text. The take on the song is very interesting, and I don't know what to properly make of it. The mood seems to contradict itself, and is slighty bipolar. From verse to verse the mood changes. For example he sings "Years ago, when I was younger/ I kinda liked a girl I knew/ she was mine and we were sweethearts." It's very superficial, and nothing quite so deep. This seems to follow more the pop culture views on fairy tale, the "happily ever after" concept.

This contradicts heavily with the chorus "I'm in love with a fairy tale/ Even though it hurts/ Cause I don't care if I lose my mind/ I'm already cursed." Very dark lyrics for something that starts out so happy-go-lucky. I don't know which one to believe, it this really a careless love song, or something much darker? the visual aspects of the chorus follow what I've come to discover over this semester in the literary aspects of fairy tales. Something more morbid, more along the lines of Bluebeard

I think this song, though written for a European contest, proves something interesting about society's relationship with fairy tales. We want the best of both worlds, I think, the entertainment aspect of the death, destruction, and mayhem, along with the pleasing and optimistic characteristics of happily ever after.

Magazine work

So this past weekend I've been working on getting my articles for this magazine in line. I'm finding it to be a very interesting project, as far as creativity is concerned. I've started 'transcribing' my oral presentation into an actual paper, and that is proving to be not something to demanding. I've decided to take it and do the 'spin' aspect of it, and only trying to focus on making it relate to our magazine theme. Since my presentation was on gendering and my magazine in on princess feminism, I've been able to focus on women and how they are gendered.

I've also had similar creative success with my creative project. I'm writing the featured column, and am focusing on the 'woman on woman' abuse. I've taken a stance and get to almost play something of a different character with the writing. I hope to carry that over into the construction of our project, as I think it would help to better 'sell' the magazine. I feel confident with the others in my group, and I do think we'll come up with something that will be very good.

Newspaper Beginnings

On Tuesday we began our last presentation project. This seems like a cool idea and I'm both a little nervous and excited to begin it, basically because not only do we have to write something very good, but we must present it.

After going over logistics of what to do, we broke into groups, and I was soon named editor of our magazine. I don't think that that will be too difficult of a job, and I'm pretty sure that we've gotten our magazine off to a good start. I think we have a good topic, and that we are going to approach the making of this magazine. We are going with a feminist approach, and focusing mainly on Cinderella, and how to become a more independent person.

We will see tomorrow just how well the magazine begins to come together. I hope that we have a good working layout and that we can move it along well.

Cinderella Man

I happened to notice that a movie was released called "Cinderella Man" the other day and did some investigation, because I thought it would be good blogging material, just to see what it was all about, and I have to say that the title is no coincidence. The plot of the movie, based on true life events, depicts the rise, fall, and then return of a boxer.

The similarities between this movie and the original tale(s) is uncanny, and leads me to believe that this movie must have been sculpted after the fairy tale. The movie is about a Jason Braddock, a famous boxer during the Depression, and how he was at the top of his boxing game, until he broke his hand in a match. This is much the same, in idea, to Cinderella, who was at once a princess, until her fortune is taken away. Braddock is forced to quit boxing and take up odd jobs in order to make an income, much like Cinderella is forced to work as a scullery maid, or a servant to her family.

The Cinderella part comes in when Braddock proves an upset, and goes on to challenge the heavyweight champion at the time. This could be seen as Cinderella receiving her dress to the ball, and dancing with the prince. And the movie ends with Braddock defeating the heavyweight champion, Max Baer, much to the suprise of everyone. This is similar to Cinderella being discovered as the girl from the ball.

The interesting thing is, is that most of this is based off of true life events. So is this life imitating art?

Batman as Bluebeard?

Today I was watching one of the many Batman movies. "Batman Forever" to be exact. What caught my attention about this that relates to fairy tales is a comment that Alfred, the butler, makes during one portion of the movie. In this movie, we learn how Robin came to join the Batman. As Alfred is giving him a tour of the Bruce Wayne Manor, Robin (aka Dick Greyson) asks Alfred "What's behind this door?" in reference to the door that leads to Bruce Wayne's Batman Cave. Alfred responds "Master Wayne's dead wives."

I just thought that comment was so interesting, and I began to think about how the idea of Bluebeard plays out in Batman. In a way it is the same, minus the whole killing part, but the basic concept is still there. People want to know who the Batman is, yet he has something off setting, a blue beard if you will, that keeps them away. Villians especially feel this, or atleast in the movie that was the driving force behind their attacks on Batman. So they pursue, out of curiosity, Batman, and punished for their actions, aka ending up in jail.

I just think that some type of copying went into the creation of Batman. Bluebeard seems like such a good archtype for a story that it begs to be copied for something. With Batman, I think the whole concept of curiosity and punishment are adopted to fit a different type of story.

Presentation #2

So this past tuesday I had my second presentation. I don't know how to feel about it, really. The others who presented did a really good job. I was quite impressed with how they did. I thought I did ok. That's it.

I feel like I tried to approach this in a different way than the others, but didn't know about it until after the fact. While most had a script, and a rehearsed presentation, I took a different route. Sure I mapped out what I wanted to do and how I wanted to go about saying it, but I used alot of room so that is sounded like I was speaking, and not reciting (I don't mean that in a bad way, it just is what it is). My feelings about these presentations are that they are supposed to be oral, and therefore when you just recit something you wrote down a week ago, it's not really speaking. Therefore I thought it best to have guidelines, an outline, a talking GPS if you will, and then follow it that way. With that, it sounds more personal, more natural, and not so rehearsed.

I was nervous, and I didn't rehearse as much as I could/should. I think all that showed through, but I think that I was able to present all my material in a concise point of view, and was able to prove my point.

Different for Disney?

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmlZhrmMAhc

This clip is for the newest movie that is coming from the Disney studios, the Princess and the Frog. The clip seems to show this movie as being along side the movies of the past, and being apart of Disney's great tradition.

Whether that will happen remains to be seen. I wonder if this movie will get to hung up on trying to be different, or is it trying to just be the same. It seems that Disney wants to play it safe by presenting a storyline similar to those movies of the past, the only thing this time is that the skin color of the main characters have changed. I think this is an important change for Disney, who never seems to have a main leading character that is black. They have used indians with Pocahontas, and chinese with Mulan, so it seems only natural that they would expand their cultural representations.

The movie looks like it will be similar to the link I posted earlier, from the Fractured fairy tales of Rocky and Bullwinkle. I think this shows Disney's attempt to get further away from what it's central topic, yet still maintain what it is. This is done by playing with the orginial storyline, yet still having the same elements that make this movie a Disney Movie.

I am pretty sure that this movie will be a commerical success, but will it break new grounds in the Disney world, or just end up being something it always has been?

Enchanted Song

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb2si7fClqA

this is a link to a clip from a recent Disney Movie "Enchanted." I haven't actually seen the movie but I found this cip while surfing through youtube. Apparently in the story a princess from a 'fairy tale' world appears in modern day New York, and must deal with being a fish out of water.

This clip is interesting because deals with a bunch of Disney stereotypes and parodies them. It goes to show that the Disney company knows what they have done to the fairy tale and are able to make fun of themselves for doing it. This is seen in the beginning when she calls the animals to help her clean the apartment. This is playing off the Cinderella movie, especially in the fact that in this clip she calls in real mice, where in the Cinderella movie she uses cute mice.

I don't know if the song was meant to be true or another parody. The song is a working song, and I don't know if they are still following in the theme they've set up. There is one scene that references Cinderella again, and this was while she was cleaning the floor. One sees her reflections in the bubbles as she sings, and this is similar to the same type of scene in Cinderella. I want to say that the song is a parody, but I don't know for sure.

This clip makes me want to see the rest of the movie, just to see how it deals with the image it has created.

Leading by Example

So this past week saw the first part of the oral presentations that we are to prepare. I must say, like the last one, I've seen some really great presentations. I feel like I have to really practice now, to be able to keep up with everyone else.

Watching these presentations, I now have a better understanding of what is expected of me and my presentation. I've been, up until this past week, a little in the dark in exactly how we are to go about preparing and presenting this presentation. I am truely impressed by the people that went on Tuesday, because I feel like they were/are in the same situation as I am in, in which they weren't too sure about whether what they were doing was correct. The benefit of watching these presentations was that I can take the best of what I saw, and then be able to apply that to what I am doing. Also, I can take what I didn't like so much and try to avoid it this time.

I know that I got alot of comments about my hand gestures, so I am going to try my best to keep those at bay. I get nervous, though, and that's what I do when I get nervous! I'll need to practice with my hands tied behind my back! I also didn't give enough eye contact. I'll make sure to look at everyone this time.

I must say so far, so good. I just hope I can compete!

the Fractured Frog Prince

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXC66yMe3aoj

I used to watch Rocky and Bulwinkle as a kid, and to come across something like this was really nice. I was always a fan of the fractured fairy tale part, and always thought that they were quite funny. This example is no different.

I this take on the "frog prince" and the "beauty and the beast" concept was really funny. It is quite like the whole shrek thing, years before shrek. First, a frog is turned into a handsome prince, and the frog loathes it. The princess is funny in her forceful nature of being married. The role reversal of the whole thing is exploited.

In the end the two end up together, as frog and frog. The whole thing is a farce on the typical tale, yet is still able to tell the same tale. At one point the frog asks the princess "will you still love me, even though I'm a frog?"

Fairy Tale trickery

Today, as I was skimming through channels, I came across the Disney Channel. I am not one to stop on this channel, but I saw part of this one movie. From the ending I saw it was called Ella Enchanted. I watched it after a while, because I had heard about it from one of the articles I read for my oral presentation.

The importance of it was how I saw it play with the fairy tale. The main theme I came upon was the theme of obedience. The character Ella is magically ordered to obey what she has been told to do. This idea plays very well on the idea from the fairy tales of Perrault and the Brothers Grimm, which familial obedience is a must. They gave this extreme a vision.

I think the movie was trying to show that people should be obedient, but not forced. The family is supposed to have precedent, but it shouldn't be the only thing. Plus, the obedience in the woman is also at play. A woman is not supposed to be told to do what whomever says, and this is being challenged throughout the tale.

Ella Enchanted had shown a new take on the fairy tale, and tried to say something in the process. Very clever.

Disney the same as Perrault?

From the readings I did this week, I would have to say that I agree with the statements of these critics. I find that the Disney movie versions of classic fairy tales as being on the same level as those found in Perrault or the Brothers Grimm. The point one of the authors made was quite true, and that was the fact that the Disney version of say Cinderella or Snow White comes to mind well before Perrault or Grimm.

I think it takes a wonderful mind to be able to create something image based on a fairy tale. I talked about this last week with the comic book Fables. My same sentiments do apply to this concept as well. Disney was able to create and bring to life the good and the bad found in Perrault of Grimm. He was also able to draw them in a way, that seems to both fall into their proper archetype, and to create a whole new one at the same time.

To criticize Disney for tempering the stories is total hypocrisy. The critic who exaults the originals must not know enough about the fairy tales in which he/she is studying to make that claim. Since the transcriptions of these fairy tales first began, there was always a goal-oriented place in mind. These stories were to teach a lesson, while entertaining aristocracy. That means that they intentionally reworked these stories, and tempered with them themselves. So to chastise someone else for doing the same thing doesn't make very much sense.

I think that Disney was a wonderful story teller, knowing instinctively when to add, change, or delete something. There is a reason why his company is the way it is today, and his movies have become as iconic as they have.

The light at the End

So I've spent this past weekend doing nothing but research for this presentation. I find it to be both tiresome and rewarding. It is definitely a step in the right direction for me, because last week I was totally off point with what I am supposed to do, and that greatly hindered my successes now.

I've been readin these articles and I must say I'm still not 100% sure what I want to discuss. I have an idea and some supporting arguments from the articles, but I'm still insecure enough about it to quesiton whether I should put more effort into this topic. I'm quite sure that come Tuesday I will discuss it with Mrs. Newsam and hopefully get a yay, not a nay, on what I am doing and how I'm going about doing it

It's suprising to me just how much information there can be for any topic. As I've researched, I've found articles of all lengths about all types of material relating to fairy tales. It's astounding to me, seeing as how I thought/think that the fairy tale topic is so specialized. There are thousands of articles dissecting every part of every fairy tale. In a way this is both good and bad for me, because I have to be the one who goes out and retrieves what I need/want.

It's been stressful, but I think I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Comics and Fairy Tales?

This past thursday we had to read a critique about Fables: Legends in Exile. The basic argument was for translating the characters we know and love, such as Snow White, the Big Bad Wolf, and Prince Charming into a more modern, "real" setting. They have to live with modern ideas and emotions, such as love, sex, betrayal, etc. I find this to be a great example of the power that fairy tales can have for the imagination.

Stories like 'Bluebeard' and 'Beauty and the Beast' seemed destined for the comic book page. They have characters and plots so intriguing, exciting, dangerous, and every other adjective one could think of. A blue bearded man who kills his wife on an apparent whim. What about this topic doesn't draw a reader in? We want to know all the details, especially how this man would, and could, look. This last statement also applies to the Beast. What does a 'Beast' look like? How could someone describe that? Its result has the potential to be quite entertaining. It just takes somone to draw the picture.

It also takes a creative person to come up with this type of idea. It's one of those ideas so simple that its quite easy to overlook. Many reworkings of these stories follow some type of idea of what, and how, a fairy tale should be, and they become to wrapped up and involved in that one setting. Fables: Legends in Exile, however, dares to think outside of the box and to be creative enough that once someone stumbles upon it, it makes complete sense. They were able to take these characters and cast them in a new, yet familiar, light. They able to "flesh out" the parts that Perrault and Grimm tended to leave out. I think this could have been done intentionally by the the scribes. It would be much more fun for the reader/listener to imagine what happens in a story like 'Bluebeard,' for better or worse. In that way they feel like they were the ones who created a story, not the Brothers Grimm or Perrault.


This idea then flourishes and can be taken to such an 'extreme' as Fables. They were giving no time (Once upon a time could be 10 years ago), no specific setting, and no special identifiers to really tell one 'Beauty' from the next. Fables: Legends in Exile is one of many ways that shows the charm and imaginative creativity of fairy tales.

Workshop

Today was our day to workshop our presentation ideas. I feel like I totally missed the mark on what to do for this assignment. I read and reread the guide, but I think that I missinterpreted the information on the sheet, and with that started researching in the wrong direction.

After the class today, however, I feel like I've got some direction in what I want to do. I was a little comforted to know that the others in my workshop group were feeling the same I was. One had only research, while the other had a thesis, and not much research. After talking with them and discussing, I feel like I have a proper area of where to work now.

I also got my review back from the presentation. I have to say I'm really dissapointed. I thought I had done alot better than the score I recieved. All the points I read made sense, and I guess I now have no choice but to take what I did wrong there and make it better.

What to work on

So this past week of presentations has gotten me to start thinking about the next one. I'm a little behind on my preparations, but I'll be working hard on it tomorrow in the library. I have a basic concept, I think, but no real definitive idea or thesis statement to officially begin work on.

What I really wanted to talk about was how to make my presentation better. The presentation I did felt like it went pretty well. Sure I was extremely nervous, but I still thought I was able to get through the thing with a coherent concept. Reading the comments from the others I learned about my hand gestures. Now I don't know if they meant this in a bad way, but I think they did. I seriously didn't think about this, and I guess my hands just moved naturally. I know that usually when I present something or try to describe something just as simple as directions to somewhere, I tend to use my hands. I think is has something to do with my visual learning style, and maybe I think by showing it with my hands, the other person will better understand me. I will try to limit this, though, if I get a negative score from it.

I did get generally good comments from the others. They liked my opener and they saw that I was really into my topic, and I was. I found it most interesting that people wrote how confident I sounded. I was nervous! So I guess I will apply this concept of thinking confidently about my topic while I present it, and hope that is shows through. I will also try and practice my presentation a couple more times before the actual presentation. I think that was part of what contributed to my being nervous the first time.

I hope to have a good presentation, and learning from my mistakes here will help me to better achieve that goal.

Which one is better?

Expanding on the debate that seemed to fuel these past presentations, I want to expand on the topic of which version of a fairy tale would be better for children. I heard all different arguments from all different points of view, so I think I can now make a better decision as to which one I think.

From the Cinderella fairy tale cycle, I think that the Brothers Grimm version of Cinderella is better for children than Perrault's Donkeyskin. The presentation which stands out best in my mind, Erin (Arin?), best describes what I also think. Mainly it was the point on greed. In Donkeyskin she begs her father to make three dresses, each one more extravagant than the last, and then finally ending with the Donkeyskin of the precious donkey. While these are defensive tactics used by Cinderella to escape marrying her father, I still think that this is showing and unhealthy way of dealing with familial problems. When she runs away, she makes sure to carry these dresses with her, and dresses up every Sunday, gazing at her beauty in the mirror. So greed leads to vanity. There is alot of vanity and a belief in beauty in this story. The villagers disrepect her because she wears a donkeyskin, and is forced to work in some kitchen. She has her three beautiful dresses, and she knows she looks good in them.

The Brother's Grimm version is far better. In this story we see the opposite. The Brothers try and teach piety, obiedence and the idea of karma. We see the piety with the doves, and the words that Cinderella's mother gives her in the very beginning. The doves could be either her mother, God, or both, for they seems to know everything and are the final judges, so to speak, in the end. The obiedence follows in this path. Since Cinderella obeyed her mother's wishes, she was able to end up marrying a prince and leaving her sisters to be blinded. As far greed is concerned, when asked what she wanted by her father, she replied that she wanted a branch from the first tree that touches him. That turned into a tree which supplied her with whatever she wished. What if she had wished for something more indulgent, like jewels and clothes? In the end, though, it was the step-sisters cruel ways and jealous natures that caused them their downfall. They were both blinded by the doves, leaving the last image in their minds that of their sister being happy.

That is just my two-cents worth.

Presentations

So this past week we had our oral presentations. There was alot to take from it, and alot of good topics that people had. I found it fascinating how so many people could take the same topic, such as the one in which which story would be better for children, and came up with so many different versions of which tale is the best.

I thought that my presentation went pretty well. I was incredibly nervous, though, as my hand was shaking as I began! As I went on, though, I became more comfortable and was better able to present my topic. I thought that is was different enough and interesting enough that I could make a good presentation out of it. I went the full 10 minutes, and even then I wasn't able to talk about everything I wanted to.

I felt like I saw a huge variety in presentation styles. Some worked well and others, I felt, didn't work quite as well. In the end, there wasn't any presentation I felt as bad, and that everyone had done quite well. Now it's time to prepare for the next one...

Reflections

So this past tuesday was my turn to help lead the discussion. The whole experience was very nerve racking, as our schedules never lined up perfectly, and had to correspond alot through email. We hardly saw each other face to face, but we managed to get the project done. I think the questions the we have are/were pretty good, broad enough to expound on, yet specific enough to the story at hand. It was stressful, but I'm glad it's over.

Now I'm fine tuning my oral presentation. I think I have a very good and strong topic, and the issue will be how best to present it to the rest of the class. I plan on using a lot of clips from the movie to support my topic, so I don't know how much that will eat into my presentation time. I think it will be an overall success, though, because I'm covering familar stuff in a totally new way and it's very interesting.

The new oral presentation topic, however, does scare me a little, as it's quite involved in something I'm not too familar about, or how best to go about doing it. The topic is more abstract, so I can't have much physical evidence to prove it, I just have to be rather persuasive.

Starting to Overlap

Since we've started the Beauty and the Beast series, I have begun to notice alot of things that are similar between this fairy tale and the others which we have read. Mainly the Beaumond version is something that I see play out in fairy tales of other kinds.

The first thing is the heroine quest. Like we compared earlier today, Beauty goes on a quest much similar to the the quest that Little Read Riding Hood goes upon. Although the final motive is different between the two, the basic goal is still the same, to help out a family member in need. They both even encounter beasts of some sort.

Secondly, I've noticed the presence of evil (step-)sisters. Much like in Cinderella, in Beauty and the Beast the main character is forced to deal with two sisters who are completely jealous of the heroine and try to make her life hell on earth. They do, however, end up with very unfortunate circumstances: The two sisters in Cinderella, for example, get their eyes plucked out, where as in Beauty and the Beast they are turned to statues, but still keep their emotions. I think that this plays into the karma aspect that 'what goes around comes around.'

One other thing is the importance of family to the plot of these stories. It can be seen in Little Red Riding Hood, in Bluebeard, in Cinderella and in Beauty and the Beast. These stories are trying to stress the importance of family to everyone's life, and that your family is the cause and solution to all your problems

Why these stories are so similar I do not know. I would guess that as people learned and told these stories, they probably borrowed parts from stories they really liked and added it into their stories. This edited version gets passed around as the old deal and it just goes on from there. Also the 'authors' also probably did something similar to this as they compiled these stories.

Role Reversal in Tiger Bride

The short story/fairy tale "the Tiger's Bride" was something I found to be very intense. The description used by Carter, the complexity of every part of the story and the reality of the tale made for something quite remarkable.

It seems that everything in Tiger's Bride is symbolic of something else. This constant bombardment and abuse of the idea "don't judge a book by it's cover," a moral which runs rampant within the other stories, is used rather well. The constant allusion to winter, cold, and death could symbolize the girls emotions, the emotions of the Beast, and the emotions of the Father. The Father, for example, drinks constantly. This could mean that he wants to add some sort of heat, in this case being drunk, to the coldness of his life. Or the drinking could mean he is trying to numb, deaden, or cool his hot emotions. The windup maid can also be a be a symbol. This doll could be the symbol of the girl, and how she is something to be used by the others, the Beast for his sexual wants and the Father for his monetary wants. It could be a symbol of something greater, of woman in general. It could expose the idea that women were to be used as a windup toy for the man, and that they were only used when needed.

The role reversal comes from how the story ends. Usually these fairy tales end with the woman changing the man from a beast into a handsome prince. Just the opposite happens in this story. At the beginning the Beast is wearing a 'mask' which the girl obesses over, and the perfection which it has. He is seen on the outside as the perfect gentleman, but this is just a costume, covering the beast within. He is the handsome prince, and the Beauty finds this part revolting and disgusting. It is not until the end that we truly see what happens: the Beast conquers the Beauty. It is the Beauty who becomes like a beast, and we see this in Carter's constant use of animalistic adjectives to describe how the girl and the Beast interact once they have disrobed for each other. The end culminates with the two making love in a way that is described in animalistic terms. The Beast had won.

It is interesting for Carter to do something like this. I think that she is trying to say something about the Beast. The Beast could be inside each and everyone of us, and we put up some type of 'mask' to cover that up. Milord is someone who does just that, but he does it so poorly is seems that he wants people to see his beastliness. The mask that girl has is something less tangible. It could be her pride or her naiviety, as before she meets the Beast she is a virgin, and seems to be very proud of that point. It isn't until Milord reveals takes of his clothes for her, that is she able to take off her mask, and symbolically her clothes, to expose her true beastliness. It is at that point that she feels most alive, and accepts the Beast, whether that be her true emotions or the man.

A Study in Sacrifice

It seems that one of the common themes found throughout the tellings of these renditions of Beauty and the Beast. These stories, being in fashion with the times, are used to teach the children about sacrificing themselves and their personal pleasures for the family. In "the Pig King" is this most apparent.

In the "Pig King" Straparola showes what happens when doesn't obey their parents, as well as what happens when someone does. First, the first daughter is killed when she tries to kill the pig. Her mother, and the queen, both asked and begged the first daughter to take and marry this pig and "do not consider him, but think of the king and me." She defies all of them by the fact that she is stuck with a pig. She tries to kill him because he is a 'foul beast.' The result of all of this is the death of her. A similar fate happens to the second daughter.

The third daughter is the one who does right by everyone. When the queen offers Melinda her son, she accepts and was "quite content to do as the queen asked her." She has to endure the advances of a filthy pig, and even sleep with him. What is the result of her willingness to do all of this? the pig turns into a handsome prince, and the two live happily ever after.

The others reinforce this theme. In "Beauty and the Beast" Beauty sacrifices her life for her fathers just so she can have "the pleasure of saving my father and proving my feelings of tenderness for him." In "the Frog King" the young princess must obey her own promise to the Frog. Even her father says to her "When you make a promise, you must keep it." So she is forced to sacrifice herself for honesty, and her father.

Bluebeard in Opera

I take a post-tonal theory course here on campus. As apart of this course, we are required to listen, and be able to identify, several works for of the corresponding tests we are to take. For this upcoming test one of the listenings involve an opera based on the story of bluebeard. The opera is by hungarian composer Bela Bartok, and the piece is translated as Bluebeard's Castle.

Looking at the libretto, it is rather different from any of the versions we have read in class. The opera is in one act, and involves only two characters, Bluebeard and Judith (the name given to his bride). Basically the plot is as follows...... (this is taken from a website)

A spoken Prologue tells us that the scene is as much within ourselves as on the stage.
Bluebeard and and his wife Judith enter through a small iron door. He asks her whether she want to leave her family and follow him into such a place. Judith loves Bluebeard. She is sure. She has left her family for him and is not discouraged by Bluebeard's dark and gloomy castle. He shuts the door.
Judith notices the darkness and the dampness. She sees seven black doors. She insists that the seven locked and bolted doors be thrown open. She wants to bring light and warmth. Bluebeard responds that it can never be. Bluebeard gives her a key as they proceed to each door.
Behind the first door is Bluebeard's torture chamber, the walls dripping with blood. Bluebeard wonders why Judith wishes to pry into every corner. "Because I love you," she answers. He warns her to be careful.
The second key reveals the armory, with blood on the weapons.
The third key opens to the Treasury, where the blood is all over the crown and robes.
The fourth key reveals a secret garden, with blood on the roots of the flowers..
Behind the fifth door, she finds Bluebeard's kingdom, and the clouds are red with blood. Bluebeard asks her not to open the final two doors, but Judith insists.
The sixth door conceals a flood of tears. Bluebeard passionately kisses Judith and tells her not ask anymore questions. Having guessed what is behind the seventh door, Judith inquires about Bluebeard's former wives.
The seventh door conceals Bluebeard's former murdered wives. Judith is locked in with the former wives.
The stage grows dark.

apparently the entire work is supposed to be a psychoanalytical work, and each room could be seen as some sort of surrealist sketch, with nothing meaning what it literally is. It is interesting that the opera is rather set on the psychological aspects of the work, and not the physical. It would be easier to construct a story centered around the main action of the story, a man killing his wife, but this opera takes a look at the mental aspect of it. The castle could Bluebeard's mind, and judith his conscious, and each door could symbolize one of the seven dealy sins. The confusing part,though, is the fact that Judith is killed, and Bluebeard remains alive. Also, there is no happy ending, just a fade to black.

The prologue says that the scene is as much within ourselves as on the stage. Maybe it's trying to get the audience to realize some type of 'Bluebeardesque' action that we've commited, whether it be physical or mental, and take time to evaluate it.

The Continuing Story of Bluebeard

I really enjoyed the discussion we had on Thursday regarding the short story by Atwood, "Bluebeard's Egg." I think the stuff we were able to draw from just a few pages was really fascinating. Atwood did a wonderful job of bringing the story into a modern setting, yet still keeping the basis of the original.

The use of a modern setting was a little offputting at first, I do admit. I was thinking 'how could she take a fairy tale and place it into a modern, and realistic, setting?' But as we got into the discussion and started to actually analyze the piece, I was able to make out the use of symbol, and how she was able to make the 'stain on the egg' real. The Symbols of the story not only allude to the original story very well, but they take on a whole new meaning aside from the story. Her heart was a good example. It related not only to the egg in the original tellings, but also took on a whole new meaning, a meaning of trust as well as faith in another person. I liked that everything about the story was symbolic of something else, whether it's alluding to Bluebeard or not, because everyone could take something personal from it. The reader sees what Atwood is trying to say and what she is trying to symbolize, and then the reader takes that and personalizes it.

The story of Bluebeard is really timeless. It can be told in one of many ways, whether as the original or a version such as Atwoods. People can take it and emphasize the moral, or theme, that they deem most important, whether it be curiosty, obedience, trust, etc. It's a story that forever have something important to tell.

Bluebeard Critics

Reading the introductory article to Bluebeard left me with a thought: Why is it always the woman who is the victim? I'm not trying to be sexist or anything like that, I just think that pretty much every story we've read, it just feels like these commentators set out to make every fairy tale some story about how men want to control women, and how fundamentally sexist every fairy tale is. Granted, there are not nice things that these stories say about women, but the same can be applied to men.

Bluebeard is a good example. Am I, as a man, supposed to be highly controlling and sadistic? Am I supposed to feel the joy of killing another person, just because I told them not to go into a room? What does this say about men? We are all just primal, insensitive pigs, out to rule the world? But all the article seems to talk about is how the woman is the victim, because she let curiosity get the better of her. It could happen to anyone. I think it prejudices men alot more.

All I know, is that if these readers go into a story with a notion in their mind, if they are reading it to discover something they want to discover, they'll find it. Someone can bend the facts to their own liking, and then say it's the truth. I just think that with stories like Bluebeard, it's more obvious about the authors opinions about the man is, rather than the female.

Bluebeard and the American Movie Industry

While reading the story of Bluebeard I was struck with a very interesting view of how the plot of this story is in so many ways directly related to many of the movies we know of today. First off, the fact that this is called a fairy tale is really loose. When I think of fairy tales, I think of the stories that we've been reading this whole time, up until now. This story, however, seems more like a thriller. The plot centers around this relationship between the man and his wife, with hardly and magic or other stereotypical fairy tale type additions.It's a new and different way to analyze and define the term Fairy Tale, because term can be used to describe a story about a wolf trying to eat a child, or a man killing his wife for no real apparent reason, other than she entered a room she was forbidden to enter.

This can correlate excellently well to many of the movies we see out there now. One that comes most to mind is "The Skeleton Key," in which a girl is given a job to care for a sick old man in rural Louisiana. One of the only things that the wife instructs her, after giving her a key which can open any and every room in the house (hence the title), is to not enter into this one particular room. Of course she does enter. While she doesn't die, she does discover something very unpleasant, and that something eventually ends up capturing her soul. Another variant, and this is quite a variant, can be seen in Willa Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Throughout the entire movie, while Willa Wonka is giving this tour, in which he is always instructing the children to not touch anything, or something bad will happen. It does. Even the hero, Charlie, succumbs to temptation, but eventually learns the wrongs of his ways and ends the story happily ever afer.

The plot to Bluebeard seems so movie inspired, and it makes for a really imaginative and exciting read, albeit rather morbid. Still, though, it was meant to have all the action, excitement, danger, and everything, and I think this rendition captures that well.

Who knew?

We started analyzing Cinderella this past week. Growing up I don't think I had ever watched the Disney version more than once, let alone read the original fairy tale. So I took Disney at their word, and that this was the way it was. Of course later into life I began to realize that Disney worked the story into what he wanted, similar to Perrault and Grimm a few hundred years earlier. Nevertheless, it was beyond comprehension that the original tales could be so gruesome, and something to be seen as whole lot more than a 'simple fairy tale.'

The fact that a whole story can be hidden behind the original story is quite astounding, and mainly I'm talking about the Grimm version. The whole story of good vs. evil, karma, and divine justice could be taken from a story about a little girl and a prince? A mother tells her daughter to be good, behave, and pray, and everything will work itself out. A part from her mother, Cinderella had noone within her 'family' who treated her with any basic dignity. So she did her duty assigned to her by her mother, and the result is what was promised: she was married to a rich prince, and lived 'happily ever after.' the The gruesome part happens to her step-sisters. One eye is plucked from each of their heads at the wedding, so as to give them pain, but still give them the ability to see the girl they abused for so long, get married. Even more painful. As they leave the wedding , the remaining eye is plucked out, leaving them with the last image of Cinderella happy. Wow. A little too heavy for Disney. And a very strong statement to those who cause harm and pain.

So who was the tale really for? Was if for kids, or was it for the adults? One could assume both. Maybe the Brothers Grimm were hoping this heavy lesson will seep into kid's minds subliminally, while the adults got the message out right. It was, for the kids, an entertaining tale to go to sleep to, to waste time, or whatever, but they would get the message, that if you are evil, this will happen to you, and if you are good, see what rewards you can get. Were as for the adults, it could just confirm or challenge the ideals that they had.

Is this story the authentic version? Of course not. Grimm, Perrault, Disney, etc. recorded these stories with an intent and purpose. But, the stories that we've read from all over the world, this idea remains. It might not appear with the severity that Grimm has, but they're still there. And maybe that is what keeps this story alive, that the unjust and evil will get whats coming to them. And that if we just, metaphorically, be good, behave, and pray, everything will work itself out.

Looney Tunes knows Best

As I continued my search through my childhood for fairy tales, I happened to come upon this Looney Tunes clip. It's titled "Little Red Riding Rabbit," and makes a complete mockery of the Fairy Tale with the not to distant title. There appears in the cartoon a Little Red Riding Hood, but she is loud mouthed and slightly stupid. Also, she doesn't contribute much to the rest of the story. So I assume that the role of Little Red Riding Hood is adopted by Bugs Bunny. Plus, the Wolf (who appears here in a masculine light) wants to eat Bugs Bunny, and not LLRH. Therefore, one can assume that LLRH is represented in this story by Bugs, and not the actual LLRH, who is there for comedic relief to the cartoon (a feat which sounds paradoxical). Bugs aka LLRH is true to one of the original forms of LLRH, that is a trickster who gets the best of the bad ol' Wolf. The entire cartoon runs as if Bugs knows all, and is just waiting for the Wolf to catch up.

The appearances that the actual LLRH have, seem to confirm the other standard idea that she is a defenseless moron. So the viewer gets the best of both fairy tale worlds, and it's up to them to decide who to take favor in more (but we all know the answer). As far as anything gender related, one could make an argument that Bugs, the Wolf, Looney Tunes and their male agenda like to stick to the woman. She's the dumbest one, and in the end, the one the Wolf and Bugs turn against collectively. I, however, see it that, like I said before, LLRH is just there to be a running gag, and she comes off a little like Elmer Fudd, the huntsman.

The cartoon works really well in their adaptation of the story, and then the complete destruction it takes to it. The fact that LLRH acts as if she has memorized her "Grandma, what big feet you have" lines, is waiting for the oportune time to say it. Or the fact that the long distance to Grandma's house is over treacherous mountain terrain, while the short path is merely 10 feet to the doorstep.

Throughout the cartoon Looney Tunes does an excellent job of taking the fairy tale we all know, and turning it completely on it's head, all the while giving us all a good laugh.


P.S. here is the link to view the Cartoon. If that doesn't work, just go to youtube.com and search for "Little Red Riding Rabbit."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-m5N4-x3wc&feature=related

Fairly Stupid Tale from the Past

As I take in all these discussions in class, especially the one we had Wed. about the varying versions we have found of Red Riding Hood, I began to notice a couple of verisons I seem to remember from my childhood. The one that sticks out most in my mind is a book I recieved at some point called "The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales." Basically it takes a bunch of famous fairy tales (Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, The Frog Prince, etc.) and, mainly through parody, reconstructs them in a new and different way. A Version of Little Red Riding Hood also appears in the book. She is not Little Red Riding Hood, though, she is called Little Red Running Shorts. Basically she got this name because she recieved running shorts from her mother. The interpretation goes as follows:



Jack (of Jack and the Beanstalk) acts as the narrator of the entire book. He ends up telling the entire story of "Little Red Running Shorts" as his lead-in to the story turns out to become the entire story. He tells that Little Red Running Shorts is going through the woods, and runs into a wolf, who tricks her into taking the long way to Grandmother's House, while he takes the short way. When the wolf arrives to Grandmothers, Little Red Running Shorts answers the door and says, "My, what slow feet you have." THE END.



The rest of the humor comes from the fact that Red Running Shorts and The Wolf have been waiting this whole time to reenact it, but become angry because Jack told the whole story, and now they basically have to tell it AGAIN. They walk away from the story frustrated.

At first it just seems like a parody, but looking a little deeper one can see alot more. It becomes apart of those 20th century authors, such as Roald Dahl, who totally reconstruct Little Red Riding Hood. The telling of this fairly stupid tale is similar to the 20th century versions of this fairy tale in the fact that something unexpected ends up happening to the wolf. Little Red Running Shorts beats the Wolf to the House, and rubs it in his face, parodying the lines "My what big ____ you have." With that, Little Red Running Shorts in painted as the hero and the superior to the Wolf, as in the other 20th century versions. There is, however, no violence in the storty because it is directed spcifically towards Kids. The unexpected ending, showing Little Red Running Shorts and the Wolf as merely actors working together, further breaks down the original storyline.