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.