The Modern Fairy Tale: Adaptations and Retellings
Hey everyone! Welcome to the new year! This year I am going to try to incorporate themes into my weekly posts for every month. So let's see how well that goes, shall we?
To get us started, let's get in the mindset of fairy tales.
If you are like me, you love fairy tales. They were told to you when you were growing up, turned into awesome animated films, and probably taught you lessons about right and wrong, right? Well, same with me.
Most people grow up on the Disney versions of these stories. They are often filled with happily ever afters, the villains getting their just desserts (killed-they get killed), and some variant of the animal side kick being embarrassed at the new couple kissing at the end of the film.
But the original tales were a lot darker. Most of them had very heavy themes throughout and very graphic violence for being something to share with children. And that was the point, back when these were first circulated. They were to scare children into not disobeying their parents and not straying from the path or else bad things will happen. And through history, through Disney, these got less gruesome and focused more on the positive knight in shining armor or the prince in disguise.
Nowadays, this trend seems to have ended. At least in the literary world. If you take a brief trek through the young adult aisle in your local book store, be it a chain or not, you will find an abundance of fairy tale adaptations and re-tellings. Hell, even in recent movies there is a trend of this, and I'm not talking about the Disney films this time.
So let's ask ourselves a few questions with this.
1) What kinds of stories are these adaptations telling?
2) How are they similar to and different from the original tales?
3) Why the sudden emergence of this trend?
4) What are the most popular to adapt?
5) Why do we still cling to fairy tales in this day and age?
Alright, now with those questions all established, shall we begin? I believe we shall.
Let's start with the first question on this list: what kinds of stories are these adaptations telling? Most of the stories that are being adapted have been criticized for not being feminist. Stories where women have to be saved by a prince in order to get out of their situations. Stories where women have very little power themselves. I think one reason these are being adapted is to show young girls another side to these women that they would not see if they just watched the films or read the Fairy Tales. These adaptations are a lot more empowering, in my opinion, than the originals.
Next, let's look at how they are similar to, and different from, the original tales. In a lot of these adaptations, they seem to be stories of hope, even if they are a lot darker than many of the modern retellings we have seen as of the 1930s. In books such as Crimson Bound or Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge, we see the evil of those stories coming out once again. The dark demon prince taking the innocent, beautiful maid to be his wife in the horrible castle. The beasts running rampant and destroying the town, only to be mildly conquered once the maid steps back in line. So, yes I would say that some of the overarching themes are closer to the original tales.
Though there are some that only keep the bare bones of the stories. Take a look at the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. This is a series full of fairy tale characters written in the form of a science fiction novel. Cinderella becomes a cyborg. Rapunzel becomes a girl locked in a satellite drifting around Earth. Little Red Riding Hood becomes a bad ass who can save everyone herself. Snow White becomes a gentle princess who has been driven mad. But all of these are compelling in their own right. They take the heart of these stories and turn them on themselves, making the readers question the source material and it's merit in a world where women are powerful.
Moving on to the third question: why is this trend suddenly emerging? I think the world being so saturated in a darker place is making people focus on and really get face to face with the darkness of the world. The escapism of the Great Depression era does not exist in the same realm. At least for me, the knowledge that there is a lot of shit going on in the world does not stop. It carries over into every day life. Into my entertainment. So, I guess I would say that it's partially because of the state of the world. But also, it is partially the fact that we are always connected to the world. No matter where we are, we can just unlock our phones and know exactly what is happening in that moment. So we are looking back to fairy tales, back to something we all know from our childhoods, and turning it in a way we can deal with our stressors.
I think we also want to get back to the darker, almost more Romantic (not love oriented, but the writing style) part of these stories. If you pick up most of these books, you will see more of a fantastical basis in them that draws more heavily on the original stories. I don't think that is for nothing. I think media, in general, is very retrospective at the moment, so perhaps that is what is also happening with fairy tales. I am not sure.
The fourth point has to do with the most popular stories to adapt, let's dive in. I think the two most popular at any given time are going to be Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella. I, personally, have read at least four retellings of Beauty and the Beast in recent years and probably double that for Cinderella.I think for Cinderella, it is a popular story of a girl who comes from nothing being able to rise from the ashes (heh) and live a happy life away from those who have hurt her in the past. I think Beauty and the Beast is popular because of people's desires to tame those who are wild around them. I think they want to be able to have both the beast and the man as one and they can explore that with this story arc. But that is for literature. For films, it has to be Snow White. I am not quite sure why. Is it because of her purity? Is it because people love the idea that love can even conquer death? I am not sure at all, but it is there.
And finally the question, why do we still cling to fairy tales in this day and age? Well, that is not a simple question to answer. It is like answering why is the universe created the way it is. Yes, someone out there may be able to answer it, but I wouldn't understand. But really, why do we still love fairy tales? The simple answer I have given before. It is because we want to cling to something from our childhoods. We want to relive something from a time when we did not have the same stress or responsibility we do now. And that is a perfectly good reason.
But I think there is possibly another. We want to learn again. I know, that's weird, right? But we do. What do fairy tales do, in general? They teach people right and wrong. I think, in this day, we need to be reminded of that every so often. With all the madness that is raging on around us, we need something, a fictional story that we all know, to show us the way again, but in a new light.
I also think that we want to be reminded that, even through the most impossible and dire circumstances, happily ever afters can still exist. Even if they aren't the Disney version with the marriage and the kiss at the end.
So that's it. Those are my thoughts on the Modern Fairy Tale. Let me know what you think in the comments below.
Below, I have compiled a list of adaptations and re-tellings that I have referenced in this post that I have personally read and very much enjoyed. Feel free to check them out yourself and tell me what you think of them!
A Court of Thorns and Roses, Sarah J Maas
The Lunar Chronicles, Marissa Meyer
Tiger Lily, Jodi Anderson
The Wrath and the Dawn, Renee Ahdieh
Furthermore, Tahereh Mafi
Red Riding Hood, Sarah Blakely-Cartwright
Gone, Cameron Dokey
Crimson Bound and Cruel Beauty, Rosamund Hodge
Grim, Christine Johnson
A Wicked Thing, Rhiannon Thomas
Uprooted, Naomi Novik
Fairest of All, Serena Valentino
As always, you can find me on social media at dsbookie on YouTube, Goodreads, Instagram, and Twitter!
That's all for this post, I will catch you all next time! Have a Happy 2018!
XOXO
Dana
To get us started, let's get in the mindset of fairy tales.
If you are like me, you love fairy tales. They were told to you when you were growing up, turned into awesome animated films, and probably taught you lessons about right and wrong, right? Well, same with me.
Most people grow up on the Disney versions of these stories. They are often filled with happily ever afters, the villains getting their just desserts (killed-they get killed), and some variant of the animal side kick being embarrassed at the new couple kissing at the end of the film.
But the original tales were a lot darker. Most of them had very heavy themes throughout and very graphic violence for being something to share with children. And that was the point, back when these were first circulated. They were to scare children into not disobeying their parents and not straying from the path or else bad things will happen. And through history, through Disney, these got less gruesome and focused more on the positive knight in shining armor or the prince in disguise.
Nowadays, this trend seems to have ended. At least in the literary world. If you take a brief trek through the young adult aisle in your local book store, be it a chain or not, you will find an abundance of fairy tale adaptations and re-tellings. Hell, even in recent movies there is a trend of this, and I'm not talking about the Disney films this time.
So let's ask ourselves a few questions with this.
1) What kinds of stories are these adaptations telling?
2) How are they similar to and different from the original tales?
3) Why the sudden emergence of this trend?
4) What are the most popular to adapt?
5) Why do we still cling to fairy tales in this day and age?
Alright, now with those questions all established, shall we begin? I believe we shall.
Let's start with the first question on this list: what kinds of stories are these adaptations telling? Most of the stories that are being adapted have been criticized for not being feminist. Stories where women have to be saved by a prince in order to get out of their situations. Stories where women have very little power themselves. I think one reason these are being adapted is to show young girls another side to these women that they would not see if they just watched the films or read the Fairy Tales. These adaptations are a lot more empowering, in my opinion, than the originals.
Next, let's look at how they are similar to, and different from, the original tales. In a lot of these adaptations, they seem to be stories of hope, even if they are a lot darker than many of the modern retellings we have seen as of the 1930s. In books such as Crimson Bound or Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge, we see the evil of those stories coming out once again. The dark demon prince taking the innocent, beautiful maid to be his wife in the horrible castle. The beasts running rampant and destroying the town, only to be mildly conquered once the maid steps back in line. So, yes I would say that some of the overarching themes are closer to the original tales.
Though there are some that only keep the bare bones of the stories. Take a look at the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. This is a series full of fairy tale characters written in the form of a science fiction novel. Cinderella becomes a cyborg. Rapunzel becomes a girl locked in a satellite drifting around Earth. Little Red Riding Hood becomes a bad ass who can save everyone herself. Snow White becomes a gentle princess who has been driven mad. But all of these are compelling in their own right. They take the heart of these stories and turn them on themselves, making the readers question the source material and it's merit in a world where women are powerful.
Moving on to the third question: why is this trend suddenly emerging? I think the world being so saturated in a darker place is making people focus on and really get face to face with the darkness of the world. The escapism of the Great Depression era does not exist in the same realm. At least for me, the knowledge that there is a lot of shit going on in the world does not stop. It carries over into every day life. Into my entertainment. So, I guess I would say that it's partially because of the state of the world. But also, it is partially the fact that we are always connected to the world. No matter where we are, we can just unlock our phones and know exactly what is happening in that moment. So we are looking back to fairy tales, back to something we all know from our childhoods, and turning it in a way we can deal with our stressors.
I think we also want to get back to the darker, almost more Romantic (not love oriented, but the writing style) part of these stories. If you pick up most of these books, you will see more of a fantastical basis in them that draws more heavily on the original stories. I don't think that is for nothing. I think media, in general, is very retrospective at the moment, so perhaps that is what is also happening with fairy tales. I am not sure.
The fourth point has to do with the most popular stories to adapt, let's dive in. I think the two most popular at any given time are going to be Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella. I, personally, have read at least four retellings of Beauty and the Beast in recent years and probably double that for Cinderella.I think for Cinderella, it is a popular story of a girl who comes from nothing being able to rise from the ashes (heh) and live a happy life away from those who have hurt her in the past. I think Beauty and the Beast is popular because of people's desires to tame those who are wild around them. I think they want to be able to have both the beast and the man as one and they can explore that with this story arc. But that is for literature. For films, it has to be Snow White. I am not quite sure why. Is it because of her purity? Is it because people love the idea that love can even conquer death? I am not sure at all, but it is there.
And finally the question, why do we still cling to fairy tales in this day and age? Well, that is not a simple question to answer. It is like answering why is the universe created the way it is. Yes, someone out there may be able to answer it, but I wouldn't understand. But really, why do we still love fairy tales? The simple answer I have given before. It is because we want to cling to something from our childhoods. We want to relive something from a time when we did not have the same stress or responsibility we do now. And that is a perfectly good reason.
But I think there is possibly another. We want to learn again. I know, that's weird, right? But we do. What do fairy tales do, in general? They teach people right and wrong. I think, in this day, we need to be reminded of that every so often. With all the madness that is raging on around us, we need something, a fictional story that we all know, to show us the way again, but in a new light.
I also think that we want to be reminded that, even through the most impossible and dire circumstances, happily ever afters can still exist. Even if they aren't the Disney version with the marriage and the kiss at the end.
So that's it. Those are my thoughts on the Modern Fairy Tale. Let me know what you think in the comments below.
Below, I have compiled a list of adaptations and re-tellings that I have referenced in this post that I have personally read and very much enjoyed. Feel free to check them out yourself and tell me what you think of them!
A Court of Thorns and Roses, Sarah J Maas
The Lunar Chronicles, Marissa Meyer
Tiger Lily, Jodi Anderson
The Wrath and the Dawn, Renee Ahdieh
Furthermore, Tahereh Mafi
Red Riding Hood, Sarah Blakely-Cartwright
Gone, Cameron Dokey
Crimson Bound and Cruel Beauty, Rosamund Hodge
Grim, Christine Johnson
A Wicked Thing, Rhiannon Thomas
Uprooted, Naomi Novik
Fairest of All, Serena Valentino
As always, you can find me on social media at dsbookie on YouTube, Goodreads, Instagram, and Twitter!
That's all for this post, I will catch you all next time! Have a Happy 2018!
XOXO
Dana
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