Little Red Riding Hood Has Changed

I have always loved this story and I always thought as a child that if I disobeyed my mother that when I left home the wolf would get me. The funny thing is that the Little Red Riding Hood stories I read this week were a little different. The way she was described by the Brothers Grimm and Perrault makes her to be weak and meek. They describe her as being a gentle and naive girl. Perrault version states that the moral of the story was for young girls especially those that are pretty,well-bred, and gentle are wrong not to listen to anyone who speaks to them (13). Which makes me think what if they were ugly, poor and not as gentle would it be okay if they listened to anyone. Beauty is still a big thing in fairytales and it is what decides your fate. In the Brothers Grimm "Little Red Cap" Little Red Riding Hood gets rescued by the huntsman. She gets a second chance to live and is rescued just like in the other fairytales. The damsel in distress gets rescued. The moral is different here, the moral is to learn to stay on the path instead of getting off or bad things can happen (16). She learned her lesson because when another wolf approached her she stood on her path and was able to kill that wolf with the help of her grandmother. This shows that she learned her lesson and that she smarten up making her less of a damsel in distress. Unlike the Brothers Grimm tale, James Thurber's changes Red Riding Hoods whole character. She is not at all innocent and she is ready for the wolf. She is not deceived by the wolf and does not question why the wolf doesn't look like the grandmother. She knows that the wolf is in her grandmothers bed and she doesn't entertain the wolf. This shows you how women, young girls, and even little girls cannot be deceived. It shows the transformation of the story from fragile and defenseless to strong and a fighter. The girl described in Dahl's version shows an even more evolved Red Riding Hood. She follows the same story line but she is the deceiver. She makes the wolf think that she is helpless and naive but she is neither of these things. The best part of the story is the end of the story where she it says that she has changed. She doesn't wear the red cape any longer but wears the skin of the wolf as her coat (22). This shows and tells how she has evolved as the times have as well. This also shows that she is a force not to be wrecked with.


References:

Brothers Grimm " Little Red Cap"
James Thurber "The Little Girl and the Wolf"
Roald Dahl "The Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf"
Charles Perrault "Little Red Riding Hood"

Women in Walt Disney Fairy Tales

Disney changed a lot of things in fairy tale's. He took the fairy tales and brought them to life by putting them on the big screen. He took the stories and gave them a voice and a look. Disney took these tales that were full of sex, violence and horror and turned them into stories for children. According to Jack Zipes article. " Breaking the Disney Spell," Disney ruined these fairy tales. Zipes believed that he took them and changed the oral traditions that came with these stories. They were traditional stories that many used to teach a lesson to people. But through his changes to make the fairy tales his own he did keep the view of women the same in every story. He kept the classic sexist view of women. All the women in the films like the stories were domesticated. They were all waiting for their prince charming to come and rescue them from their horrible situations. 

Snow White and Cinderella were a great example. Snow White got to the Dwarfs home and became their maid to pay them for letting stay in their home. Disney kept that in his film and he also kept the competitive view that women had in these stories as well. The wicked witch being vain in the mirror and the beautiful helpless young girls damsels in distress.Just like Lieberman's article "Some Day my Prince will Come", women are portrayed according to their looks. If you are beautiful then you are good and you will get rewarded. On the other hand, if you are ugly you are mean and evil. This is what you still find in the fairy tales that Disney presents in his films. This formula has not changed and although there are some Disney films that have strong women in it the formula of a man's interference still remains. The prince will always come and save the princess, marry her and live happily ever after.

Did Disney ruin fairy tales? No, not really the only thing I believe he is guilty of is keeping women in the same category instead of providing young girls a different view of women. 

References:

Zipes, Jack. " Breaking the Disney Spell"

Lieberman, Marcia. " Some Day My Prince Will Come"