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Marvels & Tales
or academic collections which often fail to
attract the level of attention they deserve) so this is written in the hope
that further work will follow. The fact that folklorists are increasingly
turning their attention to cinematic examples is encouraging, affirming
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Fairy Tale and Film
the importance of the medium in reworking familiar tropes and
revitalising critical interest in this area. There is, however, still some
way to go to redress the ‘disciplinary myopia’ that has dogged produc-
tive affiliations in fairy tale scholarship, as Donald Haase has argued,
and additionally avoid simply reiterating a preconceived and somewhat
fatalistic assessment. As Haase contends, ‘we need to reappraise the
successes and failures of the last thirty odd years, question what has
become too familiar, and become more curious about things not yet
familiar enough’ (2004: xiv). In many ways this book is a response to
these aims. Fairy tale films tend to be interpreted in very particular ways
that demand reassessment. We need to look seriously at films that are
often overlooked, and ask how feminist criticism and other discourses
have impacted on the retelling of tales – both positively and negatively.
Fairy tale films ultimately service differing needs, and what their
audiences want from them will differ also. As Maria Tatar notes, ‘No
fairy tale is sacred. Every printed version is just another variation on
a theme – the rewriting of a cultural story in a certain time and place
for a specific audience’ (2003: 229). The same might be said of the
cinematic interpretations made of such tales, altering according to the
time and place of their creation, informed by the intentions of their
producers, and the interests of their presumed market. Reiterating the
same ambivalence that Greenhill and Matrix, Zipes, Bacchilega and
other scholars in the field have all attested to, Tatar argues that ‘mak-
ing a new fiction means refashioning – in ways that may be concilia-
tory or conspiratorial, but also in ways that may be contestatory or
subversive’ (2003: 230). Quoting Carolyn G. Heilbrun’s stirring affir-
mation that ‘one cannot make up stories: one can only retell in new
ways the stories one has already heard ... out of old tales we must make
new lives’, Tatar adds the equally inspiring point that ‘we create new
tales not only by retelling familiar stories, but also by reinterpreting
them’ (230). This is a process that is not simply the task of writers or
film-makers, but something we all actively participate in – every time
we read or hear a story, or watch a film, that prompts us to consider its
potential meaning to our lives. I provide my impression here of some
familiar narratives that have been reworked in cinema (some of which
are clearly deemed to be more positive than others) but the conclu-
sions drawn are ultimately up to you.
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1
Finding Love and Fulfilling
Dreams: Aspiring Underdogs
and Humbled Heroines
The romantic aspects of fairy tales are perhaps their most familiar
(and most criticised) feature. After all, the heroine who rises above
misfortune and marries a prince is a plot that distinguishes many of
the best-known tales, with the protagonists of ‘Cinderella’ (ATU 510A),
‘Snow White’ (ATU 709) and ‘Sleeping Beauty’ (ATU 410) all decisively
putting an end to their woes by marrying Prince Charming. Criticism
ranges from the fact that such heroines are largely characterised by
passivity and prettiness, threatened by vindictive female counterparts
and ultimately ‘saved’ by a well-heeled partner – making their potential
lesson for female audiences somewhat suspect. Of course, this depends
on how literally we take such tales, and how negatively we view their
perceived influence, with a number of conflicting ideas raised about
this point over the years. While fairy tales frequently came under attack
with the emergence of the women’s movement, an important detractor
asked us to think again. In two articles published in the early 1970s,
Alison Lurie contended that such tales have a great deal to offer feminist
thinking in terms of the powerful females at their centre, pointing out
that a wider variety of heroines exist – beyond the usual suspects – and
attributed the limited range of ‘classic’ tales to male editorial policies.
Marcia Lieberman’s response, ‘Someday My Prince Will Come: Female
Acculturation Through the Fairy Tale’ (1972), denied any progressive
features. Ignoring Lurie’s remarks about the part gender has played
in selecting and shaping fairy tales (claiming this to be ‘beside the
point’), she affirmed it is the most popular tales we should concern
ourselves with and accused them of exerting a detrimental socialising
effect, encouraging female docility and dependence on men.
1
These
critics thus sounded the opening salvos of a debate that has raged on
ever since in seeking to determine whether fairy tales set good or bad
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