Fairy Tale and Film

Fairy Tale and Film
narrow an interpretation. As Tatar argues ‘we must show caution in 
drawing generalizations about female developmental patterns on the 
basis of ... plot. And we are obliged to think twice about male hero 
patterns when we come across a collection of tales depicting heroines 
who carry out tasks normally put to male heroes alone’ (2003: 47). 
We should additionally note that heroes of both genders undergo ‘perse-
cution’ of some kind, prior to being rewarded through marriage, and that 
even tales that supposedly reflect a matrilineal society share the same 
goal. Clearly, the history of fairy tales, their transition from oral to print 
culture and their alleged influence on gender roles are a complex matter. 
A variety of tales have been told over the years, as Lurie and others have 
pointed out, including stories where women depend on other qualities 
than their looks, and any romance (where it occurs) is conducted on 
their terms. Not only have scholars and folklorists taken an active inter-
est in examining these tales, writers and film-makers have also drawn 
upon such examples in creating new depictions. Acknowledgement is 
gradually being made of the extent to which fairy tales have served to 
inspire the female imagination, including writers with a particular inter-
est in revising fairy tale motifs – a phenomenon that has proved to be 
increasingly popular, both in print and on screen.
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In the 40-plus years since Lurie and Lieberman first drew scholarly 
attention to fairy tales, motivating discussions about their potential 
usefulness in re-evaluating norms and expectations concerning gen-
der, related ideas have permeated popular culture, including cinematic 
reworkings. Romantic comedies conspicuously reprise fairy tale motifs, 
with the ‘Cinderella’ story encapsulating the standard rom-com plot 
in charting a heroine’s struggle to overcome specific obstacles before 
being united with her love.
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Placing the plot in a humorous context 
does interesting things to the tale, and the fact that modern variations 
tend to keep the makeover, but dispense with the marriage, affirms a 
response to contemporary audiences and their view of romance. What 
changes can be discerned in the roles played by women, their relations 
with men and the aspirations they hold? Does the wish-fulfilment fan-
tasy suggested by Carter still apply to marriage as a means of staking 
a claim on the future, or are different ideals evident? To what extent 
are male/female relations tested, rather than cemented, in these films, 
and is Zipes right to object that any seemingly progressive gestures are 
simply paying ‘lip service’ to feminism? (2009: 129).
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The rom-com provides an interesting means of interrogating romantic 
fantasies and accompanying socio-political ramifications. Notably, just 
as fairy tales have earned criticism for the presumed values endorsed, 

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Finding Love and Fulfilling Dreams 
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romantic comedies are generally treated with critical derision, pejora-
tively labelled ‘chick flicks’ and either considered to have little substance 
or deemed ideologically suspect. Again, we need to remind ourselves of 
the variety of stories told, the differing female characters featured and the 
options presented for revising established ideas. There is a tendency to 
regard popular cinema as inherently reactionary – generally seen to be 
peddling escapist nonsense to the masses – an equation that affirms an 
overwhelmingly negative, snobbish and simplistic idea. If many people 
like it, the logic goes, the film must surely be worthless – and if it appeals 
to women, in particular, this assertion is seemingly compounded. Yet the 
sheer fact that the rom-com is generally marketed at women provides 
good reason for taking it seriously, providing as it does, like the fairy 
tales noted above, narratives where women take centre stage – and often 
containing some interesting surprises, particularly in terms of the rela-
tionships depicted, the way they contrast to those found in classic fairy 
tales, the wider ambitions motivating heroines and an acknowledge-
ment (at the very least) of contemporary gender politics. 
Although romantic comedies tend to be aimed at an adult or adoles-
cent market, Disney – the company most responsible for mass-marketing 
fairy tales on screen – has conspicuously amplified the romantic 
elements of many tales, accordingly attracting feminist criticism due 
to the prominence and alleged power of their films. The Disney empire 
has made its name through popularising fairy tales yet also earned 
considerable scorn for its methods, dubbed a ‘paratext’ by Greenhill 
and Matrix due to the way in which its interpretations of the fairy tale 
‘has so saturated mainstream Euro-North American culture and gained 
such legitimacy through market dominance and repetition’ (2010: 7). 
Disney’s proclivity at altering tales is a common criticism, as well as 
being accused of a patriarchal agenda. Zipes puts this point most clearly 
in response to Disney’s version of that troublesome trio,