Notes to Chapter 2
179
parents – and acquiring a sense of acceptance. At the end of the film an
apparent scoundrel, Johnny (James McCavoy), turns out to have a heart,
similarly having been judged too much by appearances, and he declares his
feelings without being aware the curse has been lifted – although the gesture
is somewhat undermined by the fact that Penelope’s nose was hardly mon-
strous and her nature is achingly sweet. Both
Beastly
and
Penelope
affirm the
upside of curses as a means of finding true love. They also suggest that the
rich are not necessarily any happier than the rest of us, with affluence seem-
ingly its own curse. Only when they leave their respective ‘castles’ do the
protagonists learn to connect with others – and notably choose poor love
interests who are more in touch with their emotions than their privileged
yet emotionally aloof parents. As examples made for an adolescent market,
fairy tale tropes are interestingly reworked to provide love stories that extol
the virtues of compassion, humility and looking beyond appearances, add-
ing a dose of liberalism for additional sugar-coating.
9. A mother–daughter variation of the parent/child body-swap is
Freaky Friday
(1976), which also unites the protagonists through their ordeal, while
Big
(1988) and
13 Going on 30
(2004) rework the body-swap scenario from the
perspective of a child propelled forward in time, who is similarly forced to
realise that childhood is to be cherished, rather than resented, particularly
given the foibles of adult relationships.
17 Again
(2009) reverses the fantasy
as a disgruntled middle-aged man gets the chance to relive his youth and
realises his commitment to his family.
10. The theme is extended, without supernatural intervention, in films such as
Big Daddy
(1999),
Knocked Up
(2007) and
Role Models
(2008), in which male
slackers are transformed by parental responsibility.
11. Although an early draft of the screenplay makes a spurned lover (and
apparent witch) the catalyst for Phil’s curse, wanting him to pay for his curt
treatment of her, the film leaves us without any specific cause.
12. A later film starring Black,
Gulliver’s Travels
(2010), is another contribution
to the ‘slacker gains responsibility’ sub-cycle, the magical device in this case
being a Bermuda Triangle-style phenomenon that transports the hero to
Lilliput. Again, the message is that true love will happen once a sense of
commitment to others is shown, literally helping the ‘little people’ in this
case. Although some critics deplored the lack of Swiftian satire in the film,
the fact the hero is romantically rewritten stands in pleasant contrast to
the misogyny displayed by the original novel’s hero, who returns from his
travels so repulsed by his wife’s smell he prefers to sleep in the stables!
13. The fact that Mike seeks to address his daughter’s self-image and attitude to
boys (claiming this is the specific responsibility of
fathers
and not mothers) is
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