Concept Art for Disney's Sleeping Beauty by Eyvind Earle
You may have seen links to this interview with Neil Gaiman going around the fairy tale blogosphere from The Telegraph: Why Disney's Sleeping Beauty Doesn't Work. He talks about many aspects of fairy tales and history, from the Grimms to Goldilocks to Angela Carter, so it's worth a read; but in reference to the title, he doesn't think Disney's Sleeping Beauty makes a complete story. In the opening paragraph, he says, "I don't have a lot of patience for stories in which women are rescued by men."
Henry Maynell Rheam
Sure, that's a way to interpret Sleeping Beauty and Snow White stories, and I love a good twist to the helpless heroine, but that's only one way. Bruno Bettelheim sees stories with sleep as describing adolescence, Gaiman himself discusses how Perrault's "Sleeping Beauty" is really less about the sleeping and rescuing and more about the nightmare of having a horrible mother-in-law. With Disney's new "Maleficent" it's clear we can tell the story in a way that doesn't include rescue by a man at all.
It's just another example of how it seems like the only way modern people interpret classic fairy tales is to see them as sexist-helpless women in need of rescue by men. We miss out on other meanings, and then it sets up anyone reading such opinions to decide that, to be intelligent and forward thinking and support gender equality, we too have to dislike any stories where women are less active than men or in need of rescue.
Warwick Goble
Disney's classic Sleeping Beauty may not work for Gaiman, but clearly, for generations, it has "worked" for lots of little girls (and big girls!) who love Princess Aurora; who are enchanted not so much by the idea of being helpless, but that someone would want to rescue them.
I just hope we aren't sending out messages that it's wrong to ever need help. We all get in situations where we need help, it's okay to ask for it, it's even okay if that help comes from a loving and supportive significant other.
Gaiman himself says it best at the conclusion of his interview:
"What does he mean, I ask – that they are true and also… inspiring?
"True and also lies!" says Gaiman. "If someone says: 'We have investigated – there was no Snow White', I'm not going to go: 'Oh no, my story is now empty and meaningless'. The point about Snow White is that you can keep fighting. The point about Snow White is that even when those who are meant to love you put you in an intolerable situation, you can run away, you can make friends, you can cope. And that message," he says with a smile of satisfaction, " – that even when all is at its darkest, you can think your way out of trouble – is huge."
Nancy Ekholm Burkert
*Also, I believe this interview, and the movie Coraline, has been the source of some confusion over the famous quote about fairy tales showing children that dragons can be defeated. I've seen many people crediting it to Gaiman. The article says, "He points to the lines he used as an epigraph to Coraline – remembered from GK Chesterton but loose enough a paraphrase to be his own: "Fairy tales are more than true – not because they tell us dragons exist but because they tell us dragons can be beaten."
Here's the Chesterton quote:
“Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.”
Paolo Uccello
In my opinion, I think the thought is clearly still Chesterton's, but with either wording, I love that quote.
Thought provoking post. Words are such powerful magic that it is easy for what we say to have multiple meanings, especially taken out of context. I was left unsatisfied by Disney's Sleeping Beauty, not because a man rescued her, but something was just too good to be true. Even at a young age I preferred to be slightly (or greatly) scared by the Fae. But it did awake a passion in me for fairy tales, and prompted a trip to a library where I found Grimms. So happy you have correctly quoted Chesterton, a favourite author and wise man of much talent.
ReplyDeleteThank you. And Disney's Sleeping Beauty has its merits but also lacks in some areas, it has less depth than a lot of fairy tales and a less believable villain, and that's partly why Disney reimagined it in Maleficent. But I'm so glad it inspired you to delve deeper into the fairy tale! Even when versions aren't "perfect" there's usually still that allure of the enchanting...
DeleteIn the original versions of Sleeping Beauty she's raped in her sleep and is awoken by childbirth.
ReplyDeleteSounds pretty sexist to me.
Yes, older versions like Basile's are very dark and much more sexual. Certainly that whole scene is sexist, especially since the Prince is never punished or condemned, but we're supposed to believe the Princess just marries him and lives happily with him after that!
DeleteBut most people accusing fairy tales of being sexist aren't even aware of those stories, they're just thinking of the Grimms and Disney in which the Princess is sleeping and rescued by a man. And there certainly is sexism in that too, especially when we look at the pattern of fairy tales that has been made widely known-we're largely unaware of the strong female characters who go out and rescue others. But I think it becomes problematic when we become hyper focused on the gender aspect of fairy tales and ignore other meanings; plus I'm concerned about implying dangerous messages to young girls that its shameful to need help.
Eh, I read the article and Gaiman somehow confuses Basile's and Perrault's stories as being the same one.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, my major issue with Disney's Sleeping Beauty (which, I should note, I actually like enough to own on DVD) is that the 100-year sleep gets shortened to a mere catnap. It's the primary source of wonder and magic in the original tale and loses some power without its prodigious length. I know they did it to add more to the love story between the prince and princess, but it still is an issue.
You're totally right. Maleficent's power is completely undermined when, first of all, death can be changed to sleep, and then that sleep only lasts no more than 15 minutes of screen time. Perrault adds a lot of humor when imagining the castle waking up in the culture of 100 years later, too. But despite the plot issues, it is probably my favorite Disney movie in terms of visuals, and I love that they used the Tchaikovsky music
DeleteI'm kind of exploring that idea in my series: that sometimes men need rescuing, and sometimes women need rescuing, that a lot of the time we all need help and it's okay. I'm retelling the story of a prince who rescues a maiden from a dragon, but with quite a few twists. They have to work together to escape alive.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds so interesting! Teamwork is definitely a theme I love when it's done well-two different personalities, each with strengths and weaknesses, benefitting from each other. When are you going to publish your stories?
DeleteI'm still in the development stages but I'm really excited about it. It could be anywhere from two years to ten. The story keeps forming under my fingers, but I do intend to have them published. My own life experiences really help me figure out the story and I'm still trying to figure out who the characters are. That's the hardest part for me to come up with, I think: the actual characters with their quirks and unique voices.
DeleteWell good luck to you! Most of my life I've dreamed of being an author, especially writing a novel version of Beauty and the Beast that basically would have been a rewrite of Robin McKinley's "Beauty." In a way this blog is a way to kind of fulfill that dream! Maybe there will be some published writing in my future...and if not I'm still glad I have this chance to delve into fairy tale issues with like-minded people!
DeleteI wonder if the problem that a lot of people have is not so much that it is wrong to get help, but rather it is a problem to just *wait* for help to come. I think that is a totally different issue from just needing help in general, because this assumes that the only way to get what we want is to just sit around and do nothing until a solution arrives (the "wish-upon-a-star" attitude).
ReplyDeleteI know in your previous posts that you've talked a lot about how waiting and bearing suffering is as much a virtue as being active and finding solutions, but I think that in stories like "Sleeping Beauty" it's the idea of being too passive that is criticized. The fairy tales that I find have the most power are the ones where the heroes--regardless of gender--work hard and seek out the assistance they need, even if things don't go their way.
On the other hand, in my opinion I don't really see "Sleeping Beauty" as the "wait-for-a-perfect-solution" kind of story. I guess it makes for a more boring story, but the princess isn't really *asking* to be save--she's more a victim of circumstance. I like her better than Basile's princess, who doesn't even bother to question that her love interest orders his wife to die.
You're absolutely right, there's a difference between being patient and being helpless. And it is dangerous to just assume that someone else will just come and fix your problems if it's something you can do yourself. It's such a tricky line to draw, so while I understand where many feminist arguments are coming from, a lot of them can imply an opposite extreme that isn't healthy either.
DeleteAnd as you say, Sleeping Beauty isn't even an example of someone waiting around helplessly. Even though she has been repeatedly interpreted that way, she's ASLEEP, she can't help being unconscious, and it was actually curiosity that led her to prick her finger in the first place (in some versions).
I love what you said, "the fairy tales that I find have the most power are the ones where the heroes--regardless of gender--work hard and seek out assistance they need, even if things don't go their way." So true.
It is sexist that the fairy who helped her in the Disney version are all female, it is sexist that the main antagonist is female... they all should have been men. Right?
ReplyDeleteIt took me a second to catch your sarcasm (at least...I assume this is sarcastic!) but you bring up a good point. It really is a very female-driven story, even though Disney's Philip is given more action-although he couldn't do anything without the fairies rescuing him and giving him magical weapons!! All he did was show up and hold a sword, he didn't even have the talent to use it necessarily, it was enchanted. And talk about rescuing-before he could play his part to rescue Aurora, the fairies had to rescue HIM from jail! Yet no one seems to remember that...which in itself is pretty sexist! We only see rescue if it's done by a male with a sword?
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