We watch new adaptations of fairy tales familiar to us from childhood. Sometimes they cause mixed feelings — not only delight, but also bewilderment. What is the reason? And are such fairy tales suitable for our children? We deal with the family psychologist Inna Shifanova.
I love cinema. I love fairy tales. This year I watched three new films: «Maleficent», «Beauty and the Beast», «The Further into the Woods». Along with the expected joy, and partly instead of it, I experienced a strange feeling like disappointment or anxiety. It was somehow connected with the fact that the usual plots of fairy tales have noticeably changed. To understand all this, I turned to the family psychologist Inna Shifanova. And she received an explanation: “There is a reason for concern. It lies in the fact that the new film versions retain all the external attributes inherent in classic fairy tales: they have palaces, princes and princesses, fairies, sorceresses and magic, but the character and behavior of the characters differ from the canon. That is, the circumstances are the same, but the characters and their actions are different. This discrepancy can cause discomfort. Psychologists call this condition cognitive dissonance.
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How a fairy tale works
The classic fairy tale is very simple. It speaks the language of archetypes — stable images and concepts that make up the experience of the people — and contains an ethical message that is transmitted from generation to generation. It has one storyline and one main character (or heroine). The main character is always positive, he embodies goodness. The forces of evil are personified, the main character fights them or tries to outwit them. Good and evil are clearly demarcated so that the main idea is clear and prominent. At the end of the fairy tale, good always triumphs, and the main character receives a well-deserved reward.
The films mentioned above are author’s works, not folk art, they are subjective and speak the language of artistic images in the context of the modern understanding of morality, in which good and evil are ambiguous, can change places or change over time.
For example, the very name «Maleficent»1 shows us that we will not meet with an ordinary fairy tale. This word means «Malicious», which is the name of an evil sorceress in a Disney cartoon. But in a classic fairy tale, an evil character cannot be the main character. And it turns out that «Malicious» is good. There is a contradiction.
Two main characters appear in Maleficent with their own storylines: Maleficent herself and Princess Aurora. Added to this are several new messages that relate to the relationship of a man and a woman (Maleficent and Stefan) and the relationship of women to each other (Maleficent and Aurora). These new messages have not yet settled in the public consciousness, they require discussion, are subjective or reflect the opinion of only a part of the people. This is not the case in classic fairy tales. The filmmakers play with modern adults.
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different goals
Classic fairy tales and new films based on fairy tales have different goals. The film raises questions, calls to argue, analyze, discuss. And a fairy tale educates, children need it as a moral code in order to get guidelines for the future, in accordance with which they will have to act in an incomprehensible adult world. Therefore, a fairy tale reminds adults of these truths, and at the same time of childhood, comforts and soothes. And new films rather excite and leave behind many open questions.
In many fairy tales, the main character (heroine) marries a princess (prince). The high social position of a spouse is a metaphor for that high, special place that our chosen one or chosen one occupies in our inner world. So when the new Beauty and the Beast movie2 ends with the Prince moving out of the castle into his wife’s house and trading flowers with her, his lowering of social status can be seen as a decrease in his emotional significance.
In the classic version, the Beauty was to fall in love with the Beast, despite his outward ugliness, to discover his inner beauty: kindness, care, ability to love. In the modern version, she falls in love with the Beast, already knowing that the enchanted prince is in front of her, but also knowing that he mistakenly killed his previous wife, who was expecting a child from him. And if in the first case the moral message is simple and easy to read: “look deep into a person, not at appearance, but at behavior”, then in the second it is difficult to formulate and it seems ethically ambiguous.
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A new take on femininity
In the archetypal world of a fairy tale, only a man can awaken femininity, otherwise the girl will remain a sleeping beauty. In Maleficent, an ironic rethinking of the plot takes place: the prince’s kiss is useless, and the sorceress wakes Aurora with her kiss — it is a kiss, not witchcraft. There is a shift and confusion of roles. The awakening of the princess either has nothing to do with her femininity, or we must recognize that this femininity is closed in itself, not directed at a man, not addressed to him. Considering that Maleficent, according to the new version of events, was in the past beloved of Stefan, Aurora’s father, the whole story takes on an incestuous tone.
The view of masculinity is also changing. A man ceases to be a protector and patron (the prince’s kiss no longer «works»); moreover, he becomes a rival in the struggle for power. Stefan cuts off Maleficent’s wings and takes away her ability to fly in order to become king.
In the fairy tale «The farther into the forest»3 the prince also turns out to be insolvent — we learn that even after the wedding he is not averse to having an affair with someone else. We are prompted to a new conclusion: a woman should no longer rely on a man, she should be able to stand up for herself. Are there situations like this in real life? Undoubtedly. But if we imagine a world where these particular cases are elevated to the level of an archetype, then in such a world one of the main oppositions will be weakened or completely disappear: a man — a woman. A woman will be able to push a man away, refuse his support and even replace him with herself. But in such independence lies one danger — you may not be completely alive, you may wake up, but not completely: humanity will wake up, but sexuality will remain asleep.
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Tales for adults
New fairy tale films are not a modernization of old fairy tales, but rather modern plots in which there is no traditional happy ending, many questions remain open, and good and evil leave their usual places. These are fairy tales for adults rather than children. How will they affect children? Perhaps the ambiguity of the characters will make it difficult to perceive. After all, a fairy tale is the moral law of life. And even if in a fairy tale a man (a positive hero) can change, then loyalty depreciates. If even in a fairy tale a woman can curse, take revenge and at the same time remain a positive heroine, then you can correct and forgive any behavior, say to yourself: “It’s okay if I now go to meanness, then I will correct myself and become a hero again” … But for now, the children are listening and read classic old fairy tales, they are unlikely to lose their moral compass.
1 «Maleficent» («Maleficent»), dir. Robert Stromberg (2014). Cast: Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Juno Temple, Sharlto Copley, Sam Riley. The film is based on a modified story about Sleeping Beauty.
2 «Beauty and the Beast» («La belle & la bête»), dir. Christoph Gahn (2014). Cast: Léa Seydoux, Vincent Cassel, André Dussolier. Several new lines have been added to the well-known plot.
3 «The further into the forest …» («Into the Woods»), dir. Rob Marshall (2014). Cast: Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, Johnny Depp, Anna Kendrick. The film is based on several altered fairy tales: Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Jack the Beanstalk and the story of a childless couple who dream of a child.