Well the Grimm Brothers' version of Snow-White is... different. Between the cannibalism, murder, necrophilia (sort of), child abuse, and misogyny, it surprised me that this story was the inspiration for a Disney fairytale. Moreover, if the Disney film is seen as outdated, I don't know what you'd call the Grimm Brothers' version. The Grimms' fairytale, for the most part, is offensive to women. In this fairytale world, all women are vain, beauty conscious creatures with no other characteristics than their appearance. However, it ends with Snow-White being the only princess I ever known to exact her revenge on her tormentor at the end of the story, making her the only princess I've read about with that kind of backbone. Maybe it's not just an attack on women, more an observation of how their appearance effected their existence in the era when the Grimms' fairytales were written (assuming that it was set in modern day when it was written).
All that matters in the world of the Grimms' fairytale is beauty: Snow-White's mother wants a beautiful child, her stepmother cares exclusively about being the most beautiful in the land (so much so she would kill to be the fairest of them all), the huntsman spares Snow-White for her beauty, the dwarfs trust Snow-White to live in their home because of her beauty, and finally the prince falls in love with and marries Snow-White based only on her beauty (he literally doesn't care if she is dead or alive). But even the good Snow-White is easily deceived and taken advantage of because of her lust for beautiful goods. She serves a good, dim-witted, surrogate housewife for the seven dwarfs, so she does have that "redeeming" quality, but beyond that Snow-White is characterized by her beauty. Beauty is so important to those in the Grimms' fairytale world that when Snow-White is only about seven years old, her stepmother decides she is too beautiful to live in the same world and so has Snow-White taken to the woods by a huntsman. Snow-White's stepmother instructs the huntsman to return Snow-Whites lungs and liver to her as proof that the huntsman had killed her step-child. If this is not morbid enough, she then proceeds to eat what she believes to be Snow-White's lungs and liver in celebration of her victory. Maybe consuming the organs of another to gain power from them is some Germanic ritual, maybe it's just the Queen's particular taste preference, but I'm glad whatever it was it didn't make it into the Disney adaptation. No matter how Disney framed it, this scene would be difficult for children and parents to swallow. If I had read this as a child, I would probably have some qualms about eating whatever meat my parents put on my dinner plate from then on.
The story returns two inverse messages to the reader: the first being that beauty is valued above all else, above gold, love, and kindness, but also that being too beautiful is dangerous. If one becomes too beautiful, they risk becoming as vain and envious as the evil Queen, or falling victim to those envious people like the poor, helplessly simple Snow-White. (I may be harshly critiquing Snow-White, but in the Grimms' fairytale she trusted the evil Queen's disguise three times even after the dwarfs implored her to not trust anybody. I'm sorry, but she's a dumb girl.) However, according to this story, if you are so undeniably beautiful as Snow-White, you also won't ever be in danger of a wild animal attack as exemplified by her traipsing through the forest without any animal-molestation. Other benefits of beauty include everybody taking pity on you and welcoming you into their home, not decaying when you die, and having princes see your dead body and claim you as their owns because they "cannot live without being able to see Snow-White. I will honor her and respect her as my most cherished one." However, you will also be objectified, and possibly placed in a glass case where you are labeled "Princess" like a good for sale when you die. The way I see it, there is a lesson in this story if someone reads the story as a "What-Not-To-Do" guide to passing judgement on the character of other people and creating a system of values, but it has value in how it redefines "goodness."
The end of the Grimms' fairytale could be confusing to a seasoned Disney viewer: the so-called "good" Snow-White has her evil stepmother dance to her death in burning hot shoes, yet still has her happily-ever-after. Had Snow-White been forgiving (not that her stepmother deserved a pardon for her actions, but a classically "good" character like the Disney princess would have her happily-ever-after without ordering the death of her enemy), she would have exemplified the Kantian morality often exhibited in Disney films. In this way, the Grimms' fairytale Snow-White does have more backbone than the traditional Disney princess and because of this would not be as widely accepted as a role model for children. It is an interesting culture shock for me as a now-adult raised on Disney, to read a story where a princess can fight back against her former aggressor and still have a happy ending. To me, it's a little sick how she seeks justice, but also a little liberating that even this helpless, characterless, befitting-of-a-Disney-movie princess can act in a not-traditional Disney manner and have her happy ending. I'm not entirely sure that I would read this story to my five year old niece, but I still think it's a valuable, alternative to the traditional Disney princess story.
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