Fairy Tale: Position Statement

Fairy Tale: Position Statement
Fairy tales have a way of luring a person in, big and tall, but especially the ones who are the most naïve of us all, children. The most rewarding part of a fairy tale is what draws an audience in; it is created to promote instant gratification. Although most fairy tales have an awe striking negative impact on children, they suck in many people because of the time era we live in. We live in such a fast paced world, and if our needs are not instantly satisfied with a specific outcome than lives are dramatically altered. And these fairy tales are just a reflection of why our world is this way. Fairy tales are a misrepresentation of the miscommunicated, skewed values that create an unrealistic, unreachable, unsatisfying
Rapunzel is a gorgeous girl with obnoxiously long gorgeous blonde hair, large eyes, a small waist, and a beautiful voice. She uses all of the following to her advantage when meeting Ryder. While he is gawking over her beauty, she hits him over the head with a frying pan. This gives the audience, especially young girls and unrealistic image of what a girl has to look like to be wanted by a male, and what she should do if she feels uncomfortable about it. And with that, Ryder is also stereotyped as a bad boy who can change for the good, but go without consequence. Because of her beauty and his actions a well-rehearsed stereotype is created not only in Tangled, but also in most fairy tales. In Baker-Sperry’s articles it is stated, “Children’s responses to social messages indicate their ability to understand and make meaning of the social world”. This is shown through the images children see on screen and then relating them to their own
One of the most prominent is the “mothers” obsession with the control she has over Rapunzel. It has been researched that, “ The paradox of the feminine beauty ideal is that in a patriarchal system, those women who seek or gain power through their attractiveness are often those who are most dependent on other’s resources” (Grauerholz). This is made true in Tangled when the “mother” uses her power to keep Rapunzel locked in a tower so she can use Rapunzel’s hair for her own benefit not sharing the gift she obtains with the world around them. Consequently the “mother” also portrays that value lies in the beautiful, and to be beautiful a person has to be young to be. This demonstrates to the audience of children the need every girl to be awe strikingly beautiful to be powerful and happy. In another text by Grauerholz, she states, “The children do not question the basic gendered assumptions embodied in many images and characterizations in the text, nor did they explore alternatives”. Everything children see on screen they take in as fact, whether it is a song, a scene, or just an action; children do not explore alternatives they assume life is just like the fairy tale put on screen before them. The “mother” in Tangled uses Rapunzel’s hair as a tool for her own lust to be fulfilled instead of treating her hair as a precious gift. This demonstrates that the parents that raise children do