I have always maintained that so-called fairy stories aren't really about fairies and they are certainly not for kids. How are these stories, full of terrible injustice and cruelty and monsters in human/inhuman form, suitable for kids, I always wondered? I like movies like the Shrek films because of the way they mock traditional fairy tales. Now a new series of ads featuring Amy Poehler (of Saturday Night Live fame) offers alternative narratives of popular fairy tales as well:
The premise of this story used to be the oh-so-delicate princess; who’s authenticity as a royal depended upon her being able to detect the presence of a pea under a pile of mattresses. In this alternative version, the princess feels she doesn’t have to comply with the random demands of others and decides not to ‘prove’ her authenticity. She speaks her mind – and everyone lives happily ever after! Moral of the story you don’t always have to be agreeable – it’s OK to stand up for what you want; not be a biddable person living the life others want you to.
In the old story, Rapunzel’s hair is used instead of a staircase and she is locked up in a tower without any escape. It is the handsome prince who comes and rescues her. In other words, her life is completely controlled by others. In this new version, Rapunzel decides she has had enough of it all and decides she doesn’t want to let her hair be used as a ladder any longer. This time Rapunzel decides to get a short haircut because it’s so much easier to manage – a dig at the traditional societal expectations of women to look and behave a certain way. The prince is incidental in this story. Moral of the story do what’s best for you and not what others expect of you – even if the wicked stepmother/witch is prophesying doom for you.
In the original story, the evil stepmother left her kids to fend for themselves in the woods and they tried to get back and had various really scary experiences in the process. In the alternative version, Gretel decides that there isn't much point in trying to return to the home where the children were so badly treated. So the kids decide to enjoy the woods and the wood creatures and to actually eat the bread they’d been given rather than scatter it along the path. Gretel also has the self-preservation not to go into the tempting but suspicious house made of candy – sounds pretty sorted to me. They also got a lot of exercise wandering around the woods. Moral of the story – don’t rush through life, stop and take the time to smell the roses, so to speak.
The ads are for an iced tea brand and they promote the idea of the assertive woman who decides to say ‘No’ to the things that are not right for her. Women are typically conditioned to say ‘yes’ – to doing other people's jobs, doing things the way others want them done, doing things they don’t want to do; things that impinge upon their time. The thing is, women are supposed to be agreeable and selfless – how about women saying ‘No’ to that expectation – and saying ‘Yes’ to what is right for them? Radical idea!
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