Let's talk more about fairytales! Last "Book of the Week" was a brief spotlight on fairytales. To quote;
it is important that we read the original fairytales as these [Disney and Pixar] films often strip the stories of key details. They present a very shallow version of what is in fact a beautiful story with deep morals and themes.
Fairytales are all the rave with every new live action adaptation; however, it is sad to see how many of these new adaptations fail to recognize the beauty of the original stories. They see them as something to be "fixed" and therefore "redone" rather than retold to spark children's imagination and nourish their understanding of virtue.
So, let's dive a little deeper. What makes a fairy tale and why do children need them?
Fairytales are likely stories of inheritance, meaning they were passed down for generations. In fact, some fairy tales can even be traced back to Ancient Greece. As a result, details of the stories are dropped or added, and we can find similar stories across different cultures. Eventually, many well-known authors such as Hans Christian Anderson and the Brothers Grimm put them to paper. All fairytales contain several key elements;
- A beginning that catches the reader (once upon a time....)
- Royalty – Often the role models of the story, the ones to look up to
- Magic – According to C.S. Lewis, this is a must in fairytales as it is critical in crossing the bridge from reality to the imaginative world.
- Happy Ending – Things that were put out of place are restored, the good is rewarded and evil pays its price. There is a natural consequence to everything.
Lastly, fairy tales contain important themes of love and virtue. That leads us to why children and adults need to read the original fairy tales. Daniel Coupland of Hillsdale College gives two clear reasons. To summarize;
1. We do not always want to take things seriously. Sometimes, we want to simply enjoy a good, imaginative story. Fairy tales were not always intended just for children, in fact, C.S. Lewis argues that they were written for adults (hence why children's stories such as
The Princess and the Goblin or
The Chronicles of Narnia are a more advanced read). However, as adults we tend to be quick to bring an analytical perspective to what we read, when these stories, though they contain deep morals, were simply meant to enjoyed as good stories.
2. Fairy tales allow us to see beyond strict boundaries, and to teach our children through their moral imagination. For example, we may tell a student that it is kind to sit with someone who is sitting alone at lunch. While that is a good lesson to teach, it creates a strict boundary and children begin to seek that exact scenario to show kindness. Whereas, fairytales strengthen the moral imagination, children see examples of kindness that are not directly from their own world but that they can still understand. This allows them to truly understand those key morals and virtues and then be able to recognize them in the real world. This is another area where the movie adaptations fall short. They attempt to make the stories "more relatable" to their audiences and thus create those strict boundaries around what was supposed to simply be a beautiful, imaginative story.
Now, this does not mean you must stop enjoying all Disney movies! However, I would encourage that we read the original stories to our children first so they learn the origins of the films and have the opportunity to explore their moral imaginations.
