1. We began today’s class with a brainstorm quest to find the number of children’s fairytale stories that have wicked older women or witches in them. It was impressive to see everyone chip in, even Evan’s contribution of The Little Mermaid, for our list. After, we discussed the reality of several fairytales. Those were dangerous and scary stories! What were our parents thinking!?
2. We read an article aloud together titled “Who’s Afraid of the Wicked Witch” that discussed the benefits of fairytales for children but also some of the negatives. Children pick up some poor expectations from some of the stories, like that if you just wait and are good everything will always work out and you will be rich, have power, and be beautiful. It was humorous to hear of a “modern” fairytale written with more considerate messages for young children. It was titled “Cinderellma” and had the happy ending of Cinderellma was her turning to the prince to be honest with him to say she didn’t think they were right for each other and would not do well to spend their lives together. To this, the prince responded that he believed she was accurate in thinking they were not well suited and would be better apart, so Cinderellma gets a job, her own apartment, and lives happy on her own. Interesting, hmm?
3. The students were asked to consider some personal questions after the reading, such as what types of books they thought they would share with their kids. The beliefs and norms within a society change steadily and it seems the books change to reflect this.
4. We watched a few video clips advertising new Disney releases where they have taken familiar characters, like Cinderella and Bell from Beauty and the Beast and created new storylines where the girls learn kindness and how to be generous in sharing. We also watched a clip of the new movie titled Enchanted where the young girl is thrown down a well with a spell from the wicked witch and the young girl ends up in New York City, expelled from the dream world.Are the messages in these fairytale stories negative? What are little girls taught to expect and what do young boys grow up thinking their role in life is? Are there any princes to be met, yet? Possibly. lol

See the video clip below….

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