I was at the cinema recently watching the latest Bridget Jones movie (I know people loved it, but I thought it was dull – maybe a reflection of what life looks like for many women when they reach the golden age of the menopause, and people start dying, and the kids have taken over your life and what’s left?) and I saw a trailer for the new Snow White Disney movie.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I loved the Ladybird books when I was younger, but it’s only now, looking back, that I can appreciate the drivel that fairy tales offered girls in terms of what our futures might look like. And that amounted to handsome princes in the main. The future was men. I wondered why we were remaking movies that still pedalled that old fashioned narrative? Recycling seems to be the way now for popular culture. I’m not sure how many Batmans, Supermans and Spidermans the world needs regurgitated – and should they all be men, still?
Anyway, this is what I wrote about Cinderella when that movie came out a couple of years ago.
Newspapers are headlining the fact that the recent Cinderella movie has scooped a ‘fairytale’ debut with opening numbers in America grossing $67.9 million and in the UK making almost £4 million. The Guardian even championed the film for claiming one of the top spots in the film charts declaring that “the market is demonstrating the power of female protagonists”.
Really?
The last time I looked (and I think I was about 9), the story focused on a girl stuck in a dead end job, cooking and cleaning and relying on nothing more than wishes, dreams and magic to land herself a royal bloke who would decide what kind of shoes she should wear and sweep her off her feet so that she didn’t have to walk on them.
Okay, this was probably acceptable over 60 years ago when Disney first released its animated fairytale and we can probably forgive the Brothers Grimm for penning such a thing over 200 years ago when a woman’s place in society was pretty much at the bottom of the pile beneath the farm animals and horses. But what are we doing regurgitating such a narrow minded and, quite frankly, offensive view of women after we’ve spent the last 100 years trying to break free of such stereotypes.
Why are we planting the seeds of happy ever after in young, female heads all over again without any nod to emancipation, feminism and equal rights? Is this a much loved fairytale or just another attempt to brainwash a new generation with rosy, romantic images and ideals that most women have spent a lifetime trying to shrug off?
Not only do we find ourselves celebrating and applauding youth and beauty versus age, we also hold up those less fortunate in the ‘looks’ department as objects of ridicule – more ugly storyline than ugly sisters, I would suggest. And as for Prince Charming, he spends most of the story lying about who he really is – he wouldn’t be out of place on today’s dating apps, would he?
In the early 80s, Colette Dowling wrote a memorable book – The Cinderella Complex – which tackled women’s hidden fear of independence head on and addressed the issue of them feeling like they needed a man to protect them and take care of them. This provoked a whole generation of women to break free of the stereotypes that had previously restricted their movements in society. It wasn’t just about burning bras, it was about finding our feet in a world that was tipped in favour of men being held up as the superior sex.
And here we are, 30 years later, with the clock turned right back bemoaning the fact that the Wicked Stepmother is evil (of course she is, she can’t replace the perfection of a natural birth mother), the Ugly Sisters are vile (because everyone knows that beauty isn’t only skin deep?) and that gorgeous specimen of a Prince? Well, he’s the answer to all of our problems because he can ride a horse and because… well, he lives in a castle, don’t you know!
Not only that, someone is making millions from the masses of Cinderella merchandise being produced so that every young girl can dress the part – and we all know that it’s not only magic but pretty dresses, make-up, ribbons and hair bobbles that can turn us into real life princesses.
Are we really all happy about putting this kind of spell on another generation of wide eyed young believers?
I’ve had to do a double take. I don’t know what century I’m in. I can’t believe that in the year 2015, not only are we unimaginative enough not to tinker about with the fairies in our tales we are all clamouring to be a part of it without remotely wondering about the implications. Why not reverse the roles of the Cinderella and the Prince? After all, men DO housework now, don’t they? Why does Cinderella have to be beautiful, can’t she just be smart and intelligent? Does she need a fairy godmother to turn animals and vegetables into transportation? Can’t she just drive a fast sports car?
I’m really sorry, I’m all for a bit of magic and some spells and potions in the right context, and I love when right triumphs over wrong, but wheeling out all the dusty old familiars to make a quick buck without any thought for the meaning of what happy ever after means for women in this century? That’s not really putting our best foot forward. Cinderella isn’t complex and she certainly isn’t a role model to look up to for a generation of girls who can be anything they want to be.
Women shouldn’t need to believe that they should rely on magic to get to where they want to be these days. We’ve spent years pushing against the glass ceiling.
On reflection, we probably should have concentrated more of our efforts on the glass slipper?
Mags Winthrop Blog 