It’s time for families to stop indoctrinating their children’s minds with watered down fairy tales and let them read the good stuff. They should be reading the stories how they were supposed to be read. I’m talking about the R-Rated stories that Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm wrote. You could argue that the stories aren’t for kids but these are fairy tales. If kids grew up with these stories, they wouldn’t think the content is that bad.
The Grimm Brothers released many volumes (1812-1847). The Disney movies are good and all but they completely destroy the Grimm stories. Disney have basically just eaten the book and shat it out through their arse all in the name of profit and money. Then I think to myself, “And people think D&D are bad with what they’ve done with Game Of Thrones”. They’re not that bad in comparison. I love what they’ve done with the series but that’s for another day.
The step sisters in Cinderella cut bits of their feet off so they can fit into the glass slipper. #House Bolton. Where’s Reek? It rhymes with meek. Snow White is only seven years old when the huntsman is ordered by The Evil Queen to take her into the forest to bring back her liver and lungs. I have an inkling Mads Mikkelsen read this book to get into his role as Hannibal. Did I mention that the step sisters in Cinderella also have their eyes pecked out by doves? Doves have religious connotations. The white dove being a symbol of peace but also a symbol of the Holy Spirit. This is very contradictory. Doves are white and represent pureness and peace as I said above. Something that has such positive connotations shouldn’t be doing something so villainous. I believe that Grimm used the dove on purpose. They did to contrast Christianity and murder. Two words that shouldn’t be said in the same sentence.
In Hansel & Gretel, their mother persuades their father to leave them in the woods because they can’t afford food to feed them. This is an example of a society that has fallen on hardtimes. They were orphaned and were the poorest of the poor.
Graphic violence is in no short supply. A quite gruesome event takes place in The Robber Bridegroom. When some brigands lug a young woman into their underground lair, they make her drink wine until she has a heart attack, tear her clothes off and then finish her by cutting up her body into bits. Arm, leg, hand, wing. You name it. In ‘The Six Swans’, a villainous mother-in-law is burned alive on a stake and then in ‘The Goose Maid’, a false bride is stripped nude, thrown into a nail-filled barrel and hauled through the streets. Amusingly, even the romantic stories contain violence. In The Frog King, the princess turns her frog into a human, not by a kiss like in all the adaptations, but by throwing it at the wall because she got pissed off. In ‘The Juniper Tree’, a woman chops her stepson’s head off when he goes to pick up an apple. Like in the Robber Bridegroom, she chops up the body, but unlike that story she makes a stew out his parts and serves it to her husband. I can’t help but draw similarities between this and Frey Pies. People who have read the ‘A Song Of Ice & Fire’ books will know. There’s enough violence there to last a life time.
Incest is another common thing in fantasy. In the story, ‘All-Kinds-of-Fur’, a king promises his passing wife that he will only remarry if his new bride is as beautiful as she is. Unfortunately, a woman such as this is unknown to him in the whole world… all except his daughter. She flees from her father into the wilderness. This is implied incest but I am sure given the chance the father would not have hesitated. Incest is not just in fairy tales, but in other works of fantasy like Game Of Thrones & Lord Of The Rings. Well, there’s the whole Targaryen Dynasty that is built on incest. They wed brother and sister to keep the bloodline pure. Aegon I married both of his sisters. Jaime & Cersei Lannister also engage in this but so did Tywin Lannister. He married his cousin Joanna Lannister who was daughter of his uncle, Jason Lannister. Even Aragorn and Arwen are distant cousin through Elrond’s brother, Elros and then the families of the shire are all related somehow. Then in our own world, there are the royal families of Europe who have also interbred. e.g. Kaiser Wilhelm II was Queen Victoria’s grandson.
Grimm’s fairy tales have graphic violence, incest and there are few instances of anti-Semitism as well. There are also examples of rape. In the original Sleeping Beauty, the lovely princess is put to sleep due to pricking her finger on a spindle. Could the old man be Rumplestiltskin? Just a theory. She sleeps for one century when a prince finally arrives, kisses her, and awakens her. They fall in love, marry, and live happily ever after for the rest of their days in typical Disney fashion. But this is not Disney is it?, The original tale is not so happy. In the Grimm tale, the princess is put to sleep because of a prophecy, not a curse. Also, it isn’t the prince’s kiss that awakens her. The king sees her sleeping peacefully…unspoiled, so he rapes her. After nine months she gives birth to two children. May I add that this is while she is still sleep.
Then there’s the story of Rapunzel where the prince gets her pregnant. The witch finds out, so she throws him off the tower and his eyes make friends with some thorns at the bottom. That’s the short version. HBO should seriously adapt these stories. It could be a really gory, gothic horror series that could go on for years. Each episode could be half an hour with ten episodes per season. There’s 200+ stories so it could be a television, cult classic. HBO don’t hold back when it comes to themes such as blood, gore, rape and incest. They will show viewers everything. I also enjoy how ABC have pulled bits of Brothers Grimm for Once Upon A Time. They are owned by Disney so they can’t be gory but I have watched some pretty intense dark scenes in that show. There are only two other networks that I’d feel comfortable adapting these stories. FX is the first. After their work with Sons Of Anarchy & American Horror Story, I have been won over. The second being Showtime with their amazing work with Penny Dreadful. That’s some creepy shit. The Grimm Tales are a blend between American Horror Story, Game Of Thrones and Penny Dreadful.
You must be logged in to post a comment.