Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Ever After


Ever After is a version of the fairytale Cinderella.  In this story, Danielle (Cinderella) is happy living with her father on the farm.  One day, he brings home a stepmother and two stepsisters.  The father dies of a heart attack and the stepmother takes control of the farm.  The stepmother, jealous of how much love Danielle got from her father, treats her Danielle like dirt.

One day, the prince comes across Danielle and, thinking that she is of high status, falls in love with her.  She pretends to be a countess for some time with the prince.  Throughout their times, she provides her “slave” opinions to him without giving away her secret.  These opinions make him fall even harder for her.

So far, this movie seems very similar to the original fairytale.  However, there are some controversial themes within this story.  After Danielle punches the rudest stepsister for stealing her mother’s dress, her stepmother whips her.  The next scene shows the other stepsister cleaning up Danielle’s wounds and speaking kindly to her.  At least in this story one sister has compassion!

After the stepmother finds out that Danielle was secretly seeing the prince, she has her sold to a creepy man.  This man always wanted Danielle to keep him company and be his sex slave.  She is able to get away from this man (by threatening to kill him with a knife) and reunite with her prince.  The stepmother and the evil stepsister are punished by forever doing the kingdom’s laundry.  The nice stepsister was able to live peacefully in the castle with Danielle and the prince.

Thankfully, this was not as gruesome as the Grimm Brothers’ version.  However, I do prefer the ending of the Grimm Brothers’ story because the evil characters do not get off easy.  They deserve a much harsher punishment than doing laundry! 

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

The 10th Kingdom


The 10th Kingdom was a television series that was eventually combined into a 4 hour-long movie.  The plot takes place two centuries after Snow White and Cinderella had their fairytale adventure.  Snow White’s grandson, Prince Wendel, is about to be crowned King of the Fourth Kingdom.  The evil queen, the successor of Snow White’s evil stepmother, wants to take control of the Fourth Kingdom.  She escapes prison and turns the prince into a golden retriever.  Wendel escapes through a magic mirror that sends him to New York City (the 10th Kingdom).  Virginia, a typical New York City girl, is dragged into this world with her father, Tony.  They are forced to help Wendel become human again so they can return home.


During the movie, there are evil creatures trying to prevent this heroic act from happening.  Wolf (the one from the three little pigs), who is actually a human, is manipulated in prison and sent to hunt Virginia by the orders of the evil queen.  He ties Virginia’s grandmother up and almost eats her; but decides not to when he realizes that he fell in love with Virginia.  In another scene, he is blamed for killing and devouring Sally Peep (Bo Peep’s relative).  It is found out that he did no such thing and that she was actually killed by her father for not winning the Shepherdess Competition.  Wolf turns into a good guy and helps Virginia and Tony try to save the prince and find their way home.


Also among the evil creatures are the trolls.  There are three teenage trolls and one father.  The father troll has magic shoes that allow him to be invisible.  However, when he wears them too long, he becomes dependent on the shoes, which makes him aggressive towards everyone around him and makes him extremely weak when he takes them off.  The father troll, who is under the loyalty of the evil queen, has to answer to her every call.  When she contacts him, she makes him suffer by creating agonizing pain in his head until he finds a mirror to answer her call.  When he gets fed up and denies her, she finds him and decapitates him.  She tells his three children that Virginia is responsible, so they get an even bigger vendetta towards Virginia.


Even after the princesses have been dead for about two centuries, violence is still occurring in their Kingdoms.  This just goes to show you that there are no true happily ever afters.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Beauty and the Beast (part two

A long time ago, there was a Roman writer named Apuleius.  He created a story similar to that of Beauty and the Beast.  His story was called “Cupid and Psyche”. Beauty and the Beast has been said to originate from this myth.

Psyche was a beautiful girl who had trouble finding a man.  Her stunning features mesmerized all men, but none wished to marry her.  Venus, being jealous of Psyche’s beauty, instructed Cupid to shoot her with an arrow and make her fall in love with a serpent.  Cupid is mesmerized by Psyche’s beauty just like all the other men. He decides to shoot himself with the arrow.  Psyche was told that she would fall in love with a serpent, but it was actually Cupid.

Every night, Cupid would enter her bedroom to make love to her, but she was forbidden to look at him.  Psyche’s sisters tell her to look at her husband because they are jealous of her wealth and knew that it is against the rules.  Psyche turns on a lamp and looks at her beautiful husband and realizes he is truly not a serpent. Cupid deserts his wife because there cannot be love without trust.

Psyche goes searching everywhere for her beloved husband.  Venus tries to trick her many times and almost kills her.  Venus succeeds in making Psyche curious about a magical box. When Psyche opens the box, she immediately falls asleep. Cupid, looking for Psyche, finds her and requests that Zeus makes her immortal. Psyche is awoken, is turned immortal, and marries Cupid.

I like how this story teaches you about love through trust. But, why is all the trust on the woman’s shoulders? The man saw beauty, desired it, and obtained it. He did not have to prove his trust like Psyche did.  I rather read a story like the new “Beauty and the Beast” than this version.  It is more romantic and equal between the man and woman.