Dr. Tatar

Tuesday's dinner and lecture with Dr. Tatar was enlightening in many ways.

I walked into this night excited, as Dr. Tatar was the one fairy tale expert that I was truly interested in, as the rest had come off as somewhat boring. Dr. Tatar's writings were easy to read and easy to understand, and I was eager to meet the woman behind the books.

I enjoyed Dr. Tatar's lecture, as it brought up certain aspects of fairy tales that I have never considered before. The topic of beauty vs. horror was not something that had really crossed my mind. I found myself nodding along to her when she started talking about Donkeyskin, and the light associated with the character that represented her beauty. Although, when reading the fairy tales, I had assumed that the gold, silver, and light had some significance, I never connected them with beauty.

Another interesting part of Dr. Tatar's lecture was the discussion of the fairy tale (I can't remember the name) in which the girl dances around in ruby slippers until her feet become bloodied. Her feet are chopped off for her sin, and the shoes (with the feet in them) run away. Truth be told, if someone looked at me as Dr. Tatar relayed the story, they probably would have seen a look of disgust on my face. This story perfectly represented the "horror" of fairy tales.

Although Dr. Tatar's lecture was indeed a very interesting topic, I was not entirely sure what the point to the lecture was. I felt that it ended just like an essay without a conclusion. I had all of these thoughts and ideas from her presentation, but I had no idea what they had to do with each other.

Regardless, Dr. Tatar's lecture was very interesting, and I was particularly delighted to learn that she did not carry the same distaste for Disney films as Jack Zipes, or other fairy tale authorities do. I was very glad to have this opportunity with Dr. Tatar.

Horror and Fairy Tales: