Guest Speaker

Last week I had the pleasure of listening to Dr. Shabbir Mian talk about "Folk and Fairy Tales from Bangladesh."

Dr. Mian teaches science, and was understandably a little out of his element when talking about fairy tales, a vastly different topic than physics. Dr. Mian has us read a rupkotha, fairy tales told to children in Bangladesh, called "Blue Lotus and Red Lotus." The tale is about two young boys of a king, one human and the other half demon. One of the main characters was the half-demon child's mother, called a Rakkhashi. She plots to devour the two boys, and eventually does. After she eats them, iron and gold balls come out of her mouth. She buries them under a bamboo tree after they cause her unease. The next day a laborer cuts two of the bamboo trees and finds a red and blue egg. Out of these eggs spring the two brothers. The brothers then begin a journey that ends with the killing of the half-demon boys mother and grandmother.

This story was incredibly unique from any fairy or folk tale I've read in this class. It features an evil, cannibalistic demon who devours her own child. The main hero of the story isn't all human. The story is violent, depicting scenes of people-eating and killing. It was a very interesting story that I'm glad I read.

In this lecture, I learned that most rupkothas were told orally, and were passed down therough generations, varying in some degree, and eventually were written down as folk literature. A connection with fairy tales of other cultures is the archetype of the wicked stepmother, who in Bengali fairy tales often takes the form of a jealous co-wife. A common theme in Bengali fairy tales is that good virtue is rewarded, while evilness is punished. In "Red Lotus and Blue Lotus," the evil rakkhashi is killed in the end, representing her punishment.

I also learned about the common characters in Bengali folk tales. They can be demons, monsters, ascetics, witches, kings, queens, princes, princesses, sons of ministers, and constables.

This lecture was my first experience in getting first-hand knowledge about the folk tales of different cultures. Truth be told, the country of Bangladesh is not always in the forefront of my mind, and I don't know much about it. Dr. Mian's discussion gave me some insight into a formerly obscure Bengali culture. Perhaps the most interesting part of Dr. Mian's lecture was the video of the "Red Lotus and Blue Lotus" story. Dr. Mian mentioned that a lot of storytelling in Bangladesh is done via song, which is evident in the video.

A Bangladesh Folk Dance:

Sonne & Snow White

My first reaction upon seeing this video was astonishment. I truly think it's the strangest music video I have ever seen in my life.

The video is set up as a Snow White tale. The members of the band make up the seven dwarfs, while Snow White is a giant. The similarities within the tale are the characters, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and the general plot. Snow White dies and is carried in a casket by the dwarfs before being awakened. This is where the similarities end and the differences begin to pile up.

Snow White's character is much more overtly sexual than in the book. She appears to have an addiction to snorting gold dust. The dwarfs appear to have a deep sexual attraction/obsession with her. Snow White dies in a bathtub instead of choking on a poisonous apple. Snow White is woken when an apple, a symbol/motif of all Snow White stories symbolizing innocence, purity, and sometimes sex, virginity, menstruation and the like, shatters her casket. Symbolically, the gold dust in the video could represent decadence since Snow White is snorting it.

Snow White, in the video version, is a powerful figure. She seems to have some kind of a hold over the dwarfs. She spanks them and they service her, polishing her apples and brushing her hair. She's slightly narcissistic--seen when she poses in front of the mirror. As mentioned earlier, she's self-indulgent and a drug abuser.

Rammstein's version of Snow White is really just a warped, more sexual version of the story. I was not a huge fan of this version, as I simply couldn't understand what in the world was going on. I didn't really see a point to the music video. I much prefer the slightly more innocent Snow White of the fairy tales.

Outliers and Cinderella

Cinderella is what most call a "rags to riches" story. This familiar plot outline involves someone from a poor environment rising through the ranks, usually through marriage, and becoming a member of the upper class. In the case of Cinderella, she is, depending on which version you read, a formerly upper class girl who has either been treated like a slave by her wicked stepmother, or has run away from her father and is now employed as a worker for a noble family.

In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell says that there are no true examples in life where people have captured success all by themselves. There are always outside factors and benefits people have that help them to succeed.

Cinderella does not reach her "Happily Ever After" by herself. Cinderella constantly receives help from other people and things that in the end, result in her marriage with the prince. In "Yeh-hsien," she has the assistance of a magical fish. Although at the time it seems like a bad thing, if Yeh-hsien's stepmother hadn't killed the fish, Cinderella would have never gotten it's magic bones. Later, the king marries Yeh-hsien because of the bones, thereby securing her ascension into the upper echelon of the social ladder. This pattern is repeated in Donkeyskin. The fairy godmother gives the young princess advice, telling her to ask her father for three dresses. Later, the dresses help convince the king and queen that she should marry their son, the prince.

Each Cinderella story features some important event that later contributes to Cinderella's success. This falls in line with Gladwell's theory that no one is ever purely responsible for their own success.

Personally, I tend to agree with Gladwell's theory, although it is a little severe. In terms of fairy tales, I agree even more. No character in a fairy tale ever achieves a "Happily Ever After" all by themselves. Magic and marriage both aid the characters, whether it be fairy godmother's, magic trees, helpful birds, or a marriage to a prince.

In real life, however, this is significantly less realistic. Magic isn't real, so it certainly isn't going to help anybody achieve success. Marriage can help, as advantageous marriages are still quite popular within society.

Weird 80s Music that's strangely fitting:

Cinderella - Shake Me
Uploaded by jpdc11. - Watch more music videos, in HD!

What is a fairy tale? When posed with this question, many people think of standard fairy tale elements.

"Well, they all start with 'Once Upon a Time...'" True, some of the more famous and recognizable fairy tales begin with those distinguished four words. But many of them do not. So the question remains, what makes the others fairy tales?

"Well, they all end with 'Happily ever after...'" Again, this is somewhat true. But the vast majority of fairy tales finish with their own original endings. So what makes all fairy tales...fairy tales?

In contrast with folk tales, fairy tales tend to be literary creations. Writers learn of common folktales and they turn them into a literary work. The story gets "flowered up," so to speak. Once fairy tales are written down, that version will be there to stay. Permanently. Other writers may create variants of it, but that will not change the original story.

Now, when it comes to what makes up a fairy tale, the guidelines broaden. Princes, princesses, frogs, wolves, grandmothers, peasants, witches...any kind of creature can be a main character. The stories have recognizable motifs, or symbols, that give them a deeper meaning. Colors, numbers, and objects can all represent something else in the bigger picture. Many fairy tales have an over-arching goal--usually teaching morals to young children. Other common fairy tale qualities can include magic, witchcraft, dark creatures and tales, and many other elements.

It is difficult to pin down what exactly a fairy tale is. It can mean so many different things to different people. But in the end, the qualities I outlined are typical of most, if not all, fairy tales.

My favorite TV show had an episode about fairy tales:

Blog Url: http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/abr/lowres/abrn601l.jpg
Cartoonist: cartoonstock.com (Adey?)

I googled "Little Red Riding Hood" +cartoon, and after about 5 pages I found this one. It was the first cartoon that actually made me laugh. It's not very serious, and it has no deeper political or social meanings, but I thought it was cute. It actually brought back memories of my Issues in American Society Class, where I wrote a 3 page paper about the pros and cons of euthanasia.

This cartoon puts a nice little twist on the typical "Little Red Riding Hood" story. The wolf's plan is foiled and Little Red comes out on top. I especially like the look on the wolf's face. As I said, it's not a particularly deep cartoon, but it's chuckle-worthy.

Actually, upon second thought it does have a somewhat social/political meaning. Nowadays, more and more people are turning to euthanasia in order to ensure a peaceful, painless death. Apparently Little Red's grandmother is the latest to follow that particular line of thinking. There is also Little Red Riding Hood's reaction to the imminent euthanasia of grandma. She seems pretty happy wielding that needle. It's been my observation that grandchildren are a lot less attached and less thankful for the grandparents in recent times.

Overall, this cartoon is just a nice contemporary update of the Little Red Riding Hood story, with a quirky twist.

For as long as I can remember, fairy tales have been a very important part of my life. Growing up, I was obsessed with fairy tales. Every time a new Disney movie came out on video, I’d rent it and watch it immediately. I think I single-handedly destroyed the local video stores copy of The Princess and the Goblin. I bought all of the Disney princess Barbie dolls and decorated my room with Jasmin curtains and Cinderella sheets. Eventually my mom started buying me fairy tale anthologies that she found at yard sales. I remember reading tons of stories like “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” “Jack and the Beanstalk,” and an old favorite, “Rapunzel.” As I grew older, I stopped reading those tales and watching those Disney movies, but they always stuck with me. So when I scrolled through the list of first-year seminars, “Once Upon a Time” immediately caught my eye. I had been moving in a more social studies oriented direction, but I simply could not resist the chance to study something that I had once loved so much.

With this first-year seminar, I hope to learn more about fairy tales and their beginnings. I would love to learn about the more obscure fairy tales that I have never heard of. But most of all, I just want to have fun with this class. Studying fairy tales is just about the coolest thing anybody could do, and I’m eager to learn.

My personal favorite fairy tale is “Rumpelstiltskin.” I read it for the first time when I was in second grade and loved it. I cheered when the miller’s daughter found out Rumpelstiltskin’s name. It’s less well-known than some of the more famous fairy tales, but it is without a doubt my favorite.

Rumpelstiltskin + Rocky and Bullwinkle = Amazing.