I've had a couple of conversations lately about romance and fairy tales and fantasies, so I thought I'd try to order my thoughts here.
Just in case you're new to my blog, my mind doesn't seem to work like most people's so my musings here may be totally weird. I'm okay with weird, that's how I've always been! :)
Having said that, you've probably worked out that I'm not all that keen on the popular fairy tales and probably have some odd reasonings, so here goes.
Cinderella seems to be one of the most loved fairy tales. It gets transferred to romance stories, and linked to female fantasies. I'm not a big fan of Cinderella. No one could explain how everything but her shoe returned to normal at midnight. And how did no one at all recognise her? Then it just annoys me that a fairy godmother gave her a night out, rather than a fair go. Why couldn't she have given Cinderella a decent life of her own, rather than dress up and play pretend (yes, I know, no story if she does that!). And how could her foot be so rare no one else fit that slipper?
Snow White and Sleeping Beauty are both a bit odd because the girl's asleep and the prince sees her, falls madly in love, kisses her/takes her home, and breaks the curse/spell. The girls are inactive, and the guys fall for beauty, not even knowing the girl's character. Sounds pretty risky to me! And, is it only me who thinks necrophilia?
And talking of fetishes, there are some great bestiality stories - The Frog Prince, Beauty and the Beast. Fall in love and kiss a critter, anyone? Is the Pied Piper paedophilia when he leads all the children out of town? Hansel and Gretel's another fetish one, just not sure where it falls - paedophilia, cannibalism, sadism could all work.
I'm a fan of Babes in the Woods, where there's kidnapping and abandonment, but then rescue by animals and a kindly grandma who loves the kids and rewards the animals' kindness.
When you look at it, we tell children some beastly stories, that possibly get them ready for the harsh reality of life... but are they also helping to create future sexual fantasies?
One of the most popular female fantasies seems to be where she does nothing and her perfect man falls in love with her and saves her - does it sound like Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella? Can it be the very popular Pretty Woman and/or 50 Shades of Grey?
There's a universality to stories, especially fables and fairy tales. There's also a universality to romance, and also fantasies. Even with sometimes huge cultural differences, similar themes exist. How does that happen? It's an odd thing, universality.
I've no answers today, just random musings. But what interests me in my musings is that I prefer the story that's not about romance. The romances make me ask questions, and doubt the characters, or their intentions and/or motivations. This is quite possibly why I can't seem to write very romantic stories, no matter how I try. Maybe my universal theme is kindness and familial love, not romantic love. Not so great for a romance writer, hey?! :)
Do you have a favourite fairy tale? Does it link to your life/writing/fantasies/fetishes?
No comments:
Post a Comment