Diversity in Tales

Modern fairy tales and large production companies such as Disney, have created a less harmful message toward the general public as well as making sure to introduce different cultures with each tale. The goal of these companies seems to be to appease people around the world by expanding their products boundaries creating a larger audience in order for them to make more money.

Before Disney popularized fairy tales there were many different spins on each traditional tale. An example of a romanticized tale would be the story of The Little Mermaid. In this tale Ariel the mermaid had decided to give up her voice in order to find true love. Harmless tale which Disney took and animated to life. The real folklore ends with Ariel not getting to be with Prince Eric and turning into sea foam or dying in other words. Clearly Disney wanted to make the story appropriate and appealing to younger audiences or else they would not have changed the true dismal ending. Each tale also had a different story in different countries today as well hundreds of years ago because of restrictions in some countries. An example of this would be the story of Cinderella.

We all know (hopefully) that Cinderella was doing chores for her evil stepmother and stepsisters until she met a fairy godmother who changed her life. She was able to attend the ball and meet the prince while wearing beautiful glass slippers, leaving one behind the prince set out to find her. Once he found Cinderella they got married and it was happily ever after. Now in Egypt the story is about a girl named Rhodopis who was a slave girl stolen from Greece where she is treated poorly by Egyptian girls. She loved to dance and was given a pair of red slippers but was denied access to dance with the Pharaoh. She had a falcon steal her shoe and set it on his lap and he demanded the wearer of the beautiful slipper became his Queen.

Both stories hold the same concept however are adjusted to fit each individual culture as needed. I believe that fairy tales should be more open to diversity rather than just sticking to one culture per story because the world is not just one culture. The world itself is a diverse place and I believe our entertainment should be a reflection of that.

-Lydia C.