The List

Romantic comedies (and any romance genre for that matter) are our modern-day equivalent of fairy tales. At least the “girl-finds-a-prince or the boy-is-given-a-princess-type” fairy tale. It has a discernable formula—two people meet, they fall in love, an obstacle separates them (and according to Hallmark movies, that’s at the hour and thirty mark), and then all hurts are mended to a happily ever after conclusion—and often used devices. One of the most used is the List.

You know what I’m talking about.

My first conscious awareness of it was as a kid watching When Harry Met Sally

One character, typically the guy, but I’ve seen some good lady lists too, enumerates all the reasons they can’t picture life without the other one. The one with the list always seems angry and frustrated to have to relate the list. The profess-ee stands, usually with tear-brightened eyes, in bewilderment. I’ve seen this done well and…not so well. Even so, I think it’s something that is glaringly absent from more traditional fairy tales.

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Prince to Cinderella

“I think it’s adorable that cleaning products make you twitchy and you insist on going around barefoot.”

Prince Charming to Snow White

“No one eats apple pie quite like you.”

Prince to Rapunzel

“I love how grounded you are even though you live in a tower.”

If you’re thinking those aren’t really lists, you’re right. I think it’s what keeps the romance out of fairy tales. Relationships are transactional and haphazard. It's like marrying the firefighter who rescued you from a burning building when thanks (albeit profound) and maybe baked goods would do the trick. I suspect if either party were pressed for specifics about why they were together, the reasons would be unsatisfying.

Why do I bring this up? I suppose the breezy offerings at this time of year for books, movies, television and even music. Some tropes are admittedly overused, but some are as welcome as a cool breeze on a summer day. And it led me to wonder, where do fairy tales fit in? My conclusion: they don’t—at least not in a way that makes me want to use them as a romantic ideal.

Reacquainting with Rapunzel

I recently re-started editing my book. As you may or may not remember these are the edits I forced during the quarantine and the results were a mess, to put it kindly. I had to leave it alone for a while and then reacquaint myself with my words. It required a lot of “killing my darlings” which was by turns painful and wonderful. It got me thinking about Rapunzel.

After Rapunzel was banished from her tower prison she ended up in the desert pregnant and alone eventually giving birth to twins. The prince, who had been cursed by the enchantress to wander the world was now blind. They found each other and Rapunzel’s tears cured his blindness and then they moved back to his kingdom for happily ever after.

This is where my questions start. After the prince wandered for years and Rapunzel was a single mother, they must have changed. She’d done things on her own in her own way and he moved through the world differently after having been a pampered prince reduced to poverty. It must have been an adjustment. They’d both experienced trauma and had to find their way back to each other, likely over and over again.

It’s what I had to do over this month and a half—find my way back to my words after, let’s be honest, a global trauma. There were times I wondered if I just wasn’t a writer anymore. And yet I did get back to my words and reminded myself that I’m always a writer. I like to think Rapunzel and her prince were able to love each other again despite all the changes just as I fell in love with my words again.

P.S. To my American readers, Happy Thanksgiving!

Fairy Justice

Imagine if you will Rapunzel still wandering the swamp with her twins in tow and the prince elsewhere, still blind and searching for his love.Imagine the maiden in Rumpelstiltskin handing over her baby to the fairy who demanded her as payment.Imagine the Woodsman never happened by Grannie’s house and Red Riding Hood still being digested in the stomach of the wolf.Fairy tales appeal to our very basic sense of justice. They’re so popular in childhood because for a child everything is concrete. There’s a bad person and a good person. The bad person is punished and the good one is given a new start.It isn’t until we’re older that we see the gray areas. The lack of agency. The casual brutality. The inequalities. And yet, we return to these stories or some modern derivative to feel a sense of vindication.Sadly, life rarely works out so neatly. Bad people continue to behave badly without correction or condemnation. Good people are overlooked It contributes to a sense of disillusionment that only the simply ordered world of storytelling can assuage.Sometimes fairy tales are the balm we need to ease the crazy that is modern life.

Happily Ever After by the Fairytale Feminista

I’ve been writing about happily ever after a lot lately—questioning its validity, holding it up to a modern lens—and it got me thinking…What is happily ever after in a fairy tale sense? I can’t speak to everyone’s needs and feelings, but I know what it would take for me to consider any popular fairy tale a happy ending. The women must have choices.Sleeping Beauty: After thanking the prince for his helpful, yet impulsive act, Aurora (in the original she doesn’t have a name, so I opted for the Disney name) takes control of her kingdom and institutes a constitutional monarchy knowing that consent is the first rule of any society. She and the prince remain friends and allies.Snow White: Her time in suspended animation gives Snow time to think about her plight and that of her stepmother’s. She doesn’t forgive her for the cruel and heartless acts committed against her, she understands that in their world, a woman’s beauty is everything. Prince Charming revives her and asks for her hand in marriage, but she asks for a place with the palace scholars to ensure she has other options. Snow White becomes an advisor to Aurora.Cinderella: On the ride back to the castle, Cinderella asks the prince if they can take it slow and get to know each other better. She agrees to live in a separate wing in the castle and be formally courted. During that time, she works on converting the rooms for other young ladies who find themselves at a loose end after being released from slavery.Rapunzel: Wandering the world with twins strapped the her back makes Rapunzel think up new and inventive ways to make her life easier. When she finally finds the prince (and cures his eyesight), she’s able to take all the innovations she’s created and make them accessible to other mothers in the kingdom.Rumpelstiltskin: Solving the riddle of the little imp’s name that wanted to steal her child was just another instance of someone trying to control her. She sues her husband, the king, for custody of their child and a divorce (with her new skills finding information the king doesn’t want exposed) and opens her own private investigative service specializing in fairy affairs.The Little Mermaid: You’ve got me there! She had no good choices and happily ever after just wasn’t an option.Beauty & the Beast: After Belle saves the beast (a nice change to the genre norm), she realizes she can’t go home, but can’t stay with the beast who kept her on pain of killing her father. Instead, she decides striking out on her own can’t be any more frightening than living with a monster. Her gardens are the envy of all, although no one can begrudge her its beauty because of her generosity. Her roses are world-renowned. I’m sure there are other ways to make these stories tailored to anyone’s version of happily ever after. Cinderella could start her own house cleaning service. Snow White might start a gem consortium with the dwarves. Or maybe a twist ending—The Mermaid takes over for the sea witch, for example. Or the ladies could stay with their princes, but on more equal footing. Just so long as they chose their endings. What about you? Have you considered defining what happily ever after looks like in your favorite fairy tale?  

The Hidden Minority

I have to say that I am encouraged by the current push of contemporary fairy tales. They give women a voice and often make them front and center as heroes in their own stories. The LGBT community finally has a glimmer of hope in seeing protagonists that have the same thoughts and feelings as they do. Latinos, African-Americans, Asians, and myriad cultures are being discovered within the pages of novels which before had almost ignored their existence. I don't think we've reached the goal of true diversity in stories, but I can see light at the end of the tunnel.Except for one slice of the underrepresented pie...Now, I'm willing to be proven wrong on this front, but I think stories have failed to acknowledge a particular segment of society. It's one that exists across all borders, within every culture and comes from every socio-economic background. I speak, of course, of the Plus-Sized protagonist. In an age where we worry that the population is overweight and health issues like diabetes, high cholesterol and heart disease are of serious concern, I understand why we are reluctant to glorify a state which could bring about all of these things. Then again, we glorify the bad boy who after years of being a dick can find his heart because of the love of a nice girl.Here's the deal. I don't hate skinny girls. I will admit to the occasional bouts of "big girl rage" when I skip dessert but want to chow down on some cake. But I can't be angry at someone who can eat anything they want while I have to exercise in order to stay in my favorite jeans. Everyone has something! I just don't understand why every heroine (and hero for that matter) has to be willowy thin with athletic abilities. How is it that the bookishly smart hero, who spends all his time in the library also manages to have a perfect BMI? Is the chubby sister any less deserving of a prince than her wasp-waisted sibling?I suppose I can imagine anyone as Sleeping Beauty or the miller's daughter in Rumpelstiltskin. That's the power of an immersive story. But then I see the story come to life on screen. Yes, I'm one of those annoying people who whispers "The book was so much better", but we live in a visual age. Even if I don't want to see the movie version of The Great Gatsby, I can't help but think of Leonardo DiCaprio whenever I read F. Scott Fitzgerald's book. So unless I want to live under a rock, the actors cast as my favorite characters tend to stick in my imagination. Would it be so wrong to hope for The Zaftig Mermaid (something to keep her warm in the big ocean) or a pleasantly plump set of sisters in Frozen (for the cold winter nights)? Red Riding Hood and Cinderella were work horse, traipsing through the woods with heavy packages and cleaning house for an exacting step-mother, respectively, so I understand their thinness. Couldn't Belle have been just as...belle...if her voracious reading came with a chocolate and croissant habit? Rapunzel was looked up in a tower, for goodness sakes, and you're telling me she couldn't have been cute if she were full-figured? Yes, I'm fixating on Disney, but it has given us the most popular versions of these heroines.This doesn't only have to apply to fairy tales. I would love to hear about a popular YA series featuring a sassy and shapely girl or a handsome yet husky guy. They would have to be just as capable as their lean counterparts and most importantly not apologize for their size. Just a thought.

Adventures in Fairy Tale Land

As a child, when I read, heard and watched fairy tales it was always with a British accent. Mostly English, but occasionally Irish or Scottish. I was convinced, and movies seemed to back me up, that when Europeans congregated they all spoke English with an accent straight from Oxford. With that in mind, I assumed that all fairy tales were from the British Isles. From the Grimm Brothers to Hans Christian Andersen, all of them were from the English countryside. It stood to reason. Castles were in Britain. The Queen was in Britain, so it had to be true. Years, schooling and research have disabused me of that belief on an intellectual level. But in my heart, fairy tales have an accent.So, it was with great joy and more than a touch of whimsy that I set off on my vacation to the Lake District and Edinburgh (also the reason that I've been so negligent with my blog. I don't believe in internet in fairy land) hoping to have a fairy tale adventure. The countryside did not disappoint. I walked fells and through pastoral scenes that would make an shepherdess feel at home. I trudged through forests and scrambled through ghylls that held perfect hiding places for the fairy folk and maybe a wolf or two lying in wait for Red Riding Hood. I even walked through the world of Beatrix Potter, who although isn't strictly a writer of fairy tales, is still a staple from my childhood reading menu.Edinburgh was more gothic and therefore more Grimm, but in the nicest way possible. I climbed castle towers and ramparts almost expecting knights to lay siege. That may have been the whiskey haze, but I could see it. Swords, spears, and a stone of destiny were mythic, yet close enough to touch. Mary, Queen of Scots was like Rapunzel in the tower at Holyrood. This was not my first trip to the UK, but since starting my blog and committing to being a writer, it felt like a new place. Every corner was a literary opportunity and I could understand why I thought Britain was Fairy Tale Land as a child. I'll admit that this post sounds like a long digression on how I spent my summer vacation, but I thought it was important to share the most important thing about fairy tales. Why we love them. Why we read them. Why they're the stuff of dreams and nightmares. Please remember, dear reader, what matters most about fairy tales...WONDER

Diversity Fantasy?

I remember being 4 or 5 and going to get my picture taken with Santa. My uncle took me and I didn’t want to stand in the Macy’s line, so we went elsewhere. I don’t think I was concerned with telling Santa what was on my list or even meeting the man, himself. All I knew was that I had on a cute outfit and would get my picture taken. After waiting in a line shorter than the one at Macy’s, I finally had my chance to indulge my vanity. But there was a problem. I had been lied to by my family.

We came home, my uncle and I, with a photo. In it, I was stiff and frowning. When my mother asked why I didn't smile, I promptly replied "Santa Claus no es negro. Santa Claus es blanco." My mother and other relatives who heard the story and saw the picture laughed to hear my explanation of how I didn't smile because the real Santa Claus is white. Inadvertently, I had stumbled upon an idea that led me to this post.

Later, when I was a little older, I played pretend with a friend. Snow White had just been re-released. It was as good a pretend game as any. It took a turn, however, when I said I wanted to play Snow White. My friend turned to me and without malice said “You can’t play Snow White. You’re not white.” I didn’t know what to say to that, but we moved on to some other game.

Put together, it just sounds like some funny anecdotes from my childhood, but I'm betting I wasn't the only one to have this experience. Despite myriad options to watch and read in fantasy, it has remained a rather uni-ethnic genre. Like Friends, uni-ethnic! I don't want to soapbox, but what's up with that?

Why in fantasy--where the limit is the entire spectrum of imagination--does the world look basically white?

There are exceptions--like BBC imports that practice colorblind casting—but very little to reflect all of us. Is it out of the realm of possibility for fantasy movies and TV to imagine a protagonist that isn't northern European? I know our collective consciousness is based on fairy tales and fables from Germany and England, but they were meant to reflect the public at large. Now that we embrace revisionist mythology, fractured fairy tales if you will, shouldn't we revamp the picture?

Rapunzel can be an African-American girl with super strong weave.

Jack the Giant Killer could be strong, brave, and gay.

Cinderella could be looking for the perfect pair of glass shoes to fit her size thirteen feet, supporting her plus-size frame.

Maybe Snow White could be Hispanic.

In that reality, maybe a girl would smile if she sat on Black Santa's lap.

I would love to hear from other readers and writers about diversity in fantasy. Have you seen a book, TV show or movie that reflects our new world geared towards teens or adults?