The Dark Side of Fairy Tale Romance

The Disney films of my childhood sit somewhere in the recesses of my memory, right between the horror of my first dentist’s appointment and joke-telling in the school cafeteria.  But I’ve been researching them for my book project on how tropes in film promote romance and denigrate singlehood.
So off I went in the pouring rain to Baltimore.  I’d given my Singles Studies talk at Guilford Hall Brewery the year prior, but I was looking forward to enjoying some good bar food and taking notes as a spectator for a talk called the Dark Side of Fairy Tale Romance, facilitated by a professor named Linda Lee, from the University of Pennsylvania. 
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Some of the foundations of the talk came second nature to me, like the character’s journey and how they progress from single to married.  And I knew that Disney films often end with the protagonist coupling up (Brave and the first Frozen are exceptions). 
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There were references to The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast (which one of my Creative Writing sections examined in order to learn about Freytag’s Pyramid, one of the ways to structure plot).  But Lee’s examination included The Frog Prince, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White.  Apparently, in the Brothers Grimm’s version of The Frog Prince, the frog sexually assaults the princess, who responds by marrying him.  “Stockholm syndrome,” said the lady who sat next to me.  This happened in General Hospital; Luke raped Laura, and yet, audiences were so enamored with the idea of them as a couple that the writers partnered them up.  Sadly, this situation isn’t that far removed from real life.  A friend told me about a law school colleague who was regularly abused by a partner; she ended up marrying him. 

We love the Disnified version of Snow White. Apparently, in the original, Snow White was SEVEN YEARS OLD.  Who would’ve thought Disney would have endorsed pedophilia?  And Sleeping Beauty involves intimacy without consent, and a resulting pregnancy.  And a “childless couple” endorses it!

I did have to leave early to catch a train back to DC, and I was hoping we’d get a break.  Great information, but my cognitive energy started to fade after the Snow White discussion.  That said, it was a great talk, though Lee did give the trigger warning that our perception of our favorite Disney films would be ruined. 

Mine wasn’t.  It was just reinforced.