Dictionary.com defines ‘fairy tale’ as:
“A story, usually for children, about elves, hobgoblins,dragons, fairies, or other magical creatures.”
It also states that a fairy tale is:
“An incredible or misleading statement, account, or belief.”
These seemingly paradoxical definitions raises some interesting opportunities for discourse – on the one hand, fairy tales were traditionally used to teach children about morality. Famously, one interpretation of the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood saw the creature as a symbol for man as a sexual predator, and that adolescent girls should be careful when it came to trusting strangers. On the other hand, ‘fairy tale’ is often used as a term to describe something that is far-fetched or untrue, which, in contemporary culture, is also commonly referred to as a ‘fairy tale romance’ (Prince Charming, who?).
And with that, we would like to welcome you to Fairy Tale week at Trespass. Unlike our past theme weeks for instance Love, Green, and Bright Young Things, you will see some darker content from the Trespass crew. By that I don’t mean bleak or negative content, but rather some explorations into the darker side of fairy tales. The allegoric nature of fairy tales exposes it to a number of different interpretations, and as we scratch beneath the surface of stories such as The Sleeping Beauty, Rumpelstiltskin, Hansel and Gretel, and so on, we come to see how they comprise of the beautiful and the horrible, the magical and the outrageous.
First off, if you thought the food section wouldn’t be getting the fairy tale treatment, you’re mistaken, as Chantelle Thompson will be cooking up something magical in her wonderful cauldron (pardon the pun). Romy Grbic, our Beauty Editor will be trumping some of the more well known ‘beauty myths’ that we have all been fed, whilst Melissa Wellham writes about fairy tale romances with a particular focus on self-help books pertaining to romantic relationships.
Beth Wilson, our Film Editor, will be exploring the different interpretations of the Little Red Riding Hood story in films. And finally, I will be looking at the unedited versions of some of the more renowned fairy tales we have come to know, and hope to bring you as close to the original stories as possible.
Thank you for all your support and I hope you enjoy Fairy Tale week.
Love Liv & Lin
