Showing posts with label CS Lewis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CS Lewis. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

I'm Over at Tales of Faerie Today! (Where You Can Learn All My Secrets...)

My thanks to the lovely and talented Kristin for having me on her blog for an interview!

Kristin's blog, Tales of Faerie, can be found HERE, as well as regularly at the top of the Other Fairy Tale News Sources in the column on the right of OUABlog page.


She is one of these people who writes on fairy tales the way I wish I could. Her posts are fascinating, well researched, thought provoking and honestly, I kind of wish she was posting for me here.

We are lucky to have her as our fairy tale friend and blogger, who shows with every post why fairy tales are both fascinating and important.

Curious about the strange brain behind this blog, Kristin asked me a few why's and wherefore's you may be interested in.

You can find the interview HERE

(And you'll then understand why I've posted these pictures of a retelling of the Cupid & Psyche story as well...) 

I love the illustration Kristin uses in her banner for her blog (the double page is shown below). It's by Angela Barrett for Beauty and the Beast and reflects Kristin's blogging style really well: clearly fairy tales, good quality content and detailed research as well as thought provoking topics. It's one of my favorite places to visit and should be on your fairy tale must-reads list as well.
Beauty & the Beast by Angela Barrett
*Till We Have Faces by CS Lewis, vintage book covers by Time Life

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Musings on Maleficent & Green Skin'd Witches

Ever since the first rumor linking Angelina Jolie and the movie Maleficent there have been mock-ups of Ms. Jolie's face in "costume" for the leading role. Now that there's finally a director attached (as announced less than a couple of days ago), no doubt we'll see many more takes on Ms. Jolie as evil-fairy since she remains confirmed for the title role. The fan effort at the head of the post is my favorite version from the pickings at the moment.

I'm actually really looking forward to this movie. Reading Fairest of All: A Tale of the Wicked Queen by Serena Valentino a couple of years ago I was pleasantly surprised to see that Disney was OK with Snow White's Evil Queen getting re-envisioned so thoroughly and so (chillingly) believably. (It's a wonderful, well written and beautiful book - highly recommended!) I also know Ms. Valentino had been considering the angle she would take if she were asked to re-write Disney's Sleeping Beauty from Maleficent's point of view, back when Fairest of All was published, and am curious as to her ideas. I wish she was a consultant for the story development but with Linda Woolverton (who wrote the screenplay for Disney's Beauty & the Beast and co-wrote on The Lion King) at the script's helm it's unlikely. I do know that if real complexities are being written into the role (which is supposed to be the whole point of the movie) that Angelina Jolie without doubt has the acting chops to pull it off and is probably about the right age now to be believable too.

But will they turn her green?

I find it interesting that in the majority of mock-up pictures Ms. Jolie is given the Wicked treatment. If you look at Disney's Sleeping Beauty Maleficent does have a greenness about her skin but I never really thought of her as "green" like the Oz movie's Wicked Witch of the West or Elphaba in Wicked. Instead I assumed she was somewhat pasty from avoiding sunshine (and all other good things), from messing around with vile substances and potions and that perhaps she had a sense of decay about her as well (I guess zombies are often portrayed as green too but I don't think Maleficent is in the zombie category). I also always thought of Maleficent as a sorcerous fairy rather than a witch as well so why did she get green around the gills* for the Disney animated feature?


Considering Baum never described the Wicked Witch of the West as green and the illustrations for his story never suggested it either, where did this association of witch/evil woman = green come from? Wasn't green always considered a fairy color, no matter which side they were on? Was the decision to make the WWof theW green-skinned based in anything historical to do with witches at all or was it a make-the-most-of-technicolor decision like the changing Baum's silver slippers to ruby was?

Luckily the internet hive mind has some interesting and plausible ideas on this.

From this Wizard of Oz forum HERE:

Regarding your question on Oz message board about origin of green-skinned witches -- I am pretty sure that there are none prior to the 1939 WofO movie. And the reason the movie had one probably has more to do with showing off the capabilities of the technicolor process than with any precedent in folklore. I'd make a guess that there might have been some influence from the discovery (late in the 18th century, with popularity all through the 19th century in dyes for wallpaper, paint, and fabrics) of copper arsenate as a bright green color that was cheap and easy to manufacture. The dye was poisonous, based as it was on arsenic and in a lot of 19th (and early 20th) century fiction you can find references to arsenic green or even just bright green as a poisonous color. There might be a further association of green with poisons and with magic-working because the drink absinthe (notorious in late 19th/early 20th century culture as a poisonous-but-intoxicating-and-poetically-inspiring drink -- the poisonous and the inspirational elements of its reputation seem to have been a good deal exaggerated) usually had enough chlorophyll in its manufacture to come out green in color, and absinthe was nicknamed "la fee verte" (the green fairy -- should have an acute accent-mark on the first e).
And a couple of other ideas that repeat all over the web (with these excerpts being the best summaries that seemed to make at least a good amount of sense - source HERE):
1) The stereotype of the green-faced witch with the crooked nose stems from the so-called "burning times" or the Inquisition. Women were persecuted and beaten severely and tortured to "confess" to witchcraft before being burned, hanged or beheaded. These women were paraded through the town before execution and looked frightful due to the beatings and torture. Their faces were horrible shades of green from the bruises, their noses and teeth were usually broken, among other things. This is the last sight people saw of the accused and "convicted" witch before her death.Pretty messed up, eh?
2) The "green" witch has some roots in Celtic Mythology. Sometimes, witches were depicted with green skin or red hair. Both green and red are colors associated in Celtic tradition with fairies. There has always been a connection between fairies and witches, both being thought of as being not quite of this world. An old description in Britain for a fairy or a human being who was thought to have psychic abilities was "greensleeve" or "green jacket". The association of green with the otherworld was so strong that at one time it was considered unlucky to wear green because it might incur the wrath of the fairies who considered it their own color. 


My two cents (which probably has nothing to do with influencing anything at Disney - or MGM - BUT does tap into fairy tales and myths at large and does pre-date Sleeping Beauty by a number of years) is to mention C.S. Lewis' Lady of the Green Kirtle/ Green Witch/Emerald Witch/Queen of Underland from his Narnia stories with "poison colored skin" (in The Silver Chair) also transforms to a giant snake/dragon-like creature. Considering the source, you know the use of green for this formidable and evil woman is most likely to have been based in mythic traditions. But then maybe he saw The Wizard of Oz too!

The only clear thing seems to be that once MGM released The Wizard of Oz with Dorothy's green-skinned nemesis, green witches began to appear everywhere and anyone green-skinned from then on was almost always equated with "bad". I'm guessing that had at least an unconscious effect on Maleficent's skin color for Disney's Sleeping Beauty and I have to wonder: will a live-action movie be able to pull off a green-skinned Maleficent/Angelina Jolie, will they go for more human tones or will they try something completely different?

(Amazing what one picture will get me thinking!)
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*Or did she? This blogger HERE did quite a bit of research trying to determine the real color of Maleficent's skin according to Disney but it turns out if wasn't easy to do.

To confuse the issue a little further, there was a (very!) limited line of cosmetics released by Mac and Disney called Venomous Villains this year in which Maleficent had a whole cosmetic line of her own. See HERE for pictures of all the products and descriptions, along with directions on how the stores should display them, which is fun to look at when you think about it being put on an actual human (including, of course, Ms. Jolie). See HERE for an excellent description of the colors used (about half way down the page for Maleficent). Why am I even bothering telling you this? Because, and here's the quote:

Jennifer Balbier, the vice president of product development for M.A.C Cosmetics, said about the line: "Disney gave us the colors used when these characters were drawn throughout their history."
I pity the make-up designer their job if they have to include all the Disneyland and product data on Maleficent's "official colors" for their final decision.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Doctor Who Goes Through The Wardrobe


I have a confession to make: I'm not really a Doctor Who fan. I did watch when I was little with my Dad and although I loved Tom Baker with his crazy scarf and wild hair as the Doctor (yes, I'm showing my age!) certain episodes gave me nightmares and I didn't continue watching on my own. Fast forward through many years and a few attempts to see why people still loved it and... nothing.

Until now, that is.

Like many fairy tale lovers the idea of anyone walking into a wardrobe makes my ears perk up and my heart quicken with expectations of winter wonderlands and magical Narnian* creatures waiting on the other side of a bunch of old coats. In fact, I was in the middle of restoring a rickety but "magical looking wardrobe"(complete with dryad shadows in the wooden sides!) when I got the call to move to the US. Not being hugely well constructed in the first place, I knew the wardrobe wouldn't survive a trip on a boat to join me on the other side of the world so I sadly gave it up, though I think about it often and wonder where it ended up.

What does this have to do with Doctor Who? Well, I'm not calling myself a fan yet but when I heard Doctor Who was "heading into Narnia" (or at least a Doctor Who version of Narnia) I made sure I DVR'd the episode. I'm so glad I did!
Description from Coventry Telegraph:
It's called The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe and beyond the obvious hints towards the Narnia classic, we know Steven Moffat's tale is set during the Second World War when a widow and her two children flee London for Dorset. There they meet an eccentric caretaker and discover a portal into a winter wonderland.
I finally got around to watching it today and... it's a must see for fairy tale people. Wonderfully and smartly written but with such a childlike spirit and it truly embodies the Christmas/season spirit - I'm impressed. Not only did the episode include plenty of magic, humor and a little sci-fi on the side but it managed to blend all the different season celebrations wonderfully and celebrate them all and their true meanings. No matter if you celebrate Yule, Hanukkah, Christmas or other old year/new year celebrations, this episode managed to pay a beautiful tribute to them all. 
You can get more of an idea of the episode HERE which is actually spoiler free. Though some of the visuals will give you clues it shouldn't take any of your enjoyment away from seeing it for the first time.

Fairyland is mentioned (see below) and looking at some of the visuals you can see why. And I love the two lines from the episode that are written below. How can you not love the Doctor after he says something like that?

Lily: Is it Fairyland?
The Doctor: Fairyland?! Oh grow up Lily! Fairyland looks completely different. 


This episode gently nods to many different tales and classics but most of all it puts the viewer in that time in your life when you once believed many more things than you would admit and it didn't take much nudging to see the world in a different and magical way (if you're lucky - sometimes you still feel like this!) I watched this again with my young son (not yet five years old) and he really enjoyed it - for many reasons. The only problem is that he now wants a Christmas tree next year just like the one the Doctor made... lol

Of course, now I need to go check out the Doctor Who tribute to Dicken's A Christmas Carol just to see how flying sharks might fit into a story and end up pulling a sleigh...
Here's the trailer for The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe:


And if you've seen the episode and wish there were more to explore, there is! You can check out the current content at this site HERE - as of this writing it's all about the Christmas special - or start HERE which should be kept in the Doctor Who archives "for all time".


* Narnia - specifically The Lion, The Witch & the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, recently made into  a lovely film. The BBC had a series made many years before but doing it again big budget style was worth it. I was pleasantly surprised by the film and loved seeing so many fairy tale creatures and connections on screen (eg The White Witch is easily inspired by the Snow Queen).

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Article: From Werewolf Hunters to Rights Activists: Updating Fairy Tale Heroines by Marissa Meyer

Cinderella by Sir John Everett Millais
 Marissa Meyer, author of the January debut "cyborg Cinderella" novel Cinder  has written an article for Tor.com titled "From Werewolf Hunters to Rights Activists: Updating Fairy Tale Heroines". (See HERE for my post earlier this month on Cinder.)

The article begins with a good dollop of Marissa Meyer's humor, referencing, of course, Cinderella and why you probably don't really like her, or the idea of her, very much. Then she goes on to explain why.


Here's an excerpt:

Today’s teens want heroines who are courageous and empowered, who are willing to fight for what they want and choose their own destinies. And while dashing heroes continue to populate today’s fiction, the trend is leaning toward an equality between the protagonists, with skills and strengths that complement each other, and it’s perfectly acceptable for the princess to slay the dragon herself when called upon. 
...While writers continue to experiment with settings, time periods, and tales both common and forgotten, this trend seems to be here to stay. Those passive girls of old are becoming extinct, being replaced with bold and plucky heroines that don’t only deserve a happy ending, but go out and claim it.
It's a quick, fun read and while the concepts aren't new to readers of this blog it's a great introduction for people who are, for the first time, curious about this fairy tale thing are being delighted by retellings. While it doesn't really cover how much substance the more 'original' (ie. non-Disney) fairy tales have, it does show how much fun retellings are, especially with the variety today that's actively expanding right now both in books and in TV series and movies.

I still remember my epiphany on the subject of retellings. I was nine years old and the symbology in fairy tales was something that fascinated me. I had already begun to look at them in a deeper way and started actively hunting for different perspectives on fairy tales by writers but mainly in the form of articles and essays. I came across C.S. Lewis' Till We Have Faces in the local church library, which retells the story of Psyche and Cupid from the point of view of the elder and ugly rejected sister, and it completely blew me away. It was this book that made me realize you can retell old stories in a completely new way without losing their mythical core. I also didn't miss the Beauty and the Beast/ Cupid & Psyche connection and it truly felt as if I had just stepped into a magical wardrobe that had been siting in front of me for years. I was hooked and have been a student of fairy tales ever since. It's truly exciting to think that people everywhere are having similar revelations week to week right now.

If you know someone who is just starting to understand your fascination with fairy tales and is asking about retellings Marissa Meyer's article would be a good one to have them read. It's not heavy, doesn't get into old fairy tale texts or anything that might seem weighty to newbies and Ms. Meyer's humor is evident throughout. You can find the whole article at Tor.com HERE.

As a bonus (I love bouses!) Tahlia over at Diamonds and Toads has just this week posted an interview with Marisa Meyer! It's a must read. Tahlia asks some great questions and they're perfect for fairy tale readers who want to know how other fairy tale readers and writers think. Go read and thank Tahlia for such a great post. It's like a little Christmas present all by itself. :)