Original Fairy Tales to Get Rewritten

[Sotiris]

The original fairy tales upon which several Disney classics were based have been deemed problematic and may get 'fixed' and rewritten by book publisher Penguin.

Ladybird [a subsidiary of Penguin] has used sensitivity readers to reexamine some of its children’s books, and fairy stories have proven problematic, The Telegraph can reveal. The publisher’s back catalogue includes fiction and educational material based on classic tales like Cinderella and Snow White, and the characters and plots in these stories are understood to be potentially troubling for inclusion experts. Handsome princes - and beautiful princesses falling for them at first sight - have been deemed problematic by sensitivity readers advising on offensive content, due to the privilege given to physical attractiveness and heteronormative romance. Outdated or harmful elements in fairy tales, according to publishing insiders, may also include characters presuming each other’s pronouns or social class, and a lack of diversity among blonde-haired and blue-eyed protagonists.

The Telegraph understands from insiders that certain issues in older texts have been raised, in line with principles of equity and inclusion followed by sensitivity readers:

Love at first sight
While a commonplace plot device in fairy tales, love at first sight is problematic because the swooning of characters - like Cinderella - before they have properly spoken to their beloved is necessarily provoked by physical attractiveness, and therefore privileges beauty over character traits, and getting to know people. Love at first sight is problematic because it privileges beauty over character traits. This may suggest to young readers that the beautiful are entitled to a happy ending, and, depending on the characters depicted falling in love - typically a white, heterosexual man and woman - that only a certain demographic is considered beautiful and worthy of this romantic happiness.

Beauty
There are further problems with beauty for sensitivity readers, as the stock phrases “handsome prince” and “beautiful princess” make physical attractiveness the defining and most laudable trait of the main characters in fairy tales. It is feared that these tropes, seen in stories from Rapunzel to Sleeping Beauty, may suggest to children that good looks alone make someone worthy of attention.

Pronouns
Just as a character falling in love at first sight has been raised as an issue, so has the characters’ presumption of gender pronouns at first sight. It is understood that it is not desirable in texts to have a princess use the term “man” upon seeing a prince for the first time, for example, before the characters have been shown to getting to know one another. Gender-neutral language is to be preferred, it is understood.

Class
In Snow White and numerous other fairy tales, the protagonists are often described as either a “prince” or “princess”. Concerns have been raised by some sensitivity experts that this may suggest to children that what is important about these characters is their social rank, and that social rank in general is what makes people important.

Ageism
Just as the “good” characters are so often paragons of youthful beauty, the “baddies” in fairy tales are often depicted as wizened old crones and witches, including the villain in Snow White. Concerns have been raised that this is an ageist association of evil with being old.

Diversity
It is understood from insiders that concerns have also been raised about the lack of racial variety among protagonists in books of fairy stories, which often show princesses as white, and with golden hair and blue eyes. Concerns have also been raised about the lack of racial variety among protagonists. More racial diversity among the characters in fairy tale story books is to be preferred, it is understood.

Plots
The dependency of fairy tale princesses on their various princes has been raised as a concern, with sensitivity readers suggesting that heroines should have more agency and not rely on male characters for their happiness and safety. The trope of characters longing to be transformed - Cinderella into a princess, the Beast into a handsome prince - has also been flagged as problematic, as it suggests to children that they may only be happy if they are not themselves but something famed as more desirable.

Several of these experts have told The Telegraph there is a greater duty to avoid harmful tropes found in fairy tales, as reading material may have a negative influence on children by teaching them to privilege certain values or appearances. It has also been argued that, unlike adults who can decide to read potentially offensive books or not, young people are often made to read certain texts, so it is important to ensure they do not include harmful content.

Source: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/0 ... examining/

[carolinakid]

If we didn’t live in a woke bizarro world as we do, I would definitely think this is a sick joke. As I posted before regarding the banning of Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah in Disney parks, the woke mob is NEVER satisfied.

[Mooky]

Here's a novel idea: if you have issues with social or moral content of fairytales, stop reading them to your kids

[Kyle]

This hardly seems Disney related, not without grasping at straws.

For one thing, disney themselves rewrote the original tales to suit their needs. they've been rewritten countless times by them and many others. This is a nothing story. This is just a publisher trying to find a niche that sets them apart, being reported by a most likely right leaning tabloidesk site designed to anger republicans about nothing.

[UmbrellaFish]

Headline, 100 years ago: “Disney Studios open, Original Fairy Tales to Get Rewritten”

[Disney Duster]

Thank God my favorite Disney movies and many books based on them happened before this bullcrap.

[PatrickvD]

This hardly seems Disney related, not without grasping at straws.

For one thing, disney themselves rewrote the original tales to suit their needs. they've been rewritten countless times by them and many others. This is a nothing story. This is just a publisher trying to find a niche that sets them apart, being reported by a most likely right leaning tabloidesk site designed to anger republicans about nothing.

Exactly, Disney itself is more guilty than anyone for sanitizing fairytales. And they’ve been doing this long before woke.

More culture war nonsense to distract people from real issues like lack of healthcare or gun violence.

[Disney Duster]

And for your information, Penguin, love at first sight is not always based on physical attraction. The idea is sometimes you get a sense of a person's character traits when you first see them.

[MaQu]

This hardly seems Disney related, not without grasping at straws.

For one thing, disney themselves rewrote the original tales to suit their needs. they've been rewritten countless times by them and many others. This is a nothing story. This is just a publisher trying to find a niche that sets them apart, being reported by a most likely right leaning tabloidesk site designed to anger republicans about nothing.

Exactly, Disney itself is more guilty than anyone for sanitizing fairytales. And they’ve been doing this long before woke.

More culture war nonsense to distract people from real issues like lack of healthcare or gun violence.

Exactly that. Personally I don't see what the big deal is.