Tag Archives: character portrayals

Once Upon a Time and the Fairy Tale Stereotype

Once more, here is a guest post from Dr Rudy’s 394r Applied English class, this time from Cortlyn Mckay.   In contrast to many fairy tale adaptations being made today, the TV show Once Upon a Time begins with the happily ever after: the pilot episode opens with Prince Charming kissing Snow White, awakening her from her sleeping curse. The couple is then married, an event that usually ends the fairy tale rather than beginning it, breaking a stereotype that …

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Do Blondes Really Have More Agency?: A Cinderella Case Study

The following is a guest post written by Hannah Earl, a freshman in the English Department. This was a final writing assignment for Dr. Rudy’s Late Summer Honors course entitled Agency, Media, and “Tale As Old As Time,” then was workshopped with the FTTV team for publication on the blog. We hope you enjoy! Blonde hair, blue eyes, a blue dress – these words describe millions of girls all over the world. This description also typically calls to mind the …

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Destination: Western States Folklore Conference

Western States Folklore Society is celebrating 75 years at their 2016 meeting! Three of the FTTV Project Participants are going to UC Berkley this April for the WSFS Conference to present the panel entitled “Fat Fairies, Mashups, and Advertisements: The Hypnotic Effect of TV Fairy Tales.” If you are in the area we would love to have you join us! Take a look at each of the abstracts below. The first paper is titled “Fat Fairies: Stereotype, Body Type, and Personality …

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Weight-Watching Fairy Tales

A new year means a new weight-loss goal, right? Many of us make resolutions to lose weight or get in shape because we know we’ll feel better when our bodies are functioning properly. We make plans to transform our bodies into a calorie-consuming furnace. With three fruits and two vegetables in our tummies, we hope to win money for our “Before” and “After” pictures in the next six weeks. Some of our favorite fairy tales sponsor programs to help us …

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