There were so many versions of Little Red Riding Hood on YouTube that it was hard to just choose one! However, I did find a pattern after searching around for a while. There were videos made for children, where the wolf doesn't look as scary, he doesn't end up eating the grandmother, he just shoves her in the closet, and where the entire video is just sing-song.
However, more often than not, modern re-interpretations of LRRH depict her as a symbol of seduction. In this video I posted, there is a song about Little Red Riding Hood by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, that is found in a lot of other videos. Usually this song is accompanied by a sexual video. In the commercial for this perfume, LRRH is not a child and she is dressed like a hooker. Or rather like a slutty halloween costume. She enters the cottage and immediately begins to climb onto the bed as if she knows what is waiting. A wolf mask pops out of bed, but instead of being frightened, Little Red smiles at him, she climbs onto bed, and the mask is taken off to reveal a man underneath.
What does this say about our culture, that we continually portray Little Red Riding Hood so sexually? She is no longer an innocent girl who wanders into the forest to her grandmother, but purposefully goes in search of the wolf to fulfill her sexual desires.
The line at the end of the commercial is selling a perfume, and it says "Get Primal."
This is a complete turnaround from any version told of LRRH. The Grimms and Perrault got rid of some of the more erotic elements, but earlier versions were chock-full of sexual innuendos. However, the girl was always a child physically, and her motive for heading into the woods was to go to her grandmother's house, not to have sex with a wolf. I feel like the figure of the grandmother has been discarded so that newer stories focus on the wolf and Little Red Riding Hood, and their primal desires.
I agree this does kind of take Perrault's version, and even "The Story of Grandmother" to another level. It's like the story is going back to its former use a tale for adults rather than children. But not only that, the sexual innuendo and the context of the story are much more direct and obvious. The grandmother is totally excluded. Red Riding Hood is much older than she was probably meant to be depicted in the story. And she seems to be entering the house with the intention of seeing the wolf...or man...whatever he was.
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely creepy that the story is not only turning away from it's childlike portrayal, but the adult content is much more intense and abrupt.