Fairy Tales 2010

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Memetics and "The Frog King"

In many ways, it seems that all memetic fairy tales are based to some extent on courtship and mating. Cinderella, The Frog King, and Beauty and the Beast, among others, all relate to the idea of one royal marrying an initially less fortunate (in terms of appearance or economic/social stature) person. Perhaps these tales gain their popularity in the ability of the performer/author/scholar/director to tweak and adjust the tales in certain ways to conform to contemporary cultural values.

Disney, in both Cinderella and The Princess and the Frog, assigns a negative value to the idea of a prince playboy. In Cinderella, the king wants his son to start a family because being a handsome youthful playboy does not make him perfect. In The Princess and the Frog, Prince Naveen’s family cuts him off from the family’s funds so that he will give up his frivolous playboy ways and settle down. Both movies, therefore, strive to maintain and support conservative values of the domestic family by ending in the playboy prince marrying.

While I was first surprised by Zipes’ argument in “What Makes A Repulsive Frog So Appealing” because her transgression of slamming the frog against a wall and breaking promises was rewarded with a prince, Zipes makes valid points about the way these frog prince tales are primarily stories of courting and mating practices. They always end in marriage, making the basic function of the story up to this ending be bringing the two together.

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