Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Strange Twist on Red Riding Hood
I thought this was a very interesting spin on the story. The changes take away the moral of the story, and just make it...strange. The wolf uses the "What beautiful eyes you have.." on the Grandma. Then, they both hide and run away from Little Red Riding Hood, who goes back home to tell her mother. So, the mother comes and chases the wolf away.
The focus of the story is shifted away from Red Riding Hood, but it also changes the view of gender roles from other versions of the story, where girls are either disobedient, stupid, or innocent victims of male predators. Here, there's not really a clear stereotype of women... except maybe that they can do whatever they want. And the wolf, instead of being a vicious predator, is enthralled by the young grandmother's beauty.
So, this is a rather strange rendition of the story that changes the plot as well as the gender stereotypes in such a way that it now lacks a coherent message or moral. And it doesn't really end happily either.
Anyone else have thoughts on this one?
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I agree that this rendition eliminates the moral of the story of Little Red Riding Hood, specifically the factor of the lesson of obedience to young children. From the start, the focus is on the grandmother and the story of her sickness; there is little concern for LRRH or even introduction of her character or purpose. By the time the crisis comes about (which is interestingly not the wolf eating grandmother and threatening her life, but rather the wolf’s desire to be with the grandmother), Little Red Riding Hood is essentially helpless. It is further evident that this video is meant only to entertain (and maybe confuse!) viewers, as there are scenes of music and dance. I find it clever that the grandmother herself puts on a disguise, and lures the wolf in such a way that the story line is turned around… of course, the other elements of change enough are excessive—enough, I think, to render this a story undeserving of the title Little Red Riding Hood.
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