by Anna Pfaltzgraff Gorini
Who’s afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? Just like the Three Little Pigs who feared for their lives, or Little Red who had to be cut out of his belly, we are all afraid of the Big Bad Wolf. But when the Wolf takes shape of the mysterious biker boy who will definitely not drive you back before curfew, then we are not afraid. We are drawn to him, and captivated by his charm. Still, that does not mean he does not possess Wolf-like characteristics, as according to Charles Perrault, “tame wolves are the most dangerous of all”. The Big Bad Wolf is more than just a character present in a couple of old fairy tales. This single character led to the creation of a whole archetype composed of men who, just like the Wolf, hide their malicious intent behind a welcoming and lovable facade. The archetype is curiously alluring and intriguing, calling out the attention of women who are unable to see beyond the surface and escape the wolf’s sweet talk. With time, it would have been expected that women supposedly became more aware of nearby wolves, but even on current dating shows like Love Island, the Big Bad Wolf character comes out on top, leaving the women in a fragile state and upset, as if she had been taken advantage of. While the world has changed, the archetype of the Big Bad Wolf was able to evolve and learn how to survive in modern relationships.
The Big Bad Wolf originally appeared in the tale of The Three Little Pigs, whose first tale dates back to the 1840s. With Walt Disney’s 1933 short film “The Three Little Pigs”, the catchy and repetitive song “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?” popularized the character, who would go from simple representation of a hungry wolf to a portrayal of men’s most carnal desires. In the first version of Little Red Riding Hood (LRRH), “The Story of Grandmother”, the Wolf asks the girl to “take [her] clothes off” and “come into bed with [him]” (Tatar 15). Because Little Red is naive and lacked instructions from her mother, she is unaware of the Wolf’s sexual intentions. In The Three Little Pigs, the Wolf was an actual animal who was hungry and longed for pork chops. The tales of LRRH present us with a version of the Wolf who is not a literal animal, but an evil man. However, using a wolf to portray this is what makes the tale’s moral so successful and important, as young children would fail to fully absorb the story if the villain simply took the form of a human male. Other characters we are very familiar with share the same characteristics in the archetype: Gaston, Scar, the Beast before the transformation, Hades, and even Captain Hook. What is in them that draws girls in so much?
According to an article published by the Johns Hopkins University Press, the reason why the Big Bad Wolf seems so attractive and seductive to a big number of females is exclusively because of historical reasons, since “today’s gender role behavior is a relic from the days when men were hunters” (Schell 11). These so-called “alpha-males” became a somewhat ideal of what masculinity should look like, reinforcing a very common pattern we see today in society. The many Prince ‘Charmings’ that pair up with Cinderella, Snow White, or Briar Rose are just more of the same. They save the damsels in distress by being the heroes of the story, but as an audience, we know nothing about who they are. Going back to LRRH, the huntsman, who plays the part of a prince, coincidentally shows up at the best possible time to save the young girl and her grandma. That is all there is to learn about the huntsman, as there is no description of his personality that makes him a curious character. The Wolf, on the other hand, is the one we know a lot of. He is tricky, deceiving, manipulative, but enchanting and alluring. While the authors of the LRRH tales are aware of wolf’s devilish characteristics, French author Charles Perrault transfers the blame to Little Red, as “young girls, pretty, well-bred, and genteel, are wrong to listen to just anyone, and it’s not at all strange if a wolf ends up eating them” (Tatar 17). Unfortunately, it is vastly common for women to be judged for men’s behaviors.
But to analyze the Big Bad Wolf characters exclusively in tales, novels, and movies might be a little too disconnected from the real world. If one has basic knowledge of the characteristics of this archetype, it is a rather easy task to spot the wolves in a variety of literary works. I have found that the difficulty about this archetype is being able to identify the Big Bad Wolf’s characteristics in real life, where the people do not necessarily fit the dramatis personae of fairy tales and the “happily ever after” is not a guaranteed outcome. This way, the only possibility to look at everyday life interactions from an outside perspective ends up being through Reality TV, that even though has flaws and a somewhat present influence from producers, provides the audience with an ‘unscripted’ show in which we cheer for people just like us and spot from miles away the guys who resemble the Wolf a little too much. The first Reality TV show ever created was Candid Camera in 1948, where hidden cameras caught the reaction of random people to tricks and pranks. The first dating show; however, was in 1965, The Dating Show, which consisted of a bachelor asking three different women a variety of questions and ultimately choosing one with whom to go on a date.
In 2007, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) declared a 100-day long strike, in which they demanded higher residual rates and laws/measures to protect their work. Reality TV was then seen as a solution, as “most of the producers who craft reality TV story lines are not affiliated with a union” and therefore would not be affected by the strike (Black and Villarreal). Therefore, due to its cheaper cost in comparison to scripted TV, the Reality TV genre saw a rise in number of shows, “making it an ideal alternative during past work stoppages” (Black and Villarreal). In the book True Story: What Reality TV Says About Us, author Danielle J. Lindemann claims that “archetypes are the lifeblood of Reality TV”, showing that what made Reality TV so popular was how easily appealing it was for an audience who could put themselves “in the participants’ shoes” (Lindemann 11). Taking this into consideration, it is evident that the success of Reality Tv comes from a spot-on reading of the people in the world, and how the creation of archetypes can easily pre-categorize someone into a specific group. Every person watching a Reality TV show can find someone to relate to, and somehow pretend that that’s who they are.
Love Island USA Season 3 aired in 2021, during a time that people lacked human interaction: the COVID-19 pandemic. Season 3 was a widespread topic of conversation and argument in social media, bringing viewers from all around the world to share their opinions on the new bombshells that entered the villa each week. Will and Kyra were one of the main duos of the season, forming a couple on the very first week and only leaving the villa on the last day, with the second place award. However, although Will and Kyra believed they were one of the strongest couples, the other girls in the villa warned Kyra about Will’s attitudes a handful of times, and the audience of the show had plenty to talk about Kyra’s ‘blindness’ towards Will. At first, Will showed himself to be a charming and sweet guy who had no fragile masculinity, as he woke up early to meditate and did not mind if the girls painted his nails. While he claimed to have fallen for Kyra, he did not stop himself from flirting with the new girls that entered the villa, and lied to Kyra whenever she asked him what had really happened.
Slowly and carefully, Kyra’s friends mentioned that a few of Will’s attitudes were somewhat sketchy, but whenever Kyra would bring that up with Will, he would tell her to not listen to her friends as their intention was to break them up. Even Kyra’s father, through a video call, wondered about Will’s true intentions. “What is Will at? 50-50?”, Kyra’s dad asked, insinuating that Will was sitting on the fence throughout the season (Love Island S3E26). Whenever Kyra’s head seemed to slightly turn and listen to her friend’s opinions, Will’s persuasiveness would immediately make Kyra forget why she was even angry in the first place. Sweet-talking and persuasiveness is one of the Wolf’s main characteristics, as in the many portrayals of the Wolf he is an intriguing character that makes Little Red Riding Hood eager to learn more. With all of this hate and contradiction surrounding Will, I dare say that Season 3 would have not been as successful would Will not be there. His casting is on-point, as he is, just like it has been made clear, just another representation of the Big Bad Wolf. His goal on the show was to be exactly that charming guy who slowly reveals its layers.
A shocking confession from a former producer of The Bachelor explained how all seasons of Reality TV were able to share similar drama and have different versions of the same ‘character.’
“You’d pre-categorize everyone and have some shorthand as to who they were. Mom. Southern Belle. The cheerleader. The bitch. The fat one. The crier.” (Lindemann 12).
This pre-categorization as she explained is what ensured the season’s smoothness. For what reason would they include two girls who are upfront and loud? They would not create any confusion or plot if there wasn’t a crier, someone to react to such confrontation. Kyra clearly plays the part of the damsel in distress, the one that believes she needs a man right next to her at all times, and prioritizes him over anyone else at all times and at all costs. However, even though the internet urged Kyra to confront Will or to leave him, their relationship is arguably what made the season triumphant. The audience liked seeing toxic masculinity on TV, and were all quick to judge Kyra while no one pointed their finger at Will who was succeeding at his manipulative goals. After the show was over, Kyra and Will created a Youtube channel to share their story but soon broke up, further showing that after re-watching the show, Kyra was able to properly see Will’s constant gaslighting and lies.
Heather Schell adds in the Johns Hopkins article that “the conflict in the plot derives from the clash between the heroine’s up-to-date values and the hero’s instinctive dominance behavior” (Schell 12). And while toxic masculinity and toxic relationships have become a topic widely talked about on social media, it poses an interesting question. If us, the audience, found ourselves in Kyra’s situation, would we have been able to so easily identify Will’s ‘wolfly’ attitudes? For the girls on the outside, it was crystal-clear, but Kyra easily fell onto his trap. The issue here is that the Big Bad Wolves are smart, and, as mentioned, they evolved with the world. They became smarter, and hid more easily. Going back to Season 3’s first episode, the girls believed they were right to label who was a nice guy or who was a ‘bad-boy.’ They then put two participants, Korey and Javonny, in the latter category, because they were covered in tattoos and somewhat fit the stereotype of what a ‘bad-boy’ looked like. It ended up that Korey and Javonny missed out on the opportunities to meet someone but were indeed good hearted, while Will, Josh, and Cinco had to juggle in-between girls. This shows that the Wolves are not identifiable because of how effortlessly they can blend and hide.
If Wolves are becoming smarter every day, then the likelihood each one of us will meet a wolf is pretty high. And while it has become evident that the Wolves are successful in Reality TV and can easily distort the audience’s minds, meeting the Wolf is not an exclusively bad thing. Just like Little Red, straying off the path and running into the Wolf was important for her to grow. In Perrault’s version, the choice of words he uses to describe the Wolf is very important, as he writes that “as [Little Red Riding Hood] was walking through the woods, she met old Neighbor Wolf” (Tatar 16). Immediately, the Wolf comes off as a friendly figure, as someone nice to talk to. Therefore, it is of wrong intent to argue that meeting the Big Bad Wolf is where the issue is, as the real issue lies in not identifying him. Avoiding the Big Bad Wolf is simply not the solution. Taking Love Island as an example, it is part of the game to meet every single participant of the show, even the ones that you show no attraction for at first. The Big Bad Wolf is rarely identifiable at first glance: as unlike Little Red Riding Hood, the wolf will not literally look like a wolf. The wolf is a man like every other, so the girls in Love Island can only really know the guys if they take the chance.
2009 video game The Path consists of six girls trying to make their way to Grandma’s house. Your task as a player is simple: get to your destination at all costs. However, just like game co-designer Michael Samyn explains, “whenever you go to grandmother’s house without meeting the wolf, the game will tell you that you failed” (Chaplin). Each player must step off the path, and that is when the game really begins. “You know, all the time, that the wolf is out there waiting. […] It feels ecstatic and horrifying at the same time”, Samyn continues (Chaplin). This way, the video game’s goal is for all players to step off the path, as there is no point in believing that they are not going to meet the wolf. The wolves are out there, and what is important is knowing how to act when you meet one – and according to the game-makers, you will. Girls of all ages should be made aware of the Big Bad Wolves, because hiding that information from girls is where the issue is. The danger is that, in most cases, young girls are not able to easily distinguish politeness from the wolves’ charm. In one part of the game, the player “stumbles into a deserted playground in the forest where a young man, sitting on a bench, offers her a cigarette” (Chaplin). Different types of wolves show the different types of danger that girls can encounter at different stages in their lives.
In Love Island USA Season 3, it is possible to notice that the biggest danger is how female participants are blinded by the wolves’ charm, making them shut down any external advice coming from their friends or from media response. While all Love Island girls are aware of the many men in the world who are deceitful and past relationships are a common topic of conversation between the participants, Little Red Riding Hood was never warned about the dangers of the dark forest. In 1697 Perrault’s version, the mother offers no instruction to the girl. It is only more than a century later, in 1812, that the Grimm Brothers made the mother character more relevant to the plot. This way, Little Red’s ‘disobedience’ as some claim is not as valid and truthful to how the plot developed, but in Love Island, there is no apparent excuse as to the participant’s blindness. Still, the fault does not lie in the girl’s hands, but on the quick development that the archetype undergoes.
The 21st century has been the century that has slowly started to break gender norms and patriarchy. Feminism is getting more power each day, and protests that demand equal rights and equal pay have become widespread. However, when it comes to relationships, it is as if all those years of progress have returned to the starting point. Reality TV puts a few people under the spotlight, as a way to represent a bigger part of the population. It feels unnatural and rather uncanny to watch some interactions between the participants. It is as if us, as the audience, were not meant to know and see some flirtatious interaction or funny conversations. We have a lot to say about their lives, a lot to judge based on the tiniest percentage that makes the final cuts of the show. If our lives were under that same spotlight, what would we learn about ourselves that now seems completely invisible? It comes out to the simple idea that people like seeing others in vulnerable situations, and they particularly like when Big Bad Wolves come up, creating chaos in someone else’s lives. Unfortunately, the archetype of the Big Bad Wolf has been around for centuries and is part of almost every single fairy tale we know, and will continue existing for centuries to come, adapting more and more. This way, while this archetype develops and adapts, the archetype of the damsel in distress seems to be frozen in time, being applicable both to 15th century tales and to current dating shows. But even though we are all aware of the dangers of the Big Bad Wolves, we are sure to tune in to Love Island’s newest season and be entertained by the participants who are likely to commit the same mistakes as us. Should we then really be afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?
Works Cited:
Black, Meredith, and Yvonne Villarreal. “In Past Strikes, Networks Turned to Reality TV. Now It’s More Complicated.” Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr. 2023, www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2023-04-10/writers-strike-reality-tv-unions.
Chaplin, Heather. “On “the Path,” Everything a Big Bad Wolf Could Want.” NPR, 15 July 2009, www.npr.org/2009/07/15/106642281/on-the-path-everything-a-big-bad-wolf-could-want.
Lindemann, Danielle J. True Story : What Reality TV Says about Us. New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2022.
Schell, Heather. “The Big Bad Wolf: Masculinity and Genetics in Popular Culture.” Literature and Medicine, vol. 26, no. 1, 2007, pp. 109–125, https://doi.org/10.1353/lm.2008.0003.
Tatar, Maria. The Classic Fairy Tales (Second Edition) (Norton Critical Editions). W. W. Norton & Company, 1 Jan. 2017.
