Fairy Tales and the Effect of Their Movie Adaptations

Jenna Nickerson

There Are No Happily Ever Afters and That is Okay

Authors Litania Graaf and Marilyn Fleer discuss the effect of fairy tales on children whereas Josephina Orchard and Claudia Schwabe discuss the effect of fairy tales on adults. Meanwhile, the question of how fairy tales affect the transition from childhood into adulthood, specifically in regards to coping with trauma and understanding mature themes, is still left unanswered. This paper examines fairytale movie adaptations targeting child audiences juxtaposed with fairy tale film adaptations for young adult/mature audiences labeled R or PG-13 to better understand this gap in research. Using Fairy Tale Films: Visions of Ambiguity (Greenhill), “The Fairy Tale and Its Uses in Contemporary New Media and Popular Culture Introduction.” (Schwabe), and “Emotions in Imaginative Situations: The Valued Place of Fairytales for Supporting Emotion Regulation.”(Fleer and Hammer) to examine the psychological narrative depictions of trauma and coping in several classic fairy tales—namely “Hansel and Gretel,” “Cinderella,” and “Snow White”—I argue that mature content in fairy tale film adaptations, specifically Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (2009) and Snow White and the Huntsman (2012), allow adults to better understand and develop mature responses to trauma. The three ways this is done are: through opaque depictions of violence and sexuality in fairy tales which help prepare child audiences for comprehending the mature themes later in life, explicit and realistic depictions of violence to draw mature audiences to fantasy narratives while still implementing virtues/themes to help them cope, and the genealogy of fairy tales which allows for full circle contemplation and reflection of happily ever afters. Understanding that fairy tales can help adults cope with (mental/emotional) trauma is important because fairy tales are relevant in the media across multiple platforms. Not being aware of this coping mechanism eliminates a universal tool to deal with mental health struggles and with suicide rates and mental health awareness on the rise having access to as many coping mechanisms as possible is crucial. 

If we consider the way fairy tales help adults cope and understand trauma as a process, the first step would begin in early childhood. This is when children are first introduced to fairy tales, folktales that have been passed down and changed, and can begin reaping the psychological benefits that assist in childhood development into adolescence and eventually adulthood. In Emotions in Imaginative Situations: The Valued Place of Fairytales for Supporting Emotion Regulation, Marilyn Fleer and Marie Hammer dive into the benefits fairytales have on children with a focus on the effects of role-playing when implemented in social settings. Fleer and Hammer explain that fairy tales open up children’s creativity because they are drawn to the fantasy and mystical elements included within the stories, and because fairy tales help spark the desire to role-play

Fairytales help children collectively begin to anticipate the results of one another’s actions in their play. Fairytales also allow children to anticipate their own actions, including image-bearing dramatization, verbal descriptions, prop use, and transformation. (Fleer and Hammer, 254)

Beginning to anticipate these actions develops into a better understanding of peers’ emotions and their own, leading to “the possibilities for emotional tension, engagement, and self-awareness.”(Fleer and Hammer, 251). With all the benefits fairy tales offer children it is important to note the amount of violence that lives in the original versions of the tales (folktales). With many studies addressing the harm of children being exposed to violence in the media, it leaves the question of “how beneficial can these tales be if they are rooted with violence?”. In tales like Cinderella by the Brothers Grim, the stepsisters get their eyes plucked out as payback for how they treated Cinderella after mutilating their feet to meet the Prince’s standard of beauty. Themes that are too mature and depictions that are too graphic for young children. This is why other versions, like Disney’s Cinderella, tell the tales with an opaque description of violence while keeping the overall message. Both the Grim’s and Disney teach the lesson of always being kind and true to yourself and good things will happen to you, and if you are unkind you will be punished in some way. Some may argue that certain aspects, like the cruel treatment of Cinderella, are still too much for children. On the contrary, fairytales covering a wide array of topics like abuse, abandonment, starvation, and being outcasted have been proven to make children more comfortable talking about trauma because they have something they relate and compare to. They also feel more comfortable because they can talk about trauma in relation to fantasy which creates a safe magical world they can escape to. As Jack Zipes explains in The Changing Function of the Fairy Tale “fairy tales are now widely used in therapy, particularly with disturbed or abused children because they enable a child to gain distance from trauma and deal with it”(24). Therefore, leaving in more mature subjects but having opaque rather than graphic depictions of violence and sexuality allows for kid-friendly adaptations to be made that help children develop emotionally and socially. Furthermore, it allows mature themes to begin to be addressed and contemplated while presenting a “watered-down version” to not overwhelm and therefore better prepare child audiences for comprehending the mature themes they will eventually be faced with later in life.

Once children enter their young adult and adult years they are faced with real and explicit versions of violence in everyday life and it can be hard to comprehend and face. Going back to a familiar and safe place can be extremely beneficial for those dealing with these new stressors and past trauma. Fairy tales provide that, especially when that relationship is built in early childhood years and mature themes were introduced. I consider his to be step two of three of the ways fairytales help adults understand and cope with trauma. Josephina Orchard, with a masters in psychology, discuss more specifically the ways in which fairy tales directly help adults deal with trauma in her thesis The Use of Fairy Tales in Psychotherapy with Adults

The therapeutic process of working with a fairy tale…provides a vehicle…to consciously and voluntarily, through attending to the story in ritual, dreams, and active imagination, bring what is unconscious to consciousness. (Orchard, 59)

This is to say that fairy tales provide adults with the opportunity to reflect on mature themes and consciously access them through escapism. This is similar to how children use the elements of fantasy in fairy tales to escape reality, become more comfortable, and talk about trauma. Also in regards to adults dealing with trauma from their childhoods Orchard explains that

a child’s psyche may respond to trauma by developing a system of archetypal defenses to protect the self. By interpreting this process in fairy tale motifs…therapist and client may explore imaginally how the defenses that originally protected the person from further trauma have turned into a fortress that now isolates the person from the rest of life (63)

Orchard then goes on to explain the different approaches taken when using fairy tales with adults, sometimes writing their own to feel a more personal connection and better tell their story. I believe this to be one of the reasons making mature fairytale adaptations is so important. Disney movies, although enjoyed by many of all ages, have the connotation of being for children. Making it harder for adults to see or look for deeper meaning cutting them off from reaping the benefits they did as children when they watched fairytale to movie adaptations. By re-implementing the violence that was taken out of the Disney tales you create what appears to be a new genre of fairytale type movies. Except adults are still being exposed to important themes. For example, in Hansel and Gretel by the Brothers Grim, the siblings get through a series of traumatic events they wouldn’t have been able to conquer if they had not provided each other with emotional support. The same theme is prominent in the Rated-R adaptation Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, the difference? The Rated-R movie has much more graphic violence and does not shy away from showing instances of sexual assault and substance abuse. In context, fairy tales to screen adaptations like Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters “drastically subvert viewers’ expectations of traditional fairy-tale structures and characters. To promote interest”(Schwabe, 1). This creates a medium where adults can feel that sense of comfortability, with fairy tales, they did as children, which is proven by Orchard and Zipes to be an essential part of using fairy tales for therapy. Therefore, explicit and realistic depictions of violence in mature adaptations juxtaposes fairy tales audiences grew up with to draw the mature audiences to fantasy narratives while still implementing virtues/themes to help them cope with past and current trauma. 

The last step in my proposed three-step process for how fairy tales help adults understand and cope with trauma is understanding and reflection. As briefly mentioned earlier, the genealogy of fairy tales begins with folk tales that are more violent than the Disney adaptations that have become so popular. The Disney versions being the next major point in the genealogy. Then after Disney, there is a popularization of young adult/adult fairytale movies and tv show adaptations. However, for most, the cycle in which they encounter fairytales goes Disney, folk tales, and then mature films and tv. This creates an interesting phenomenon that some call “Disneyfication”. Litania Graaf takes this concept and does a study and records her findings in the paper Disneyfication of Classic Fairy Tales. In the study she found of 40, 18-29-year-olds, 50% watched Disney films and had read non-Disney fairytale text, suggesting that although many watch the Disney films first they then, as they grow older, have an interest in the folktale versions. As stated before the themes are very similar, but Disney’s versions of happily ever after are much more black and white than those of the folktales and the mature adaptations. Pauline Greenhill’s book Fairy Tale Films : Visions of Ambiguity describes this phenomenon as well in relation to mature films. She states in her book that ”Such cautionary tales [Disney’ adaptations] follow audiences from childhood to adulthood, as is immediately evident by the works of cinematic folklore…intended for mature audiences [and] deals in shades of grey.”(Greenhill, 9) Greenhill also explains that “Fairy tale films… unnerve us because they destabilize our notion of the happy-ended and predictable fairy tale and deal with issues such as fascism, rape, and infanticide.”(Greenhill, xiii) For example, in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Snow White’s happily ever after comes from a prince saving her with a kiss. Whereas in Snow White and The Huntsman, Snow White leads a war against her stepmother representing the constant battle that often comes with family trauma. Snow White fights to gain her independence and save herself because in real life it is not as simple as being put to sleep and waiting for a prince and then the battle is over. The folktales and mature adaptations, like this one, show the once innocent child that they are now an adult and give a much more realistic presentation of happily ever afters. Another author touches on this concept stating 

“contemporary writers of fairy tales for adults either create tragic endings or endings that are open ended and intended to provoke the reader…overall statement against the happy end is conceived to explode the illusion that all’s well that goes well in society, that happy endings are possible in reality.”(Zipes, 25)

Both Greenhill and Zipes explain that happily ever afters are not impossible in real life but are much more complex than first shown to children in movies made for younger audiences. Graaf’s study suggests that many people grew up watching Disney films before reading the folktales and we can assume saw the Disney films before the mature movie adaptations due to the release dates and rating systems. Knowing that multiple articles discuss that fairytales promote emotional growth and reflection I draw the conclusion that the genealogy of fairy tales allows for a full circle reflection of happily ever afters. Comparing what was shown to children in early childhood years to both real-life examples and more mature fairy tale examples and reflecting on being happy not being a solidified ending but with ups and downs.

Fairytales are a huge part of the media with monopolies like Disney releasing both animated and live-action adaptations. As well as mature/young adult fairytale adaptations being released creating a genre that reaches all ages. Similarly, the genre of fairytales offers psychological benefits for all ages. This includes using them for escapism to deal with trauma, developing social skills, and emotional intelligence; because these benefits can be utilized by all ages this means different stages of utilization that can come together to form a cycle. This cycle is what I have been referring to as the three-step process fairytales help adults cope with trauma. Children start off being exposed to Disney fairy tale films which pique their interest because of fantasy and mysticism and through opaque depictions of violence and sexuality they help prepare child audiences for comprehending the mature themes later in life. Once they enter adolescence their peaked interest leads them to read folktales that have more violence than the films they grew up with while still in the realm of fairytales and fantasy. Then as they reach young adult/adulthood they begin experiencing or dealing with trauma and have a new medium of fairytales that are seen in mature adaptation films with real-world applications covering topics like assault, substance abuse, and abandonment. They then can use escapism through the safe haven they found in fairytales to deal with trauma while having their own medium that is more relatable to them. In other words, explicit and realistic depictions of violence draw mature audiences to fantasy narratives while implementing virtues/themes to help them cope. Finally, the all-encompassing factor is comparing the two previous stages together to learn that happily ever afters are not black and white but that is okay. Life is complex which is why having such a universal coping mechanism and mental health tool, like fairytales, is beneficial.