I'm doing a research project for my A Level Media course, and my hypothesis is that fairytales are discriminative towards female characters. It is under the category Women and Film so i'm looking into cinematic interpretations of fairytales rather than the actual stories. I have been looking at traditional disney films such as Snow White and Cinderella as well as modern takes on fairytales; both childrens films such as Enchanted and Shrek, and darker films like The Company of Wolves (a modern interpretation of LRRH). I'm interested in any ideas you have on the way in which female characters are presented in these films?
It seems to me that the older films are characterised by passive princesses and that the only females with power are those who are bad, for example the wicked stepmother in Snow White, whereas newer ones have tried to adapt their representation of women to modern values by attempting to give them more of an active role in films. However the typical qualities of beauty, chastity, dependence on men etc can still be found in many of the female roles in these films. Do you think there are any female characters in fairy-tale style films which are realistic/ positive role models for young girls to aspire to?
Most of all, do you agree with the idea that cinematic fairy tales are misogynistic and if not what have you seen/observed that makes you think they're not?
I'd really appreciate any ideas or comments you have to make on this matter, you'd be helping me a lot!
Thanks
Becca




