During our discussion of the illustrated novel, "Legends in Exile" we were talking about whether or not this story was more realistic than the original fairy tales. Some students thought that the "Exile" stories were closer to reality, and that made the characters more relevant. Then some students pointed out that there was a talking pig and a man that could change into a wolf and all sorts of interesting characters in the illustrated novel that made it quite fantasy-like. I thought Chelsea had a good point when she said the novel was, "realistic but not reality." By this comment, I think she meant that the stories contained some elements of the real world but it was still total fantasy. This viewpoint is perhaps what makes these illustrated novels popular and interesting to read: the characters are thrust into a real-world setting that could be very realistic even though they themselves are still fantasy characters. In "Legends in Exile" the characters have been placed in the "mundane" world with regular people who they call "mundys." The fairy tale characters have to hide any special abilities they might have from the regular people. The story is about how they interact with each other and with people from the "real world." This is not a new concept. Old television shows such as "Bewitched" and "I Dream of Jeannie" make use of this same premise. (In this hilarious clip from I Dream of Jeannie, Jeannie uses her special powers to foil Tony's plans to befriend a pretty girl on the airplane.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cruJZtbwfKo
It's fun to see what happens when people with exceptional powers or talents mix in with the regular population. The "Harry Potter" stories also use this idea, when the witches and wizards have to mix in with the regular humans called "muggles." I think it makes for good entertainment but I don't think it makes these characters more relevant to our lives than the fairy tale characters from fairy tale land.
One final viewpoint on "Legends in Exile" that I took note of in class because I thought it was interesting is in regard to the Prince Charming story line. The guys in our class were amazed that Molly not only paid for Prince's meal but also invited him home with her to have sex. They seemed to think that was super cool and they wished it could happen to them. Several girls in the class thought Molly was a dumb slut and one female student called her a "ho." There was definitely a difference of opinion between the males and females in our class about Molly's actions. It's amazing to think that these different gender perceptions are at work constantly on everything we read and everything we see on tv or movies. Our upcoming oral presentations should be awesome as we take a look at gender typing in childhood, male-female relationships, and sexuality as they relate to fairy tales and early learning. I will write more blogs about this subject of male vs female perception as I learn more in the class.
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