The Cinderella story is a lie I tell you! A lie!

Disclaimer: This is a propaganda blog. I actually don't have a problem with the Cinderella story, it is one of my favorites. This is a homework assignment from my writing teacher. Please keep this in mind while you read!

The Disney Cinderella story is generally seen as a wonderful fairytale. I'm here to tell you that is a lie! 'How?' you ask, well I'll tell you how. In the beginning Cinderella is slaving away for her stepmother and stepsisters. Obviously the writer is against stepmothers and remarriage! He is teaching young children to avoid remarriage when there is nothing wrong with it! Not all step-parents and/or step-siblings are bad! I cannot stress this point enough.

Another thing in Cinderella is that both of her stepsisters are brunettes and Cinderella is a blonde! I am beginning to really not like this writer..........is he saying that blondes are smarter then brunettes because of their hair color?! Even though I am a blonde, I take offense to that idiotic assumption! Most of my friends are brunettes and they are very smart (though I must say, blondes are a dying breed it seems)!

In addition to my previous points I would like to point out the disturbing names used in Cinderella. The first name is, of course, Cinderella. Who is their right-mind would name their child after cinders!? It's crazy! Now the name is so integrated into society that no one see's how weird the name is, I only noticed it while I was blogging. Some other strange names that I noticed were her stepsisters names, Anastasia and Drizella, her stepmother's name, Lady Tremaine, Lady Tremaine's cat, Lucifer (another name for the Devil), Cinderella's fairy God-mother, interestingly called 'Fairy God-mother', and to top it off, Prince Charming. First of all, what is with the 'ellas'! First Cinderella and then Drizella! It's madness I tell you, madness. And don't get me started on 'Lady Tremaine', it's to ludicris to talk about. Then, if that wasn't bad enough, the writer had to go and call a cat Lucifer! Lucifer is a name for the Devil! Is the writer saying that cats are demonic! Sent here by the Devil to participate in his dirty work! It's not fair to blame cats, they don't even speak English for Heavens sake! As much as I would like to rant about the unfairness of accusing poor, defenseless cats I must go on. Oh why not, don't even try to come up with a name for Cinderella's God-mother. Just call her 'Fairy God-mother', she's not important enough to have a name huh! She's a huge part of the story you idiot! You even wrote the dang thing, the least you could do was do justice to it! Now for the last name, the cherry of lunacy for the writers dish of craziness, Prince Charming. Seriously? You named a prince Charming? That's an adjective you twit not a name! Name him after an emotion (like how girls are named Hope) sure but an adjective! Is that supposed to be attractive or something? Because, it's really not at all.

Speaking of the Prince, doesn't anyone see that he is stalking Cinderella? It's just plain creepy. His big plan is to find her by searching the kingdom for a blonde girl who's foot fits the shoe? That's not a very smart plan I have to say. Lots of girls could be blonde and have the same size foot! Not only is his name Charming (I still can't get over his idiotic name), he doesn't have any brains either! Also, if Cinderella wanted to be found and stay with him she would have stayed around or brought the extra shoe to the palace the next day. She made it apparent that she DID NOT want him around! Yet he continued to try and hunt her down and make her his bride. I think the reason why she married him was because she felt sorry for the guy, I mean his name is Charming, he isn't very smart, but most of all, because he traveled around going to ladies houses to have them try on a 'glass slipper'. It's a high-heel not a slipper hello! And flaw in the story, why did the pumpkin, the dress and the mice all go back to normal but the shoe stayed the same! It doesn't make sense.

Now that you have the facts, the knowledge of the Cinderella story flaws, are you still willing to let young children watch this? Let them think that step-parents and step-siblings are bad things that should be avoided at any cost? That some people are smarter then others because of their hair color? That stalkers are fine if they only want your shoe size? I ask, no beg, you to reconsider this tale for all people, not just the young. I can only hope that this blog has shown you the deception of the Cinderella fairytale. Thank you for reading.

Red Riding Hood

Some advertisements are funny, sweet, dramatic, emotional or stupid. The ad that I am ‘analyzing’ is for a movie that came out of March 11; drum roll please, Red Riding Hood.   I think this advertisement falls in the dramatic category because the colors are striking, the words “Believe the legend.  Beware the wolf” pull you into a world of love, deceit, and terror, the atmosphere seems Gothic due to the strong coloring and time period of the girl’s clothing, and the girl looks beautiful, strong and purposeful.   Teens like drama.

The tagline “Believe the legend.  Beware the wolf” tells us that this is going to be based on the traditional Red Riding Hood story about a young girl and her encounter with an evil, talking wolf.    It warns us that the legend of a bad wolf is very real.   We sense that this is not going to be a movie that should be seen right before bedtime.  

The atmosphere of this advertisement is partially set by the creepy trees and their sharply chiseled branches all around the girl.   Every branch is carved to look like deadly thorns.   None of the branches look normal; they seem to be saying “The better to tear you with, my dear”.   The ground is covered with snow which contrasts starkly with the girl’s bright red cape and lips.   Her cape is a very rich red color.   It’s a more gothic style of the Red Riding Hood cape, rather than a childish version.      There seems to be a subtle emphasis on the color red, the color of blood.  The angle of the shot makes it seem as if someone or something is watching her as she runs through the forest.  All of this put together lends to a mysterious, yet intriguing advertisement.   It is clearly being marketed to teens because of the beautiful but dangerous theme.

The major part of the advertisement is the girl and her long, flowing, red cape.   The expression on her face is as if she is running towards something.   Is it the wolf? She seems like she is looking for something in the forest.  Is it Grandma?  Unlike many heroines in teen stories nowadays, this girl does not appear to be a damsel in distress.  Although she is beautiful and feminine, she also appears purposeful and strong.  Will she discover the identity of the wolf?   What is most striking about her to me, other than her cape, is the deep, dark color of her lips.   It makes her face stand out against the pale white snow.  Why are her lips so much like the color of blood?   The better to eat you with my dear?   Is she the wolf?

I really love this ad.   I think that this is one of the best advertisements for a movie that I have ever seen.   I love the drama and mystery of the forest setting.  Those dark and scary trees seem so evil and contrast sharply with the pure white snow.    The setting makes us realize this is a good vs. evil story.   The starkness of the only colors; white, black and blood red make it only more terrifying.  I love the choice of the heroine, Amanda Seyfried.   She appears pure and strong, beautiful and smart.   We know the story is going to be about her and the wolf, yet who knows how it will end.   You have to see the movie to find out.

Hunger Games (spoilers)

In ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is a harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them to all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

          Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister’s place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

The Hunger Games is different from most other teen novels. There is minimal romance but still tons of drama. Katniss is not a wimpy character like most other heroines now days, much to the relief of my mother when this book was picked for my Book Club. She is independent, brave and smart. She was the only person in her district that changed places with an unfortunate person that was picked to play in the Hunger Games. She knew her little sister Primrose, although she was excellent at pick herbs, wouldn’t survive in the Games, she wouldn’t be able to kill anyone, Katniss could.

Another character in The Hunger Games that I really liked at some points and IMMENSLY hated at other was Haymitch Abernathy, the perpetually drunk mentor for District 12 tributes (District 12 is the coal suppliers for the rest of Panem). Haymith was the last surviving tribute in District 12 from The Games, when he became a mentor he started drinking because all of the tributes from District 12 were hopeless contestants, until Katniss and Peeta. Katniss was his favorite tribute out of the two in my opinion (keep in mind I haven’t read the book in a while) Peeta was not exactly the brightest crayon in the box, he could fight and camouflage expertly but he couldn’t walk quietly to save his life. In the Games the ability to be quiet was a HUGE anventage, in my mind anyhow. In any case, before the Games started Katniss and Peeta eventually made Haymitch sober up so that he could mentor them better, this had its ups and downs, a drunk Haymitch would order them around, insult them a bit but a sober Haymitch is actually smart, I know, shocking. He expects more, pushes their ‘buttons’ all the time, Haymitch is a perfect example for tough love.

Maybe what I said, excuse me, wrote before about Peeta was not true, maybe. After all Peeta managed to make it two the top two tributes, him and Katniss, he is a very good liar when it comes to protecting the people he loves. In the beginning of the Games he lied his way into the temporary alliance with some other tributes from the wealthier Districts (the boys and girls from District 1 and 2, the girl from District 4 and, of course, Peeta) to distract them from Katniss (smart move ‘Lover Boy’ as the other tributes dubbed him). Some people may like Peeta, they may call him charming or whatever but, please how did he survive the Games?

This brings me to Gale, Katniss’s friend back at District 12. Gale first met Katniss out in the woods when she was hunting out in the forest, he thought her name was Catnip. Gale is protective, is easily angered on the day of the Reaping, the day that Effie Trinket reads the out the names of the tributes, and likes to imagine what it would be like to live in a different place (“I never want to have kids,” I say. “I might. If I didn’t live here,” says Gale. “But you do,” I say, irritated. Page 9). Gale is her only really friend at District 12, before she meets Rue in the Games.

Rue is a 12 year old girl from District 11, the agriculture district for Panem. Katniss makes an alliance with Rue about have way through the book. Since Rue is part of District 11 she knows a lot about food which is a huge advantage for Katniss because they don’t have that kind of stuff in District 12. Rue could identify healing herbs, berries and some animals that lived in her District but she couldn’t kill the animals and you can’t live on just berries in the hunger games. Katniss also had a insulated sleeping bag while Rue only had socks for warmth, so you can see the it was a win-win situation for them. Unfortunately in the Hunger Games every good thing must come to an end.

The Hunger Games is a really great read because it has depth. When I say depth I mean you get to really know the characters, you could place them in a random situation and you would know how they would react. The Hunger Games also has a very good plot, not one that has been used a hundred times again and again like some books *coughTwilightcough*. Of course it still has the traditional ‘who should I pick?’ but The Hunger Games is definitely not a gushy romance novel (hopefully you picked up on that earlier in the blog…), it has just the right amount of romance, sadness, adventure and suspense. The Hunger Games won many awards, # 1 New York Times bestseller, USA Today bestseller, Wall Street Journal bestseller and Barnes & Noble best books of 2008 for teens and kids to name just a few. Obviously, it’s not just me who likes this book.