aumsworld

Fairytale Censorship

Censorship (as you all know) is a terrible obstacle to creativity. However, you may not be aware of the fact that it is at its most efficient when revising popular fairytales.

Yes, you heard right. Fairytales. Prolific, world-famous authors such as the Grimm Brothers, Hans Christian Andersen, and Charles Perreault, have all seen their bestselling, universally appealing storybooks desecrated, and thoroughly rewritten - which is something even Margaret Laurence’s or William Golding’s masterpieces cannot claim to. In other words, fairytales - in our folklore, probably the most harmless form of literature existing - are the butt of the revisers’ pens.

You don’t believe me, do you? Well, let’s look at a few examples; the tale of the Little Red Riding Hood by the Grimm brothers, among others. In the original version, the Red Riding Hood and her grandmother were both eaten by the wolf, and died. The wolf was then shot by the courageous hunter, and died as well. The way they have it today, is that the Red Riding Hood and her granny both emerge from the wolf’s stomach unharmed, perhaps only a little shaken, and then the wolf either runs away or apologizes. Hm. Is it just me or is even the wolf becoming a sentimentalist?

Another great example is in the tale of the Three Little Pigs. When that story was first written, the first two pigs died during first act, and the Big Bad Wolf was cooked into wolf soup. Well, not anymore. Today all three pigs escape, and the wolf only gets the tip of his tail burned, and runs away howling.

Now what’s the point of this? Fairytales are already unrealistic enough without having sentimental people turning them into mush and making them even more unbelievable. Besides, this sort of censorship is not logical. If you’re okay with having your seven-year-old child watching guys shooting each other’s heads off on TV, then why not let him hear about a little pig becoming pork chops? The way it is today is that people are censoring all the wrong stuff. It would be way more logical for them to filter through TV shows and video games, than through poor innocent fairytales.

- Aum

I'm currently searching for beauty. If you find it, please let me know.