Renown psychologist Bruno Bettelheim has implied that Disney’s work is nothing more than, “empty minded entertainment” , and fully expresses that “children now meet fairy tales only in prettified and simplified versions which subdue their meaning and rob them of deeper significance”. Bettelheim is very adamant that fairy tales are nothing short of quintessential for a child’s development. However, despite Disney’s vast array of fairy tale interpretations, Bettelheim argues that the only way for these stories to truly inspire a child’s imagination it must be told from the direct source: “The true meaning and impact of a fairy tale can be appreciated, its enchantment can be experienced, only from the story in its original form”. In Bettleheim’s psychologically oriented reading of the story and “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” By Joyce Carol Oates both stories have the similarities which is quite noticeable. For example in both stories the authors empathize on parental complexes and how it affects the main characters. One of the most interesting thing I noticed between those stories is how the role of father is entirely cut from the story and they don’t hold any power.
2 thoughts on “Nato Nozadze – Discussion Board #14”
Hey Nato! I think it’s great that you noticed how these children were left to their own interpretation of what the world is like and were left to make decisions based off fear while still showing their childish ignorance. In both stories things would have been much different if they had guidance from someone who held any real influence on them. Because to an extent, Snow-White did have the dwarfs who gave her instructions that she didn’t entirely follow (which annoyed me to no end) and Connie seemed to be entirely on her own with making safe choices, which she only portrayed when she became afraid but, not to prevent the danger. Thank you for sharing!
Mentioning how the role of fathers is absent in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” tells me how Connie’s outcome could have been different. She had no relationship with her father and the only interaction with males she has is at the drive-in. Connie wanted to be independent and her mother represented a domestic housewife, something Connie did not want to be. If Connie’s father was in her life and shown an example, he would’ve warned her about wanting to be reckless and being involved with the wrong crowd. Another voice for example would put things through correctly in Connie’s head and not just her mother, someone Connie doesn’t want to be in life.