I was going to blog today...

[alanajoli]

...but instead I read a chunk of Maiden of the Wolf (Hallowmere #4, by dragon_egg, which I had to return before I went to Greece and just picked back up) and watched Enchanted. The first is just as engaging as it was before I left, and the second was darling--certainly bordering on saccharine, but appropriately so. And James Marsden is adorable as a doofus. (One real complaint, though: why didn't they have Idina Menzel sing? I mean, seriously?)

I suspect given time to digest, I might actually have something to say about the nature of fairy stories and the way we like our fairy tales to work these days (eg. Giselle becomes so much more likable as a character after she's "broken"--once she starts to question happily ever afters). But that may take actual pondering, and tomorrow is guest blog day. Given that I've just gotten back and I'm fresh out of new guests for now, I'll probably share bits of one of the very cool tour books I got of Naxos, which is the home of Ariadne and Dionysis.

Comments

[shanna-s.livejournal.com]

It is kind of sad that our modern society can only seem to accept Giselle once she becomes more cynical. On the bright side, she never gave up her belief in true love. She just learned that true love stands a better chance if you actually bother to get to know someone first.

And on the other bright side, both of the men are actually men instead of the gross arrested-development man children who have taken over romantic comedies lately. Even if James Marsden was a bit of a doofus. At least he was a responsible adult doofus.

[alanajoli.livejournal.com]

I think there's an element of two-dimensions to three-dimensions going on, as well--which is required in coming from cartoon form into live action. But that may be just me projecting that idea on the film. Going along that line, though, it's not the becoming more cynical part that makes Giselle a more appealing character, it's that she's experiencing a fuller range of emotions, which includes doubt. That said, I think a lot of our Disney princesses in the last few generations had that full array of emotions ready for them. Thinking back, I don't think that full array was available to good old Snow White and Cinderella, who seem to be Giselle's core character models.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Oh! Oh! I just saw Enchanted yesterday too! How's that for synchroneity?

(I found your blog through Athanarel; I hope you don't mind me commenting, it's just that Enchanted is still fresh in my mind and I want to chatter about it.)

I'm not sure I would say Giselle is broken, though. She's still just as effervescent at the end of the movie, there's just more depth and range of emotions to back it up. I don't think its so much gaining cynicism as growing up, because she starts the movie as an arrested-development woman-child.

I thought the stepmother part was interesting, too. There still is an evil stepmother, but the movie ends with Giselle herself becoming a stepmother (and evidently a fairly good one). Actually, the whole movie had that kind of back-and-forth--nods at old-fashioned Disney ideas coupled with nods toward more modern ideas, which update the old without actually breaking them. For instance, Giselle still ends up with her True Love; he just isn't the first guy she meets.

[alanajoli.livejournal.com]

I actually think broken is an exaggeration, and probably not what I *meant,* just the way I was thinking about it. I suspect I'm probably more accurate in the reply to Shanna that it's a change from two-dimensionality. That goes right along with your idea about arrested development--and I *hope* that what audiences are attracted to is the idea that she's growing, becoming a *deeper* person, rather than her cynicism.

The stepmother twist had not occurred to me--I love that idea, and I'm sure you're right that it was intentional. Thanks for pointing it out here!

And of course I don't mind your commenting--always glad to have another Athanarel person over here!

[kemlo.livejournal.com]

Nice to see someone else enjoyed Enchanted! It seemed to get largely overlooked when it was released, overshadowed by the over-hyped and (whisper it quietly!) poorly-written Stardust.

Despite the fact that Stardust had Gaiman's name stamped all over it, its humour hardly ever ventured above the level of slapstick buffoonery whereas, for all its saccharine charm, I felt Enchanted also had a fair share of genuine wit. Enough, in fact, for even a hardened old cynic like me to enjoy it!

[alanajoli.livejournal.com]

I didn't ever see much Stardust hype here, and it didn't do terribly well in our box-offices, so I wonder if part of your disappointment isn't due to that over-hype rather than the movie itself. (Not that you're not entitled to dislike it on its own merits!) I also very much enjoyed Stardust and felt that it was the movie adaptation of a book that wasn't very movie-like without changing the core of the story. Since I'd enjoyed the novel version (I've yet to read the original illustrated novel and am not sure how different it is), I was impressed with the shifts that were made to keep the story itself (if that makes sense) while adjusting it to better suit the medium. It reminded me a bit of the Princess Bride in tone, where Enchanted was both homage and response to Disney animated movies.

Of course, I've also seen people write that they dispised Enchanted and that the perfect response to fairy tale movies is Shrek (which, again, I enjoyed), so I may just have a broader spectrum of appreciation inside a genre that many folks group together. ;) (That, or lack of discernment. It does go both ways.)