Fairy Tales and Adulthood

As kids most of us loved Fairy Tales whether it was through watching Disney movies or reading the Chronicles of Narnia. We loved the adventures that characters went on and the magic around them. And we never had to worry whether or not things would turn out alright in the end because they all seemed to have a happy ending (unless you’re talking about Brothers Grimm, because that’s a whole other side of Fairy Tales). But as we grew up, those movies and books were replaced with others that are more commonly accepted as suited for our age group. Fairy Tales were left behind in the box of old kid stuff and it’s kind of sad that it is. Think about it. We live in a world where tragedy and stress is all around us and we tend to be serious most of the time. Sometimes, things seem to be completely hopeless. So why did we cut out the things that bring us a sense of hope when, even as adult, we can find an escape in them?

 

Take Once Upon a Time for instance. It’s a TV show that resolves around the lives of Fairy Tale characters that are thrown into the modern world and its audience is meant to be anyone. The show focuses on the act of giving second chances and the hope that those chances can give someone.      Even the villains are given a second chance and you can see them start to change for the better because of it. It shows their audience that anyone has a chance at a happy ending and I think that is very important for someone to remember.

             

Another example of Fairy Tales themes in entertainment for adults are Wes Anderson movies like Moonrise Kingdom and The Grand Budapest Hotel. They are almost exclusively aimed at an older audience, but they have the whimsy and the creative style of fairytales. They are also light hearted, but have solid truths to them that the audience can apply to their life, which is something most fairy tales share. 

These are all making it possible for adults to relive their childhood and to find the hope that the fairytales they read had to offer. Shouldn't we take advantage of that escape from reality?