When Time Stood Still

I’ve recently stumbled upon this article by Haley Stewart on The Case for Not Sanitizing Fairy Tales.

The arguments or points presented, though sensible, are entirely different than what was in my mind prior to reading. At a base level, I want people to know the original form of a fairy tale. However, I also believe there are good reasons to alter them and provide new versions for today.

Fairy tales not only tell their story, but as they age, they provide a historic reference. A point in time snapshot of a time period where certain things were acceptable to discuss. As we all know, times move on, and things change. I love being able to read a historic, unaltered fairy tale, however not so much for the tale itself but rather the glimpse of that time period. As many fairy tales age they may become less of the fairy tale and more of a historic reference or a time period remembrance.

Let’s not minimize this. Humanity needs more learning from its past in all aspects. Our literature is no exception to this. Seeing an eye-opening brutality or a strong focus on a particular belief system in an old fairy tale is something I never want to see sanitized in the wrong context. I do believe there is a correct context for it, however.

These stories are more than just the parts we’ve moved on from. So why not re-tell it today to appeal more to today’s time? If a classic tale can be retold to appeal to broader religions, or to not ostracize a group of people, there is more to gain by that then there is to lose by never sanitizing a fairy tale. The original author wrote the story in their time, with their marks. Crafting an alternate version within our current time brings the story into a more relevant world. I do wish that if these stories are retold there could be some mark put on it to denote that it is a retell of an older original. How many people even know that Cinderella is not originally from Disney any longer? I’d wager much that if you went around asking anyone who created the Cinderella story, they’d say Disney. This is where I do wish that if you are re-telling a tale, you did not create, that you are required to give more attribution to the original author. Even a new mark symbol like a “V” to stand for Revised. Cinderellaⱽ by Disney. Then you would know at a glance that this story is revised for whatever reason the revisionist chose to do it.

Point is times change and humanity grows. Fairy Tales tell great stories that would be lost to time if not sanitized or adapted for our time. Retelling them does them more a service than relegating them to history alone. I only wish re-told stories could somehow inform you of their roots because for most that is lost and that is a shame.

Time's wingèd chariot would leave fairy tales to dust. Re-telling to appeal to today keeps them in the chariot a little longer. We would just all do well to know where they came from.