
I have listed "ADULTS ONLY" at the end of the description for some of these titles.Reflections is a passive Hero Power that summons a 1/1 copy of any minion that is played, for the player who played that minion. Not every book on this list is suitable for children. I have noted this at the bottom of each entry, if applicable. Many of these titles are also available as e-resources.
Heroic magic mirror full#
But perhaps most importantly, we learn that in order to understand the full story, we need to hear from every single perspective, no matter how different it is from our own.Īnd that, perhaps, is the greatest lesson that fairy tales can teach us. We learn that the "villain" is not the villain in their own mind, and the "hero" may only be one in their mind, no matter their true actions. We learn that not everyone thinks the same, that not everyone views events the same, that not everyone values the same things. Through reading these twisted versions, we also obtain a new understanding of the so-called heroes and villains. We read new versions not just for the basic story, but to learn what is important about the tale to the author, what lessons they learned, what lessons they want to emphasize. When these beloved tales are twisted or changed, the author not only allows us to view the story in a new light, but they also allow us to view the tale through the author's perspective.

Fairy tales are unique in that the basic plot is well-known, but how the author tells the tale is different every time. These adaptations cause us to question our understanding of the tale, revealing new truths and lessons that the original story left out, acting as a sort of "magic" mirror for us to reflect on. Lana Parrilla as the Evil Queen/ Regina Mills from Disney’s Once Upon a Time. What if the “evil” Queen was actually protecting her kingdom from an outside threat? Others attempt to rehabilitate the "villain" by showing their side of the story. Some authors and filmmakers twist well known tales for a mature audience, adding in gore and violence to convey their messages. While some retellings attempt to set the tale in a historical time period, others place it in a sci-fi or dystopian future. However, fairy tales exist in many different forms. This approach has lead many to wrongly believe that fairy tales are only for children. Through time, many of these stories were revised to more suitably teach children without frightening them or subjectating them to unneccessary violence. Was Lady Tremaine as wicked as we are expected to believe?Ĭate Blanchett as Lady Tremaine in Disney’s Live action Cinderella (2015). These early written tales are often quite gruesome, and are wholly inappropriate for children today. It was only later on, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, that many of these tales were written down in order to preserve these emblems of folkloric culture. Many of the fairy tales we know and love had been passed down from generation to generation through the oral tradition. Fairy tales are living breathing stories that change with each new generation, and not all end with "Happily Ever After". They twist and turn, blending good with evil, seeking to teach and to warn.

But fairy tales are not so easily defined.

They take us to far away places where the good and just are always victorious, the princess always gets her prince, and the wicked are prevented from causing any more harm. Would we dismiss it as fiction, or would we begin to question everything that we had ever been told, including whether or not the hero was actually the villain all along? These twisted, and sometimes dark, retellings are perfect for fall and Halloween!Īngelina Jolie as (a slightly more relatable?) Maleficent.įor those of you who remember, I am the Disney and Barbie lady, so it should not be a complete stretch to guess that I also love fairy tales. But what if we heard the story from the so-called villain's perspective? Often, fairy tales are told from one perspective, that of the hero or princess. What if Cinderella was actually a cyborg sent to save the world, or what if the evil queen was simply misunderstood? But what if the stories that we know and love were twisted on their head? Staff Picks Twisted Fairy Tales: The Villain’s Perspectiveįairy tales are generally associated with children, of good triumphing over evil.
