Introducing Monsters - Fairy Tales

Little Red Riding Hood:

'Little Red Riding Hood'  was written in 1697 by Charles Perrault in his anthological story collection, 'Tales and Stories of the Past with Morals. Tales of Mother Goose.' and already it subverts what has been established in popular culture by the Brothers Grimm version of the tale from 1812. The Parrault original acted as much harsher tale with no redemption nor was there a happy ending. The eponymous girl and her grandmother are eaten by the Big Bad Wolf who comes out of the story as the victor. The 1812 interpretation challenges this by having a much happier ending featuring a hunt-mans emerging to cut open the wolf and free Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother no doubt to aim at a younger audience and deliver redemption that was lacking in the original. The original can be seen as a seduction tale that is trying to teach girls to stay chaste.

The elements explored in all interpretations include some variation on the red hood that Red Riding Hood wears, her mother sending her to give food items to her grandmother, her meeting with the Big Bad Wolf and ultimately the wolf eating them both. The fact that her hood is red is a clear sign that it's acting as a warning for her. Red is often associated with violence and seduction which the 1697 original conveys with the wolf eating her and his seduction undertones.

The tale of 'Little Red Riding Hood' has be brought into the world of film many times. Most recent of adaptations is the 2014 Oscar nominated musical 'Into the Woods' which, while not solely focusing on this tale as Cinderella and Rapunzel also feature prominently. 'Into the Woods' version of the tale features a humanised version of the Wolf played by Johnny Depp however this is the only major change as the story still ends the same and plays out in a similar fashion. The change was most likely done in order to make him stand out more as a character rather than just having a wolf on screen.

'Hard Candy' is a very interesting take on the story. The poster implies that it is a modern adaptation played straight however the film itself is the complete opposite of the story. The protagonist, Hayley (who wears red hood so the audience can instantly get an idea of what the film is signifying), is actually the one going after the older, more suspicious man as she suspects he's a paedophile. She goes to his house and tortures him after he denies her accusations so he still have the idea of a young, red hood clad girl going into house where the male adult is however she does this knowingly and willingly. It's interesting to see the story turned on its head even if it is very loosely. 

The story has also been seen in more than just film. The story has had a very strong influence on the comic book series by Bill Willingham, 'Fables' and its video game adaptation 'The Wolf Among Us'. The protagonist of the comics and games is Bigby who is, once again, a humanised version of the Big Bad Wolf however his character is very different than previous versions. Bigby acts as the sheriff of Fabletown and can actually transform into his true wolf form if provoked. It's interesting that Willingham decided to make one of the most famous and widely spread fictional villains as the main protagonist of his works. While Little Red Riding Hood does show up in the comics, she is a much smaller role and doesn't seem to recognise that Bigby is the Big Bad Wolf.