Hansel and Gretel Vs. The Simpsons

At one time or another almost every child has read a story about mystical beings, dashing heroes, and evil villains, all acting out a story in a mysterious place, in a time long, long ago. Fairy Tales, while almost purely of a fictional content, offer us a glimpse into the culture and social staples of a certain society. The classic fairy tale Hansel and Gretel, by the Brother's Grimm, depicts two young siblings abandoned in the forest by their parents during a time of a great famine. The Simpson's has long been a fundamental element of many adolescent children and is a modern, and somewhat skewed, version of the classic fairy tale. These two mediums of expression, however different they may be, give us concepts and facts about cultural norms that tell us what times were truly like when they were written.

Many different societies around the world have a unique version of a certain fairy tale and when these stories are read we find that the things we value most highly, fear so incredibly and hope for so deeply are valued, feared and hoped for by these characters, regardless of where these stories may have originated. Each culture has a unique way of telling one of these classic stories while still keeping those same hopes and values. The fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel gives us an accurate portrayal about lower class peasants in a famine stricken Europe. In a unique spin of this classic tale, the ultra- contemporary (and ultra controversial) Simpson's animated sitcom parodies this unfortunate and sad story, while still holding true some of the main themes.

One important fairy tale element is that the characters in fairy tales are rarely developed by the author or speaker and because of this we do not know a great d...

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...urn into a chicken while the more serious and the often darkly themed Grimm Brothers had the two children find riches in the witch's house. While these two stories differ greatly, they do have a means to an end and they show us how different these two cultures truly are. Our culture today emphasizes comedy and sadly, many people take food for granted. In the society of the Grimm Brothers, food was not a sure thing and they illustrated the result of that unfortunate fact in this story. Whatever is taken from these stories should be told and cherished for countless generations, ultimately given the audience a reminder of what society was like in these sometimes-hapless realities.

Words Cited

"Scary Tales Can Come True." The Simpson's. Writ. John Frink & Don Payne. Fox. 1 Nov. 2000

Grimm Brothers. "Hansel and Gretel." The Classic Fairy Tales. 1999, 184-190.