Heroine Representation 3/24

In the story "Bluebeard's Ghost" it is interesting that the heroine, or Bluebeard's widow, presents herself as disobedient. When speaking on Bluebeard's sharpening his knife and yelling at her to come down from the tower, Mrs. Bluebeard says, "'Merely to punish me for my curiosity--the dear, good, kind, excellent creature!'" (Zipes 339). She does not blame Bluebeard, but instead blames herself and others (her sister Anne) for his death. In this story, she is presented not as courageous, but as a woman who still relies on her dead husband who might have been trying to kill her. In the end, Mrs. B. and Anne even believe that Bluebeard had shown "her future husband" to Mrs. B. (353). It is Anne's love interest, Ensign Trippet, that saves Mrs. B. and Anne from making the mistake of listening to Bluebeard's "ghost" and marrying Mr. Sly. As the story goes, "For the first time in her [Mrs. B's] life, she had not a word to say. Sister Anne, too, was dumb with terror" in the graveyard. Tom Trippet saves them when the women can't save themselves.

Audra Crosby

Elements of Horror in Bluebeard 3/24

The first element of horror that I want to focus on is the finger falling in the girl's lap while she hides from her betrothed. At this moment in the story, the heroine is in danger of being discovered, and the finger falling into her lap heightens the drama of the murder scene for the already tense audience. This particular circumstance happens only in "The Robber Bridegroom" and "Mr. Fox" but the intent of the event, risk of discovery, occurs in several of the stories, such as in "Bluebeard's Egg" when Sally moves away from the window so Ed won't see that she has been watching him and in all the stories (Perrault's "Bluebeard" and Grimms' "Fitcher's Bird") where a woman attempts to hide the fact that she entered the room by cleaning the key/egg. The element of horror seems to be the anticipation of discovery and not the actual bloody body parts or keys.

The second element of horror is the forbidden room. This element occurs in some form in almost all the stories we read. In "Bluebeard", "Fitcher's Bird", and "The Seven Wives of Bluebeard", it is an actual room that the women are forbidden or implored not to enter. In "The Robber's Bridegroom" and "Mr. Fox" it is the villain's entire house, and in "Bluebeard's Egg", it is Ed's mind and inner thoughts. Without the forbidden room there would be no story. It is the prohibition that forms the entire plot of the fairy tales. If the women did not enter the room, they would never discover Bluebeard's secrets, and he, therefore, would have no justification or cause to punish them.

Audra Crosby

Assignment: 24 March 2009

Since class had to be cut short today, there will be two posts for this evening.

Question 1: Compare the elements of horror in the various versions of Bluebeard that you read for today. Please name the elements you are comparing and discuss how they function in the story. Do they help move the plot along? Elaborate the story? Startle the audience? etc.

Question 2: Tatar offers two readings of the heroine’s character: either as a celebration of self-preservation and cleverness or as a disobedient female. Using a version other than the Perrault, consider how the heroine gets presented. Use quotes to support your reading.

Again, please post two separate entries by midnight tonight.

DEFA "Devil"

I apologize for the lateness of this post. I still had my final two midterms this week, and didn't get a chance to watch this until now.

The whole movie felt like a sub-par Monty Python rip-off. It focused on silly voices that weren't silly, and random humor that wasn't humorous. First off, let's talk about the scene where he swordfights the dog about 40 minutes into it. What is this scene trying to accomplish?

Fifty-five minutes in: "That's how a woman should be. Gentle and quiet." This line works very well as a brief analysis of women's roles in fairy tales, but is played right before the hero uses his ridiculous grandma voice.

I like that the devil was more human, like in the story, but I couldn't tell if that was the director's vision or the make-up budget. The fact that their confrontation ends in a pillow fight puts it farther into question. There are too many slapstick scenes like this or where he's trying to ride away on his horse where the movie just devolves into cut-rate slapstick with fast music.

Sahil Patel - March 17th Assignment

This movie is absolutely ridiculous. The target audience for this film most definitely appears to be children. The film is highly amusing and utilizes physical/slapstick comedy to great effect in overtly ridiculous and funny situations. There are a lot of physical gags that would make any child scream in laughter. For example, in the very beginning, the flying hammers scene, and the ones preceding and following it, hav numerous components of physical humor. There is a man who goes crazy wondering why the hammers flew so high into the air. The main character jumps into a basket to avoid being hit by one. Once the hammers destroy the roof, everyone is covered in debris. In the following scene, when a villager asks the official why he is collecting the money, there is another character whose entire purpose is to echo, with a unique voice, everything the official says - with greater emphasis. Later on in the film, when the villagers are taunting and threatening the official, the main character tries to escape by hiding in a barrel and dragging himself slowly through the room. The site of a moving barrel, and the reactions of a couple of men who notice this are both incredulous and ridiculous - a great gag to make children laugh.

Furthermore, the facial expressions and acting style of all the actors, especially the main character, are extremely over the top. There is no subtlety in their portrayal of the characters and that is simply because the target audience for the film, children, does not care too much for subtlety. As I mentioned earlier, one character almost goes berserk because the hammers flew too high into the air and another chooses to repeat everything an official says. If they are angry, the audience will know they are angry - to comic effect. The same goes for all of the basic emotions represented within the film. Childrens' films are generally known for their over-the-top portrayals of characters and plot. "The Devil's Three Golden Hairs" fits perfectly into this mold of children's entertainment.

March 17 Assignment

The DEFA versions of "Snow White" and "The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs" were similar in acting forms. Both had stilted and outrageous acting styles. However, it seemed that "The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs" was even more outlandish in style that "Snow White". Also, the "Snow White" version seemed to follow the story line of the original Brothers Grimm more closely than "The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs" did. "The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs" had random storylines and additions (like the castle being deep underground and the existence of the robber tax) that were not in the German literary tale.
Audra Crosby

Assignment: 17 March 2009

This week we are going by the normal schedule, so please post by Tuesday at midnight and leave two comments by Wednesday night.

Prompt: Respond to the film “The Devil’s Three Golden Hairs” (DEFA). You may wish to consider one (or more) of the following:

• Target audience
• How it uses the medium specifically in order to tell its version of the story
• Comparison to the DEFA version of “Snow White”