Jessie
When it comes to choosing a story for children to read, parents are
extremely careful. Violence is not allowed; sex is out of the question.
Since adults are worried that children would be corrupted by 「polluted」
stories, everything has to be nice and sweet, safely inside the boundary
that the society has set. However, under close observation, these
so-called 「pure」 stories are actually hiding many serious prejudices
that will affect children adversely in their later life.
One of the most obvious problems with children stories is that they
often give vague promises that will never pay off in the real world. In
the story of Cinderella and Snow White, the characters go
through a series of misfortunes and torments. However, owing to their
「sweet」 and 「kind」 characteristics, they endure the suffering without
complaint. And in the very end of the story, their prince charming will
come out of the blue and save them from their misery, then the stories
will end with the phrase 「and they lived happily ever after.」 This
plot arrangement is far from the reality of life. Every grow-up knows
that if we do not stand up for our rights and defend ourselves, it will
be impossible to survive in this 「man-eating」 world, not to mention to
live happily ever after. And sometimes even if we try out best, we
still end up losing. Stories like those fairy tales will only give
children the false impression that as long as they behave they will
become successful. But, as the stories never teach the children to
deal with setbacks, imagine what will happen when they get defeated?
Some might not accept the fact and choose to go astray, and others might
stop trying and just sit around and wait for their 「prince charming」 to
come to their rescue. Is that what the parents really want their kids
to become? I guess not.
Another hidden prejudice that』s quite common in these children stories
is the idea that only well-born, nice looking people deserve the
opportunity to live happily ever after. In all of the children
stories, the main characters are almost always born to high-class
families. They were either princes/princesses or from very wealthy
families, and if by any chance they don』t have the royal blood, it is
arranged that they will definitely be extremely good looking. And those
that are unattractive are determined to be neglected in such stories.
Take Quasimodo in the story of The Hunchback of Notre Dame for
example. He may be the main character in the story and is as kind and
sweet as any other character in other stories; however, due to his
ugliness, the pretty girl that he loves rejects his love and takes the
hands of a handsome captain. Quasimodo can』t do anything but to stand
aside and wish them to live happily ever after. What lessons did these
stories teach? To judge people by their appearance instead of their
substance. Or, it is telling the less attractive people that they
should get out of the way and let the nice-looking people lead a happy
life. Again, is that what the parents want their kids to believe? I
guess not.
Living in a diverse global village, people should learn to be more
open-minded and observe the world in different perspectives. The
formatted plots and endings in the fairytales no longer fulfill the
needs of children nowadays. Instead of selecting stories about
dreamlands and fantasy worlds, parents should choose a wide range of
stories for their kids---in order to prepare them for the complexities
of the real world.