Why folklore is a must-read
"Maleficent", a retelling of the 1959 Walt Disney animated classic, will hit the theaters on May 30. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, siblings who became the best storytellers of folk tales, penned “Sleeping Beauty”. (In German, the title is translated as "Little Briar Rose"). It was about a young princess cursed to sleep for a hundred years and the prince, of an ogre lineage, who brought her back to life. There was a fairy who was angry for being overlooked (during the christening of the young princess), but the Brothers Grimm never gave that character much importance. It was the writers at Disney who thought of making this fairy unforgettable, Maleficent becoming Disney's iconic villain.
"Maleficent was always so elegant. She always was in control. And to play her was difficult. I worked on my voice a lot. She’s bigger than me. She’s on a different level of performance that I have never done. She’s very still. She’s very sure of herself, but I couldn’t figure out her voice, I kept playing with these different types of British voices, making my voice darker and scarier," said Angelina Jolie, who will portray Maleficent in the live-action version of the Brothers Grimm folk tale.
"Sleeping Beauty" is one of the many stories that the siblings wrote, which may prompt some to wonder what make them special. There are lots, no different from the great works from other genres. But folk tales are something else.
The world cease to exist when you read a folk tale
The phrase "Once upon a time" comprises thousands of words in a fairy tale. Readers no longer take notice of the world, as they're drawn to another one. It's so different, such that the feeling is like being in the sea. Dread. Curiosity. Adventure. The last one seems preposterous, but reading induces them to imagine. (In fairy tale, imagination can take them far and away.)
The villains make a folk tale colorful
"Snow White" is about an insecure queen who thinks of many ways to get rid of her stepdaughter, who has skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as black as ebony. The queen first hires a huntsman to take Snow White to the woods to kill her. After he fails to do the job, she does the task herself, offering a lovely bodice and lacing it tightly. When it didn't work, the queen gives the young lady a comb tainted with poison. Then a poisoned apple.
In literature, writers take readers right under the character's skin, to understand him/her. Good or bad, characters (in a novel/short story) aren't meant to be judged. It's the opposite in folklore, as such people make a story entertaining, as "Snow White" illustrates.
A folk tale gets better with time
Stories will elicit different kinds of reaction, but any story set in the past will be looked at differently. One can find a perspective or two, as time can change one's thinking. This is the main appeal of folk tales, as many prompt readers to be nostalgic. All of the sudden, the present looks uninteresting, making them yearn to be a part of a story that begins with "Once upon a time".
