I always hear that modern takes on fairy tales were censored and disney-fied, and all original fairy tales were dark and edgy, full of rape, torture and massacres. But I did read some original unedited fairy tales, in original ye olde language. Darkness level is nothing special, same as Redwall book series. They have dreamy quality, but that's it. Nothing edgy.
So where did that myth come from?
Mostly from people reducing fairytale to The Brothers Grimm.
In the original Sleeping Beauty, Prince Charming's Mom is an Ogre who eats humans. She plots to eat Sleeping Beauty and her children while Prince Charming is away. That's pretty dark for a fairy tale lol.
Source: Charles Perrault.
Aside from "his mom" bit, that's pretty standard ogre behaviour. See: The Brave Little Tailor, etc.
In the original sleepy beauty the prince rapes Sleeping Beauty while she's asleep and she gets pregnant and gives birth to kids, who wake her up by sucking on her fingers thinking they're nipples
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun,_Moon,_and_Talia
That's the most common example given by people (even though most people who give that example never actually read it, including me). One would think that this fairy tale represents all others, but from my reading, that's not seems the case.
Didn't Peter Pan kill kids, and had amnesia so he forgot about everyone?
Not amnesia, he just gives no shits and forgets people with time as nobody is important to him. Also not a fairy tale. Unless you consider Alice in Wonderland and Winnie the Pooh fairy tales.
Hmmmm, I guess so. My mistake.
It's pretty safe to say that Alice in wonderland is a fairy tale that was greatly expanded by Lewis Carroll. Maybe it doesn't exist as an oral tradition but the form of it is fairly fairy like: things simply happen to Alice and she moves from one non sequitur situation to the next, only moving on when the jokes run thin and only moving to a place where the jokes are rich again. I'm reminded of the golden goose and the way that that story moves in eccentric circles around a poor farmer (tailor, carpenter, woodsman, whatever) to suit the next clever trick or slapstick joke.
I would say Alice in Wonderland lacks the moral lesson or life warning to children that usually accompanies fairy tales.
...trust? That's common theme in our fairy tales (dude did not trust mysterious girl, got screwed as a result).
Care to elaborate on how Alice in Wonderland teaches about trust?
Nah, I dunno what lesson is in Alice. I just don't think that every single fairy tale have moral lesson.
What's the moral lesson in rumplestilstkin? Don't tell people your name? Don't bet your firstborn kn being able to guess a name? What's the moral lesson for golden goose? Don't steal magic animals? Don't touch a parade of naked motherfrickers? Like bro. Fairy tales are for entertainment. Your little Aesop fable wet dream is made up bullshit. Actually read more fairy tales and realize most are just goofy ass situations.
You're a moron and clearly haven't read any traditional folk tales.
Bruh I use the ATU to do folklore and oral tradition research. Don't FRICKIN TELL ME I DONT KNOW ABOUT TRADITIONAL TALES.
It was never edgy, but they do have mature themes if you dig deeper. That’s why fairy tales are important, besides heritage, they’re so rich in symbolic content. There’s a reason von Franz talked about them so much.
Common misconception is all. Fairy tales are simply stories of yore. Today's stories are just the same. Getting chopped up for being stupid and made into a stew is more of a cartoon image than a gruesome one. Especially with the formal style that fairy tales often take. The voice of them is usually very matter of fact and the characters often are fairly empty stock characters who plot simply happens to. Tailor, princess, king, prince, goblin, ogre, troll, bear, fox, and so on and so on. Most reproduced versions of these tales are simply the structure, and how dark or funny a tale is often ends up depending on the orator, because this is an oral tradition.
When something as simple as using the word Black person is an act of rape, torture, and massacre, everything is full of rape, torture, and massacre. When everything around you is being censored and disneyfied, everything is always censored and disneyfied. When stating the truth is an act of rape, torture, and massacre, the truth is censored and disneyfied.