Fairy tales are designed to help kids understand the difference between good and evil. Let’s leave them that way.
Netflix “reimagined” the classic tale of Cinderella in a movie to be released next year: Steps, which aims to show “Cinderella’s not-so-evil stepsisters in a new light” and “prove that even so-called villains deserve a shot at happily ever after.”
De-vilifying has become the mission of many modern fairy tale remakes.
Maleficent tells the story of Sleeping Beauty, from the perspective of the evil fairy who cast a spell on the infant princess, Aurora. In the updated version, Maleficent curses Aurora not out of evil, but out of revenge to spite the king, Maleficent’s former lover who scorned her in his quest for power. Maleficent even saves Aurora from the curse with a maternal true love’s kiss. The real story of Sleeping Beauty, of course, is that an evil fairy curses Aurora with a death spell because she’s upset that she didn’t receive an invitation to the princess’s christening. Maleficent’s power is somewhat thwarted by good fairies, who turn the death spell into an eternal sleep spell; still, Maleficent tries to hide the princess away where not even true love’s kiss can find her.
Cruella rewrites the story of Cruella de Vil, the villain from 101 Dalmatians, who famously loves fashion and wants to kill and skin Dalmatian puppies to make a coat of spotted fur. Instead of painting her as a villain, Cruella describes de Vil’s traumatic childhood, including that her adopted mother was murdered by her birth mother’s pack of Dalmatian dogs — explaining the roots of de Vil’s future bloodlust.
The popular version of Cinderella told today comes from Charles Perrault, a 17th-century French writer. After taunting and chiding Cinderella, when the stepsisters realize Cinderella was the mysterious woman at the ball, they beg her for forgiveness. Cinderella of course forgives them, and Perrault writes that the moral of the story is that “beauty in a woman is a rare treasure that will always be admired. Graciousness, however, is priceless and of even greater value. This is what Cinderella’s godmother gave to her when she taught her to behave like a queen. Young women, in the winning of a heart, graciousness is more important than a beautiful hairdo. It is a true gift of the fairies.”
It’s helpful, when teaching virtue through folk tales, to have examples of vice. There are other versions of Cinderella (the Brothers Grimm’s, for example) that speak more to the stepsisters’ wickedness. The sisters are described as power-hungry liars and scam artists, and punished as such.
In each version of Cinderella, we’re not supposed to focus too much on the stepsisters. They’re auxiliary characters meant to emphasize the virtues of a heroine, which isn’t a bad thing. The danger in trying to prove that everybody “deserves a happily ever after” is that it just isn’t true. No one deserves a “happy” ending and not everyone earns one — though virtuous people tend to live more joyful lives.
Villains are no longer evil under this new, weird framework. They’re nuanced, misunderstood, and complex individuals with whom we’re supposed to empathize. That’s tricky when the intended audience for these stories are kids, who do and should learn the difference between good traits and bad. Fairy tales are designed to help kids understand the difference between good and evil. Keep them that way.