Blogpost 4: The Little Mermaid: Syndrome and Disorders

They always say, "Be careful what you wish for", because people tend to be careless thinking that they need something when they really don't. Why? Because everything and anything goes upside down when emotions are involved. And that is something humans will never seem to control. We are forever enslaved by our emotions and once it took over, wrong will be right and right will be wrong. We tend to be blinded and got fooled easily by the things that we feel than the things that we should see. It's now a matter of decisions whether we chose to be foolish and or to be stupid. If that makes any sense.

So... the fourth post for my fairy tale series. Getting bored? You shouldn't. Because this next one is one of the most popular stories that has a very different origin, and one of the tragic ones that I have read. Behold... "The Little Mermaid" written by Hans Christian Andersen. As horrible as it is, the real story is about the little mermaid is that when she fell in love with the prince, she bargained with a witch to change her tail to legs; meaning literally cutting it and left to bleed. The 'not-so-charming' prince found her and was said to use her for fun. He married another woman whom he thought saved him (but was really little mermaid) and little mermaid was forced to kill him in exchange for her tail again. But since it is "emotions" that we're talking about she didn't get the chance to kill him and let herself be dissolved to the sea.

So much for these emotions. And as if her story is not tragic enough, there is a this psychological syndrome that is very much derived from our Little Mermaid's foolishness.

An article entitled "Impulsivity and "The Little Mermaid Syndrome" - Psychology Today" written by Shauna Springer, Ph.D from the site MarriageAdvocates.com; said that the "Little Mermaid Syndrome" is actually what we call 'love at first sight'. It is also the unrealistic fantasies that a girl constructs when she sees her 'prince' and had the tendency to ignore or give up herself, her family and other responsibilities with this guy. A girl with this syndrome has a high level of trust, reliance, and commitment but has no whole knowledge of who the guy is. In short, she is just smitten by the guy's charm and appeal and it caused her to fall for him in a way that is stupid.  And the thing is, there are "Ariels", as the article call it, in both men and women who had this kind of syndrome. They take their chances seriously because they believed and trusted the persons they fall to deeply.

Shauna's quotes said, "Be careful of trusting too much, too soon, in matters of the heart." ... "Guarding your own safety means trusting someone only as much as you know them, which is an elegantly simple, but profoundly important..." 

We can't get rid of recklessness. As much as we can't control our emotions, it is always best to at least keep ourselves on guard for whatever it is we are about to face. It can't hurt to be careful can it? I mean, obsession never gets to something good.

Since I began through psychology, might as well continue it since I found another interesting article.

It was entitled "Psychological Disorders in the Little Mermaid" an essay written by the username of Hoopzgrl from the site StudyMode.com.

In the brief sample of the essay she talked about the different psychological disorders the different characters possessed in Disney's "The Little Mermaid". Though not intentionally made to be like that, her personal observations say otherwise. Apparently there are symptoms of psychological disorders observed from the characters Flounder, Triton, and Sebastian. For Flounder, it was discovered that she had Panic Attacks in the movie. Panic attacks are the sudden feelings of terror that strike without warning. They even occur during sleep and it creates the illusion that the person is having a heart attack.  King Triton has Separation Anxiety, a feeling of needing attachment to a person always. As seen in the movie, he is desperate to get Ariel back and since it's his daughter, the anxiety has a greater impact. And lastly is Sebastian with an OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) which is like the highest form of perfectionism. 

Back then it never occurred to me that such characters could have disorders beneath  their images. Or if it's just the article, I'm not sure.  But going back when I watched the movie, it just seems normal that Flounder should be worrying for Ariel as a friend and King Triton wanting her back since she's his daughter. So I think these psychological disorders are just relied observations. Or if Disney secretly included them, it's doesn't destroy the movie's essence.

Little things beneath stories that have always been ignored could sometimes really stir something if you're interested to look it up. As petty fairy tales might seem to others, for me, it changed a lot to how I view them now. As I continue these posts, it opened me to a new point of view where I could see it in a different angle. I already expected it, but there are always things that are not meant to be expected. 

Blogpost 3: Cinderella: Myth and Complex

     

Having a 'happily ever after' is amazing right? Especially when it's a prince we're talking about.That's like the perfect thing that could happen to a girl. But at the same time, an impossible fantasy that is rarely achieved. Not everyone has it, at least in the real world. That's why there are fairy tales. They keep girls in fantasies that rarely, and mostly, never happens in real life. And as of what happens in my previous posts, even fairy tales didn't have such happy endings. Well, they still do but their stories are not as happy as the results. Funny that I haven't gotten to the rest of our princesses yet,  I found one that had such a happy ending that there is said to be anomaly in the story. You really can't have it all.

Cinderella, the servant-turned-princess without absolutely doing anything but attending a party and fitting a shoe. Well, now that I thought of it, it is quite weird. Yes she suffered under her stepmother and stepsisters reign but really, how she got her happy ending sounds so sure. Well enough of this and let's get to research.

There was this article I found entitled "After the Ball Is Over: Bringing Cinderella Home" by Rob Baum from the site Socrates.Berkeley.edu.

This is a hell a long of an article but since I was searching for the branch of study that is mythology, let's focus on that part. The thing about the mythology part is that it focused on Cinderella's being as what I've described earlier. It is said to be "mythical" because her luck seems to be surreal, that she didn't have any specific goal or direction from the start and there was no growth in her character. But on the other hand, her character was praised for she exceeded some mythical boundaries. 

Rob said, "Cinderella defines girls' first choice for a romantic partner, the structures of friendship and obedience that girls are trained to uphold, unconditional family love and, not least, ideals of personal appearance and deportment." 

So much for the flat character, but what he said was correct. Cinderella may not have grown to prove something but she did anyways in her own way. As actions speaks louder than words, she valued a lot in her surroundings. Coping with evil relatives is hard enough, especially if stacked with a 10-ton laundry. 

Unique connections to Cinderella have been bland. So I'll share I saw in relation to psychology.

The article was entitled "The Cinderella Complex" by Colette Dowling on the site Womens-Wellbeing-And-Mental-Health.com.

It was actually a book Dowling wrote that tackled about the women's conflicts regarding independence and the article uploaded is the opening pages of her book. She talked about the said 'Cinderella Complex' which is the tendency or an unconscious desire to be taken care of for fear of independence. Like Cinderella, women had this sort of inborn fear that she may not be able to take care of herself. So it was causing her to rely on someone, a man, for example, to hold on to. Dowling was speaking as of  personal experience and that she had went through the same problem. She found out that it was the Cinderella Complex that is running through her life from the mishaps that she encountered. 

Dowling said, "Any woman who looks within knows that she was never trained to feel comfortable with the idea of taking care of herself, standing up for herself, asserting herself. At best she may have played the game of independence, inwardly envying the boys (and later the men) because they seemed so naturally self-sufficient. But you know what? It isn't nature that bestows this self-sufficiency on men. It's training, pure and simple."

Inspiring as it is, I myself feel the same at times. I mean, who doesn't? All rights are ventured on men, there was nothing for them to fight their rights for because they are naturally bestowed on everything. As a woman, it feels really unfair seeing the opposite always with the greater advantage. But as Dowling had said, it comes from training oneself. And I think maybe, Cinderella (the fairy tale character), kind of took this action on her own. She was living an unfair life with her stepmother and stepsisters but she never complained about it. She shouldn't ignore it but, you get the point. She was worth recognizing on this one.

I must admit not really a satisfying kind of research for me as it didn't centered on the story itself. But really, this one's kind of unique. Centered on values and women rights and as always, I get learn something. Cinderella is not as plain as she is. If you would really think and reflect about her, she is one tough woman. Even without of the help of her Fairy Godmother, I think she would do well on herself. Good life was always meant for the good people.

Blogpost 2: Snow White: Apple and Alchemy

“Lips red as blood, hair black as night, bring me your heart, my dear, dear Snow White.” 
-  Queen Ravenna; Snow White and the Huntsman

       

Just like any other fairy tale, the princess of the woods, Snow White, has her own unique story. Another fairy tale written by the famous Brothers’ Grimm; and one of the first Disney classics released back in December 1937, it was one of the major hits of fairy tale back in the generation. With its different story line and happy ending, it sure garnered a lot of interest and therefore is one of the famous classics made. Like any other fairy tale, it was always Disney to be the first to animate them out. And like any other Disney animation, this story was not an exception that has origins of a darker version.

Here we go again for another fairy tale dig up. Writing this kind of posts tires me and always results to procrastinating. As I have started this, there's no going back. But like the first one, as I went through research, there's a lot of interesting things that Snow White has to show. As a bit of a classic enthusiast, I conducted a little research on our little princess’ story; or as the Grimm’s call it by the original name, Little Snow White.

There are some interesting connections I had found out while conducting this research. One is with the two material elements in the story: the apple and the mirror.

I came across an article entitled “Venus: Snow White or Wicked Queen” written by Monica Davis from the site WisdomOfTheToga.com. 

The article was a compilation of different connections that the fruit apple has to different stories and also, to the goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite. The apple and the mirror were apparently the goddess’ symbols. And from that different connections from the apple came including the battle of who is the fairest in the story The Judgment of Paris back in Greek mythology; which is seen as the evil queen was talking to the mirror, demanding who is the fairest of the land.

According to her, she said that “Apple is a long generic term for many kinds of nuts, fruits and vegetables: tomatoes – love apples; cucumbers and potatoes — earth apples; melons – gourd apples. But “apple”, paired with a woman has a curiously powerful historical alliance. ” 

With that being said, and from the connections she stated in the site, there is a clear proof that the apple and the female has its own valuable importance being used in different times, such as the apple as a symbol of deception from the Bible when Eve forced Adam to eat it. The mirror, as one of Aphrodite’s symbols is therefore related to beauty. 

That was for Snow White’s connection to mythology. As I dig on further, there’s another connection that makes Snow White’s tale a bit more interesting.

I found an article entitled, “Guest Post: Snow White and the Philosopher’s Stone” written by John Patrick Pazdziora, from the site FairyTaleMagazine.com. 

According to this article, John was also digging about fairy tale stories and he came out with an interesting idea that Snow White has a connection to alchemy. Alchemy is this certain study of elements in science that involves transformation of substances into another substance but of greater value. Back in the Medieval Ages, alchemists are said to contain magical powers because of this certain field of study.

Back to Snow White, there is a sentence from the first paragraph of the original fairy tale:

“If only I had a child as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as the wood in this frame.”

According to John, black, white, and red are the classic color spectrum in the literary alchemy. Each color represents a phase of the chemical process, the Great Work as the alchemists call it. Black is the nigredo stage or where the base metal is burned to cleanse it. White is the albedo where the purified element is washed repeatedly for the final stage, rubedo. It is the blossoming of a streak of red in the white metal; it is put into a container until the transformation is complete, symbolizing a burial in the coffin. And what this does to alchemy is that once this process is complete, it said that it possesses the power to transform all material substance into gold.

For Snow White, John stated Snow White as a philosophical orphan, “The nigredo is her loss of home and self-identification in the forest, that labyrinthine fairy tale symbol for peril, liminal space, and the transmigration between worlds. The albedo is her time with the seven dwarfs. The end of the calm albedo is signified by the arrival of the queen-crone, and specifically an apple that’s half white, half red.” 

With these that he stated, he went to a conclusion that Snow White is a possible alchemical tale. The way her tale comes full circle has similarities to the Great Work’s process, may it be intentional, or coincidence. 

I’m surprised how these connections occurred. And quite fascinated that it looks like the Grimms are not just story tellers, but philosophers as well. 

I’ve read another thing that the seven dwarfs represent the stages of being high. Like, drug-like high. But no, it’s not. For the dwarfs, an article entitled “The Philosophy Behind Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” written by Thais Campos from the site Suite101.com.

It said that they actually represent the seven planes of consciousness that philosophers believed in each person. According to the article, Snow White arrived at the dwarfs’ house with the place in a clutter of mess and decided to clean the whole place. This action symbolizes cleansing of one’s soul so the seven planes can be in harmony; making a pure soul. Same as the way the alchemy thing is discussed earlier; a process of cleansing and purification to make a something whole.  

Campos said that “These [seven] planes correspond to the physical realm (body, sensations, emotions and concrete mind) and spiritual realm (pure mind, intuition, will).” 

So having the seven dwarfs as characters for this story is not for fancy. Their significance had been proved as well as the number "seven", and there's a lot of explanations for that number.

To how and why these details are implied by the brothers’, maybe they are sending us a message. These details couldn’t possibly be put for no apparent reason. As John had said, “Maybe we don’t ask questions of fairy tales because they’re asking questions of us.” Based on the earlier studies and information that I had found, the way they made the story is not for a petty children’s fairy tale. Well, in its image, maybe they are. They are ‘fairy tales’ after all. But based on the Grimm’s structure, they don’t just make it as it is, they have different values they want to show, though it’s up to the readers if they are interested enough to search for it.