The Grimm Truth About Romantic Comedies
Two hundred years ago, two brothers wrote a book. Well, "wrote" is the wrong term. Jacob and Wilhelm collected dozens of stories, some well known and some obscure, some from their homeland and some from abroad. The compendium was first published in 1812; a second volume followed two years later. By the seventh edition, the pair had assembled 211 stories, some of which would go on to have great and lasting influence on Western culture. The official title of the book was "Children's and Household Tales," and Jacob and Wilhelm, of course, were the Brothers Grimm.
Two centuries later, much of the English speaking world grows up hearing the stories Jacob and Wilhelm compiled. It is largely thanks to them that fairytales like Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella and Rapunzel have survived until 2012, where they can be found in every child's bedroom from Seattle to Sydney.
The ubiquity of fairytales has caused concerns for some parents, especially parents of girls. Peggy Orenstein, author of Cinderella Ate My Daughter, was dismayed to find that her little girl's fixation on princesses, particularly the Disney Princess clique, was part of a larger trend toward "princess culture."
