Sarah Leahy: "Dear Bridget Smith: Once Upon a Time, Happily Ever After, and the Stereotypical Stuff in Between"

Dear Bridget Smith:

Once Upon a Time, Happily Ever After, and the Stereotypical Stuff in Between

By

Sarah Leahy

            When I think of fantasy, I think of the monomyth (…. and Disney). If you are unfamiliar with the monomyth, you probably haven't taken Dr. Townsend's class where we are beaten over the head with that information. The monomyth is a stereotypical path that the protagonist of a fantasy book follows. It is probably the most classical and uniform thing for most fantasy stories.

            But when I hear the words “stereotypical” and “uniform”, I instantly think of the word “boring”. If we take a look at the Disney princess movies, they have stereotypical pretty princesses, stereotypical evil villains, stereotypical hot princes, and stereotypical “happily ever after” endings. Time after time again, you can expect the audience to be bored. Maybe it's just me, but I can never stop going back for more. Even though the protagonists in each story do similar things or struggle through similar events, they aren't the same and boring. It wasn't Cinderella, Belle, or Ariel, who ate a poisoned apple. It was only Snow White. It wasn't Pocahontas or Jasmine, who pricked their finger on a spinning wheel. It was Aurora. However, both Snow White and Aurora were saved by princes by true love's kiss. Even though their stories have that in common, I love them both the same. (In reality, I'm the mental age five and still think I'm a princess, so I love any princess movie.) 

            I think of reading a book or watching a movie can be almost like riding a roller coaster. I'm not bored of all the roller coasters in the world just because I've ridden one, even if they all have similar twists, loop-de-loops, and fifty foot drops.  If I go on multiple different roller coasters, it doesn't make me any less scared or make me regret my decision any less. Even though I know or can guess what is coming in a movie or book, it still doesn't still doesn't affect my enjoyment, even if the book or movie follows the monomyth. In fact, I like to know what to expect, because it helps ensure of the experience that I will have. Sure, riding 20 identical roller coasters or watching 20 near-identical movies will get boring and the enjoyment will wear off. But that's why I like to shake things up a bit.

            Take Disney's Sleeping Beauty, for example. It has the prince who has to save the princess who is being guarded by an evil dragon. Pretty generic, right? My all time favorite series, The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, takes those characters and gives them a new role to play. This time, the princess is a cook to a dragon who she later has to save from evil wizards with the help of a prince. And the reason why it is my favorite is because of the warping of stereotypes. Of course, it follows the monomyth, but it makes the stories a more interesting read when  you get to see new people.

            Although the monomyth is an important part of fantasy, I believe that a lot of good stories can be made if you manipulate the monomyth. In fact, most stories don't follow the monomyth 100%. I read Neil Gaiman's Stardust this year and it is an example of a book that benefits from not following the monomyth. Three different stages of the monomyth, “Refusal of Call”, “Temptation”, and “Refusal of Return”, are completely left out of the story.  The lack of these stages adds character development of the protagonist because he is determined to finish his quest and cannot be distracted.  I don't think that I could ever hate a book or movie for not following the monomyth completely, but it certainly adds value to the story when it does follow it.