Frank, Sydney

“Once Upon a Time There was an Elf and a Princess…”

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Major: Finance

Sophomore, Driehaus College of Business

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Abstract

While gender roles and opportunities for women have broadened in recent history, the discourse surrounding women in fairytales has remained debilitating and restrictive. Fairytales have been interwoven into pop culture for centuries, but as the social environment continues to change and adapt, Elf and Enchanted, modern fairy tales, continue to solidify the same hindering gender roles within the archetypal hero’s journey. Through studying the hero’s journey and identifying the different stages through these particular films, the “hero” of Elfis the protagonist, Buddy the Elf, while the “hero” of Enchanted is not the protagonist, Giselle, but instead Giselle’s love interest, Edward. Even with Buddy’s childish nature and innocence, he is granted autonomy and freedom as a male in exploring the city of New York and saving Christmas. However, Giselle’s fragility and femininity prevents her from engaging in acts of heroism and bravery. In both films, women are associated with qualities of weakness and ineptitude. This can be attributed to the films’ predominantly male production teams and the ever-present suppression of female capabilities. For film projects to better represent women, there should be a reevaluation of previous and current fairy tales along with hiring more female directors.

Course: HON 207

Cognitive Studies

Professor: Martha Martinez-Firestone

Department of Sociology