Topic > Fairy Tales: Reflection of Social Dysfunction

When people talk about fairy tales, in their minds, they automatically think of fantasy elements such as the princess, the princes and the fairy and, of course, the happy ending at the end of every fairy tale tale. They give us a place for freedom to think and relax. Also, in some ways, we have used fairy tales to teach children moral lessons about how to behave. Do fairy tales only offer people freedom of thought and moral lessons? We are used to thinking that fantasy in fairy tales has no impact on their society, and is simply the element to make fairy tale stories darker and more attractive to the reader. No, fairy tales have an even more important function. On the one hand, fairy tales reflect the negative side of society. As in the film Pan's Labyrinth, there is a relationship between the fantasy world of fairy tales and living society. Therefore, fantasy is also part of our imagination about a better world, but it has a significant role in transforming imagination into politics because it acts as a tool to reflect the dysfunction of society. Using images to create the fantasy world as a way to escape, people declare that they do not agree with the existing order. In many fairy tales, imagination appears as a tool to help the sick person. Look at Cinderella, the fantasy part of the story is the appearance of the fairy godmother who uses her magical power to help Cinderella go to the ball and meet the prince. We also know that if she doesn't cry the fairy divine mother won't help her. His cry is formed by the inequality of the family. In other words, fantasy only appears when people suffer in their lives. This idea is clearly demonstrated in the character Ophelia in the film Pan's Labyrinth. Or... half of paper... slavers. Ultimately, with Ophelia returning to her underground kingdom and the captain being killed by Marxist rebels, we get the message that no government can subjugate its own people. with power without some sort of rebellious uprising while the dead captain represents the hope of bringing down fascist rule. Therefore, through imagination in the world and the way it is created, people will be able to engage with and take a deep look at the society in which they live. From this we understand what they want and what they deserve. If we think of fantasy as a form of political protest, yes, it is. We could see that it shows how people, through desires, can find ways to deal with problems in real society. From the desires they have, an action will be formed that will impact society, this is what Annalee Newitz meant when she wrote, “and buried in every political desire there is a fantasy."