Folklore and Films. Film Analysis
FILM 1051 - Introduction to Film and Media Studies
University of Cincinnati
December 7, 2023
For this assignment, I choose to discuss five full feature films, as such
that do not only contain a number of the clearly folkloric motifs but
also radiate the very spirit of folklore as we know it. These films are
as follows:+O Brother, Where Art Thou?+(2000),+Shrek+(2001),+The
Brothers Grimm+(2005),+Beowulf(2007), and+Viy+(2014). The most
prominent folklore motif, explored in each of the mentioned movies,
is that of magic transfiguration. This alone establishes a good rationale
to refer to them as being closely interconnected, despite the fact that
the concerned films differ in terms of a cinematographic genre. There
is, however, even more to the semiotic similarity between the chosen
items in question. For example, the plot of each of these films is
concerned with telling the story of a main character’s quest (odyssey)
to subdue evil. While on this quest, he discovers the hidden truth
about his actual self-identity and attains a better understanding of how
the world turns around. Another notable similarity between the
selected films is that they expose viewers to the highly ritualist
(cyclic) outlook on the surrounding reality. In its turn, such an outlook
is nothing but the extrapolation of the most archetypal anxieties in
people. The above-stated partially explains why the cinematographic
works in question had proven to be commercially successful. After all,
while drawing heavily on folklore, they appeal to the viewing
audience on an unconscious level. That is, most people cannot help
experiencing the elusive sensation of contentment with how one’s life
and its challenges are represented in these films. This simply could not
be otherwise: the themes and motifs in the chosen movies correlate
well with people’s deep-seated longing for extraordinariness,
immortality, and the ultimate triumph of justice despite the impossible
odds. The validity of this suggestion will be explored in sub-
sequential parts of the paper.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale
is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main
character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only
one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic
provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently
present in the rest of them as well. In+O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the
character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his
companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary
women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie
these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s
“transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily
towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole.
In+Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due
to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress
that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three
films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration.
In+The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being
revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of
maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to
virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie.
The character of Grendel’s mother in+Beowulf+is shown capable of
adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing
Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is
revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In+Viy, the
cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly
harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was
having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This
leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are
indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main
provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the
folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the
mission to find a hidden treasure. In+Shrek, the main character decides
that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to
liberate Princess Fiona. In+The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a
voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the protagonists
travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One
may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important
role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the
former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious
workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long
as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his
heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal
of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and
literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if
one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of
them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In+O
Brother, Where Art Thou?+Pete announces his willingness to become a
“newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In+Shrek, the
main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly
rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned
princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In+The
Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing
setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to
take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the
vampire’s heart. In+Beowulfand+Viy, the emphasis is placed on the
“rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with
strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly
ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express
their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it
to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not
realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on
the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does
not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the
discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless
happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be
for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once
again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding
to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the
following:
Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of
the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence
of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of
folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened
to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural
background, humans belong to the same species of Homo
Sapiens.
Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over
rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that
the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when
people did not differ very much from other primates, in the
psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When
assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to
be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also
promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the
surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while
encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural
superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be
deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-
industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be
very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much
practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize
evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while
dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather
well with the paper’s initial thesis.
Works Cited
Beowulf. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, performances by Ray
Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, John Malkovich, and Angelina Jolie,
ImageMovers, 2007.
O Brother, Where Art Thou?+Directed by Joel Coen, performances by
George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Nelson, and Charles Durning,
Touchstone Pictures, 2000.
Shrek. Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, performances
by Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow,
DreamWorks Animation, 2001.
The Brothers Grimm. Directed by Terry Gilliam, performances by
Matt Damon, Heath Ledger, Peter Stormare, and Lena Headey,
Mosaic Media Group, 2005.
Viy. Directed by Oleg Stepchenko, performances by Jason Flemyng,
Aleksey Chadov, Valery Zolotukhin, and Anna Churina, Russian Film
Group, 2014.
