The Brilliance of ... "Jaws"

THE BRILLIANCE OF ...

Anyone who has watched one of the several documentaries about the making of the 1975 classic film Jaws knows the hardships and obstacles director Steven Spielberg had to endure. However, for all of those who have yet to see the brilliance of this film or know its backstory, there are three essential documentaries to gain some background on what I'm talking about: The Making of Jaws (1995), The Shark is Still Working (2007), and How Jaws Changed the World (2012). Some people don't know why Jaws is considered a classic piece of cinema nor why it has so many fans and filmmakers who worship it and re-watch it again and again.

Most would think of Jaws as some mindless scary film about a fish killing people. While it is that, it is also so much more. The 1975 film is based on Peter Benchley's bestselling 1974 novel of the same name and would end up being Spielberg's blockbuster debut (before Jaws, Spielberg had only directed one major feature film, 1974's The Sugarland Express). Those who have read the book know of the differences between the novel and the film. The first major difference is that the book graphically describes the attack and mutilation of the young female swimmer Chrissie Watkins, whereas Spielberg's film only shows the audience what is happening above the water line. The reason for this was because of a pure malfunction. The fake shark (humorously named "Bruce," after Spielberg's lawyer) that the production crew had built would not work well under the Atlantic Ocean salt water off Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. The shark would continuously not function properly underwater, causing most of the scenes with the shark to either be substituted with actual underwater live photography of great white sharks filmed by Ron and Valerie Taylor in Australia, or implying the presence of the shark above water by filming barrels, a pier, or anything else to represent the shark. This brings us to the first point of Jaws' brilliance.

1.) The Hitchcock Effect

Most of you who don't know the film might ask what filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock and Jaws have in common. Sure, Hitchcock -- most well known for his 1960 suspense/horror film Psycho -- made scary movies and he even touched on a disturbed animal attacking people (1963's The Birds), but what is his connection to Jaws?

Because of the malfunctioning shark(s), Spielberg had no choice but to forego his previous approach of showing every detail of the shark attacking human victims in the film, and merely imply that the shark was attacking or show just a flash of horror (i.e., a decapitated leg; a glimpse of the shark's head; a swimmer in the ocean, flailing in their own blood; etc.). To today's generation who have it way too easy with CGI, this may sound like a lame way to film a movie. But to those of us born pre-1990, this scene -- paired with composer John Williams' legendary score (itself a tribute to Bernard Herrmann's Psycho score) -- scares the absolute shit out of you.

This scene perfectly captures the primal fear within most of us every time we go in the water. Ocean water is murky, it's dark. You can't completely see everything that may be scattering or swimming below the surface. That is why this scene works! It's the "not seeing" that makes the audience's imagination run wild. Hitchcock utilized the same technique when he made Psycho, not showing the graphic stabbing of Janet Leigh's character but rather just her horrified face, then cutting to the blood running down the drain. This was done because, back in 1959/1960, the movie ratings board would not permit such graphic violence. So Hitchcock shot it the way he did and hesitantly added Herrmann's shrieking, relentless strings, making a jump-out-of-your-seat moment for audiences.

By not showing the shark attacking, the audience is forced to use their imagination ... making the attack scenes all the more horrifying. In each attack scene before the film's finale, Spielberg gives a small glimpse of the shark (such as the shots below), which is just enough to make audience's minds run wild. This technique would be successfully utilized for other blockbuster films such as the original theatrical release of The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Cloverfield (2008), and Super 8 (2011).

Spielberg said, "The film went from a Japanese Saturday matinee horror flick to more of a Hitchcock, the less-you-see-the-more-you-get thriller," and, "The shark not working was a godsend. It made me become more like Alfred Hitchcock than like Ray Harryhausen." And he is right. Allowing the audience to use their own imagination is what helped make Jaws the first "summer blockbuster." It is also what makes it a timeless classic. Most people were not afraid of the (ocean) water until viewing Jaws. The film reminds us that we are not alone in the water and while most creatures below the surface are more afraid of us than we are of them, there are some that place humans on the bottom of the food chain.

2.) Inspired by True Events

Frank Mundus (right) poses for a picture with one of his catch. It was his 1964 capture of a 4,500-lb. great white shark off Montauk, NY, that was what inspired (along with the 1916 New Jersey attacks) author Peter Benchley to write Jaws. Mundus was inspiration for the character of Quint.

Author Peter Benchley has been recorded as saying his main inspiration for the story of Jaws was when he "read a newspaper article about a 4,500-lb. great white shark caught off the beaches of Montauk, [New York] and wondered Wow! What would happen if this thing hung around?" The man who caught the giant fish was fisherman Frank Mundus. Benchley had known Mundus and even gone out with Mundus on a few fishing expeditions; Mundus eventually became the inspiration for the character of Quint.  

Benchley also researched the Jersey Shore shark attacks of July 1916. In this incident, first, two men were killed off the New Jersey shore, and then two boys and one man were attacked in the Matawan Creek (only one boy would survive). This true tale could make a great movie itself (watch the Discovery Channel's 2009 docudrama Blood in the Water). At the time -- and for a long time thereafter -- people and scientists believed the shark that attacked the victims was a great white shark. However, biologists now believe it could have been a bull shark that attacked in the creek -- due to the aggressive behavior of the shark. On July 14 (two days after the most recent shark attacks), fisherman and taxidermist Michael Schleisser ended up catching a 7.5 foot, 325-lb. great white shark a few miles from Matawan Creek. When Schleisser examined the contents of the shark's stomach, there were human bones and flesh in its stomach. However, because of the good amount of fresh water in Matawan Creek and the overly aggressive nature of the shark in those attacks, it is highly doubtful it was a great white that attacked the two boys and one man in the creek. It has now been determined it was a bull shark -- which can live in both fresh and salt water -- that attacked the three victims. Both sharks were determined to be juvenile, proving the observation that young sharks often aggressively hunt for food. The best true-life incident that helps make up the film was not referenced in the book, but helps lead us to the next reason for Jaws' cinematic brilliance. The writing. Quint's (Robert Shaw) chilling tale of his experience as a survivor of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis on the early morning of July 30, 1945. The Indianapolis sunk, leaving 880 sailors stranded in the water, having to share a few lifeboats and any floating wreckage that could be found. When the crew was rescued August 2, only 317 men ultimately survived. Most had died from wounds received during the sinking or from drinking the salt water which lead to dehydration and hallucinations; exposure to the elements; suicide; or shark attacks by oceanic whitetip and tiger sharks.

3.) The Writing

One of the seminal moments in Jaws is what is known as "The Indianapolis Speech." Although this monologue is not written in Benchley's novel, actor Robert Shaw's mesmerizing speech was what helped make the movie. Inspired by the true-life event of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis in 1945, this speech is one of many quotable moments that makes the film a staple of great writing in cinema. There are many stories as to how the speech was written or who wrote it. The truth is that the monologue was first injected into the script by playwright Howard Sackler, who told Spielberg, "Quint needs some motivation to show all of us what made him the way he is and I think it's this Indianapolis incident." The monologue was kept in but before being filmed filmmaker John Milius further developed it, writing it out as a 10-page monologue. Spielberg knew he couldn't film the entire speech but Shaw -- himself a playwright -- decided to take a crack at it and crafted it for his character, cutting it down to five pages. And movie history was made ...

Quint is a very haunted character and his speech gives the audience a perfect glimpse as to why. Nevertheless, it is not just this speech which makes Jaws' writing so brilliant. The entire film is an adventure flick. It goes from point A to point B -- with a pretty straight-forward plot. There is a killer shark in this beach community town and the Chief of Police needs to go capture and/or kill it; and that is the way most people simply view the film. However, for such a simple plot, the story delves deep into more psychological and metaphoric aspects. The main protagonist, Chief Brody (Roy Scheider), has an extreme fear of the water. In explaining this to Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss), Brody's wife, Ellen (Lorraine Gary), tries to think of the name of the fear, to which Brody simply says, "Drowning." Even such a small dialogue exchange has style and substance. This aspect also introduces a secondary plot of a man having to overcome his fear in order to protect his community, his family and his job. 

Like David Fincher's extremely underrated 2007 film Zodiac (based on the true-life murders by the Zodiac killer in the late 1960s/early 1970s), Jaws also deals with the obsessive nature of three men, determined to capture this killer. In Fincher's Zodiac, the three obsessed men -- in a way -- are ruined in certain ways by their obsession. In the film Jaws, only one man is ruined (destroyed) because of his obsession; whereas in the book, two of the men are destroyed. The Jaws script was ultimately worked on by five different people: Benchley, Spielberg, Sackler, Milius and the man who helped bring in the funny and lighter moments: Carl Gottlieb -- who had written for classic comedy TV shows The Bob Newhart Show, All in the Family, and The Odd Couple; Gottlieb also had a minor role in the film as the town's newspaper editor Harry Meadows. Gottleib, along with the cast, helped bring in some of the lighter moments of the film, including the tense-but-funny interaction between the three men on the boat at the end of the film. Even Roy Scheider was credited for some great ad-libbing; he contributed the description of the shark's eyes being "like a doll's eyes" in the Indianapolis speech, and who could forget one of the most misquoted lines ever? Most people think Brody says, "We're gonna need a bigger boat." In actuality, it's this:

Nevertheless, the phrase has come to be a quote synonymous with knowing you're going to have to overcome some seemingly hopeless task and/or obstacle. The overall story of Jaws ultimately places it in the top 10 of horror films simply for its legacy, its affect on the population. Before the release of Jaws, drowning was the primary fear for people going in the ocean. After the book and film's release, it's no longer drowning. Shark attacks have become a common little pest buried deep in the back of people's minds whenever they enter any ocean water. Not many horror films can have that affect. For instance, when I watch a movie like Saw or Friday the 13th, I know there will not be some crazed maniac who will make me saw off my own leg, or a crazed killer, who himself cannot be killed, gone on a murderous rampage at a summer camp. Sure, they have scary moments, but when the movie is over, so is the impact of the story. The story of Jaws, on the other hand, permanently embeds that small fear of what lies beneath the surface even when we so much as stick our feet in the water. 

4.) The Impact

Jaws had both a negative and positive impact on both humans and sharks. Unfortunately, the negative came first. For humans, it scared the bejesus out of us ... and still does to this day with every new audience. For sharks (and also inadvertantly to humans), the movie made humans so fearful that they took to the ocean and intentionally hunted and killed as many sharks as possible. This was also bad for us humans because, like most creatures we fear in this world, sharks help to balance out our eco-system and provide a great balance to aquatic life. The slaughtering of sharks became so bad that even author Peter Benchley sometimes regretted writing the book because of the damage done to the shark population. Like elephants being killed solely for their tusks, sharks have been killed simply for their fins -- a cruel injustice.

Just to put it in perspective, let's look at the statistics. Remember every time we go in the water, we are in their world.

Fortunately, shark conservation has come to the forefront. Biologists and even shark attack survivors have stepped up to lead the charge of preserving the ocean's apex predator. Great white sharks were once on the endangered species list (and are still illegal to catch in some beach states) but, now, thanks to the conservationists, their population is slowly on the rise. People are coming to understand that every time we step in that ocean, we are stepping in their world. Fortunately, sharks don't like how we taste and we now know that all attacks are either a case of mistaken identity (they think we their preferred food source -- seals or fish), or sharks are unsure of what to make of us and are very curious and/or territorial (in the case of juvenile sharks, they don't know what they like to eat yet, so they try everything, which is why sometimes there is a surge of shark attacks in a particular area every few years -- 1916, 1957-58, 2001).

Consequently, sharks "feel" with their mouths so when they first nudge or bump someone or something, that is them feeling what they are bumping/nudging. We now know that great whites are much like their land-locked equals: the male lion. Male lions like to kill and eat the animal which is the easiest (such as an injured or weak animal). However, with great whites, the minute someone starts fighting back and punching it, 9.5 times out of 10, it lets go and leaves. The only shark that will stay and fight is the bull shark -- an animal that can live in both salt water and fresh water, with the second-to-most testosterone of any animal (humans included) on the planet (the first? Elephant Seal). Imagine the most macho, testosterone-driven male you've ever known and/or met, then multiply him by 100 and you just might be close enough to a bull shark's potential level (most bull sharks don't always have these high levels, but their potential of testosterone levels far exceeds that of humans).

But I digress ...

Jaws either made the people who watched it want to become marine biologists or never want to look at a fish again! Luckily, the former ultimately won out. The Discovery Channel's Shark Week airs every year during the first week of August (coincidentally, right around my birthday), and it is one of the highest ratings of television viewers throughout the year. I myself have become an avid supporter, self-proclaimed researcher and admirer of sharks. I find them fascinating, deeply respect them and think they are very important for this planet. So, just in me alone, Jaws has made an impact. 

Plus, without this phenomenal film, we would never have had this gem of a game ...

Jaws: The Game -- It's like Operation or a precursor to Pop the Pig ... if the pig or patient were scary killing machines!

The film and book also made way for the world of video games. First, there was the original "Jaws" video game where the player had to kill the shark:

And then, because every kid wants to know the sensation of chowing down on hapless humans, the most recently released "Jaws Unleashed," where you play as the shark (it's the Grand Theft Auto III of the underwater world!):

And let's not even stick a toe in the huge waters of "killer shark" films!

The impact of Jaws has had a great influence on today's most noticeable directors: Steven Soderbergh, Bryan Singer, Kevin Smith, Ridley Scott and more. There have also been Jaws references in other pop culture films:

5.) The Music

Like Herrmann's simplistic but effective music for the shower scene in Psycho, legendary composer John Williams used a rather simple piano leit motif consisting of an alternating pattern of two notes -- "E and F" or "F and F sharp." Spielberg admits that when Williams first played the theme for him, Spielberg laughed and thought Williams was playing a prank on him. But when Williams told Spielberg he was serious, Spielberg had him play it again. He thought of the shark gliding through the water -- akin to the opening credits of the film -- and knew the music would be perfect. Not only was the theme untraditional but most of the music for the film could also be seen as such. Near the end of the film when the three men are in their boat (the Orca) and chasing the shark, the music is a very sweeping, triumphant march-type of music -- much like what would be heard in an Errol Flynn pirate movie. This is where the adventure aspect becomes most prevalent. 

To this day, when going in the ocean, all one person has to do is hum the "Jaws Theme" and everyone clears out of the water!

A face only an elasmobranchologist could love!

Jaws does for the ocean what Hitchcock's Psycho did for hotel showers. It has and will remain to make a strong impression on its audiences for many decades to come. Overall, I watch Jaws once a year. And it's not because I'm a big fan of horror or gory films. It's because the story and acting are that good! Because of its legendary impact and its re-watchability, Jaws is a brilliant film!

Introducing my oldest daughter, Molly, to Jaws at Universal Studios in Florida (July 2010), and piquing her future interest in sharks!

Three years later ... we meet again!

The Modern-Day Fairy Tale Dilemma

As a writer and someone who is greatly moved and influenced by the written word -- both in print and spoken word -- I recognize the extreme importance of Einstein's quote above. Like a majority of kids in my generation and those that have followed, the fairy tales I was raised on were transformed into Disney's classic cartoon films: Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, The Little Mermaid, etc. Lately, there has been a lot of ruckus about how these classic films are portraying women and thus teaching young girls how to think about and perceive their purpose in life and male-female relationships. I'm not quite sure little girls ages two through nine can actually perceive the complexities of The Little Mermaid's Ariel being willing to sell a part of herself in order to marry a man, or the idea that a woman must be quiet in order to obtain a man's love. These concerns over how women are treated or portrayed in these films was not always there. Back in 1937, 1950, 1959, and even 1989, no one made a fuss over any of these storylines. I was raised on these same films and never thought a woman was more attractive if she was submissive. 

However, in the 2006 New York Times Magazine article, “What’s Wrong with Cinderella?” feminist writer Peggy Orenstein mentions her disagreement with the entire "Princess culture." When her three-year-old daughter was often called a princess, Orenstein set out in her article to explore the development and ongoing popularity of the Disney Princess merchandise line. As a result, Orenstein found the reason for the creation of the line, but she only briefly touched upon the effect that admiring Disney princesses had on a young generation of girls. She stated:

“There is evidence that young women who hold the most conventionally feminine beliefs – who avoid conflict and think they should be perpetually nice and pretty – are more likely to be depressed than others and less likely to use contraception. What’s more, the 23 percent decline in girls’ participation in sports and other vigorous activity between middle and high school has been linked to their sense that athletics is unfeminine” (Orenstein, 2006).

But, again, do little girls recognize these same issues (although, their parents sure will!)? In an American Psychologist article entitled “The development of children's knowledge about the appearance–reality distinction,” writer John H. Flavell concluded that “findings suggest that many 3-year-olds seem to possess little or no understanding of the distinction and are unresponsive to training. At this age level, skill in solving simple appearance–reality tasks is highly correlated with skill in solving simple visual perspective-taking tasks” (Flavell, 1986). Furthermore, “[i]t is noted that, while children of 6-7 years manage simple appearance-reality tasks with ease, they have great difficulty reflecting on and talking about such appearance-reality notions as ‘looks like,’ ‘really and truly,’ and especially, ‘looks different from the way it really and truly is’” (Flavell, 1986). These age ranges (three to seven) are a prime target for the Disney princess movies and merchandise, and are the ages that find most children repeatedly watching the films. With violence, bad language and sex in the media being extremely influential toward impressionable youths, it is easy to see that particular values strewn throughout the Disney princess films are equally influential in how children perceive materialism as well as the ideas of love, marriage, gender roles in society.

Mr. Flavell's findings are just the slightest cause for concern with most parents who believe the concept that these early Disney princess fairy tale movies teach -- that being it's the man often has to rescue the woman and she should be grateful for it. There's plenty more research available out there to make their concerns grow. Don't believe me? Think I'm making this up? When searching the internet, entering "problem with Disney princesses," this is what pops up:

As a father of two daughters this distresses me, to say the least. I've known about these issues long before this picture graced my computer screen. I've even closely examined other Disney movies and how certain aspects of them can be perceived in a negative light. But I also don't want to rob my girls of the same fairy tales I had when I was growing up; after all, it didn't damage me or my perception of girls/women. My youngest daughter loves the princess movies and loves the dresses ... which is fine. But I don't want her to ever think that a man needs to swoop in and solve her problems for her. Or that just because a man buys her things or treats her with the dignity and respect she regularly deserves all the time means she has to start a relationship with him. Now, granted, the man she falls in love with should definitely treat her with respect, but her thought process shouldn't include falling in love for every guy that treats her -- or appears to treat her -- nice. Princesses like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Jasmine (Aladdin), and Belle (Beauty and the Beast) all have messages of the princess needing to be saved by the gratuitous handsome prince. And these are the most popular Disney princess films! However, notice the princess movies in which the princess either did not need saving by a prince, decided to not ride off into the sunset with a man, or insists on being treated equally to a man, are the movies that are the least popular (i.e., not as well marketed, received poor reviews, low DVD sales, etc.). Such princesses are Mulan, Pocahontas, Tiana (The Princess and the Frog), Rapunzel (Tangled), and, more recently, Merida (Brave), as well as sisters Anna and Elsa (Frozen). Oftentimes, people like a good "damsel-in-distress" film (this is the formula for a majority of live-action romantic comedies and action films today). At least Disney does offer an equal counterpoint in Mulan, Pocahontas, Tiana, Rapunzel, Merida, Elsa and Anna. However, what is troubling is when Disney tries to do this:

Disney recently gave a makeover to Merida, the protagonist of the 2013 Academy Award-winning film Brave. The Merida on the left is the one seen in the film. The Merida on the right is what Disney was trying to have show on their princess website and on their retail (clothes, toys) items. Parents-in-arms voiced their strong opposition over this new Merida and her plunging neckline and more "physically attractive features." Soon after, the traditional Merida is who is featured on Disney's princess web site; however, some images of the Merida on the right still appear in other places (i.e., banners, toys, etc.).

Merida is perhaps the best princess for a new generation of girls/young women in that her film is not about a man saving her from some evil villain. In fact, it does not have a main villain at all and thus does not require her being saved (most critics panned the film because of that very theme). The film is a bonding film between mother and daughter, in which a daughter has to rescue her mother from a curse the daughter herself naively caused. In other words, Brave is about something bigger than good vs. evil. It's about personal responsibility, being yourself, independence, true beauty, loving and honoring your family, and a bit of rebellion. In other words, it's about growing up.

 As the video above proves, Merida does not believe in traditional conventions or needing to be married to make a difference. As she rips off her constraining ceremonial dress (a metaphor for shaking off the traditions of an old-fashioned society), she competes for her own hand in marriage and outperforms the "men" who are considered her potential husbands. But it's not merely this clip that makes Brave so great. What makes the film and her so great is the same thing that makes all strong female characters -- whether it be Merida, Buffy, Starbuck, Supergirl, Ripley, Sydney Bristow, Eowyn, Jane Eyre, Lois Lane (especially the Smallville version), or Hermione. She is strong-willed and has interests in which she has the need to excel, is independent and smart, feminine and tough-as-nails, loves her family, has her own sense of style as well as many hopes and dreams, but she is also at times vulnerable, humble and scared, which makes her endearing and relatable. Merida's long red locks are somewhat uncontrollable -- just like her fiery personality -- and she knows her life is meant for more than merely being someone's wife. All of these traits are what make her beautiful. It's what makes her real.  

I recently interviewed fellow writer Kelly Meding about the roles of females in books and film. Meding is an urban fantasy (UF) writer and the author of the Dreg City Series (Three Days to Dead, As Lie the Dead, Another Kind of Dead, and Wrong Side of Dead), as well as the Metawar Series (Trance, Changeling, and Tempest). Meding lists some of her early memories of film and fiction as Return of the Jedi, The Neverending Story, Legend, Superman 1-4, Star Wars; "I watched Tales from the Crypt and other horror movies with my dad. I saw Slaughter High (alone) when I was nine. I think it's the 'otherness' that attracted me to them. Reality was so … boring, but how cool was it to read a book that magically sucked you into the main character's adventures? I believed a man could fly." 

Regarding Disney princesses, Meding said, "I grew up watching the Disney classics. As a young girl, it's easy to fall into the dream of being swept away by your prince charming and living happily ever after. I think it's part of the beauty of being a child -- that age of innocence when you can believe in simple things. There are almost three categories of princesses in the names you listed. You have 'Helpless Princess' (Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty) who didn't do much besides sing and look pretty for their future prince. Then you have 'Sassy Princess' (Ariel, Belle, Jasmine), who dream bigger than their current situation and actually take steps toward new things. Finally you have 'Millenial Princesses,' who are Disney's attempt to make the heroine more adventurous, braver, and more active in the story. Pocahontas stops a war. Mulan goes to war and saves China. Rapunzel decides to see the lights and she goes to see the lights. I don't think there's anything wrong with it, as long as you're also teaching your child (boy or girl) that you don't have to wait for someone to save you. You can be your own hero. But that's the same thing with any movie or TV show you let your child watch -- know what they're watching and be prepared to answer questions."

Never be afraid to let your silliness and uniqueness come out!

When asked about the female characters who inspired her both as a writer and as a woman, Meding said, "Is it a cliché if I say Buffy Summers? With that character, Joss Whedon took a trope and not only turned it on its head, he kicked the crap out of it and sent it away crying. So many of his female characters are strong, but they are strong in different ways. Willow didn't go out and physically kick ass, but she stood by her friends, she investigated, and she never backed down from an apocalypse.

"As a kid, Lois Lane (as portrayed by Margot Kidder) inspired me. Sure, Superman needed to save her from a falling helicopter, or a falling elevator once in a while. But Lois was headstrong. She knew she was good at her job, she didn't let anyone keep her from doing her job, and she didn't back down from her male boss. I think Aaron Sorkin also does female characters well. I'm a huge fan of The West Wing, and all of those female characters can go head to head with their male counterparts. They're never portrayed as 'less than' anyone else."

Keep your pop divas & reality star role models; we have your own.

Those previously-mentioned fictional females are just a few obvious strong women. However, sometimes there are strong women characters that have been hiding right under our noses. One such female character has been lying anonymously dormant for many years -- 74 years, to be exact. The Wizard of Oz's Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) may have first graced printed pages in 1900, but it is the 1939 cinematic classic which made her a household name! Now, I know what most may say. "Are you kidding me!? Dorothy is surrounded by three men throughout the entire film! They have to sneak into the Witch's castle to save her!" To this, I say that, yes, the three male friends (Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion) come to rescue her. However, she does not ride off into the sunset to marry them. She does not betroth herself to either one of them. They save her out of friendship alone. And why? Because it is merely a reflection of the friendship she has shown them throughout the film. Let's not forget that it is Dorothy who ultimately invites each one of them to join her on her voyage to Emerald City. Her kindliness and friendship are what ultimately save her life. When any of her three friends put themselves down or are unsure of themselves, Dorothy is the one who encourages them. Dorothy stands up to the seemingly scary (at first) Cowardly Lion, bopping him on the nose for trying to attack her dog, Toto. Dorothy is the one who inadvertently destroys the Wicked Witch of the West because she is trying to save Scarecrow's life. Dorothy -- it is revealed at the end -- is the one who ultimately had the power to go home all along. In fact, when you truly think about it, it is the women -- Dorothy, Aunt Em (who's bossing everyone around and the real boss of the farm?), Miss Gulch, Glinda the Good Witch, the Wicked Witch of the West -- who mostly have the power in The Wizard of Oz. If you need more proof, what does the "all-powerful wizard" turn out to be? A crusty, old charlatan who uses special effects, hiding behind a curtain. And, if you really wanted to delve deeper into analyzing Dorothy's male friends, it is first shown that one is brainless, one is heartless, and one is a coward. So, yes, while Dorothy is not as bad-ass tough as most of the aforementioned female characters; nevertheless, she belongs in the category for merely being a good female role model.

Imagine if The Wizard of Oz was advertised this way! Then Dorothy would be one big bad-ass!

It is not necessary for a good story and/or fairy tale to make the males of the piece cowards, macho, idiots, and/or selfish. A great story can treat both sexes with equal respect. One of the best examples of this is Disney's Tangled, which features the princess Rapunzel. For those who haven't seen this movie and want to, please skip down to the next paragraph as there will be spoilers. Even though the movie starts out with all of the trappings of a typical hero-rescues-a-damsel-in-distress, the story takes a different route. At the end of Tangled, the big reveal is that Rapunzel has been imprisoned all of her young life by an enchantress (Mother Gothel) who stole Rapunzel from her royal cradle when she was a baby. Rapunzel's magic hair keeps Mother Gothel young and although Rapunzel bravely refuses to do Gothel's bidding, when Rapunzel's love interest Flynn comes to rescue her, Gothel stabs Flynn. Rapunzel makes a deal with Gothel, telling her that if Gothel lets Rapunzel heal Flynn, Rapunzel will willingly go with Gothel and continue to make her young. However, knowing Rapunzel would lose the freedom she had spent the entire movie fighting for and all of her life yearning for, Flynn -- after professing his love for her -- selflessly sacrifices his life by cutting Rapunzel's hair so she cannot perform the healing spell on him. Flynn's single act of sacrifice  gives Rapunzel not just her true family back but also her freedom from a life of servitude to Gothel, whose age quickly catches up with her and destroys her.

In Disney's latest, Frozen, when Elsa inadvertantly freezes her kingdom, it is up to her little sister, Anna, to find Elsa and try to get her to lift the frozen curse. In her anger, Elsa accidentally strikes Anna in the heart, freezing it and placing a curse on Anna. Anna and her friends are told the only way to stop the effects on Anna's heart is "an act of true love." What Anna's friends -- and the audience -- think of as "an act of true love" turns out to not be valid. It is not until near the end -- when the sisters sacrifice -- that the "true love act" is revealed. Frozen addresses topics such as what it means -- and feels -- to be different (as evidenced in Elsa's "special talent"), and the love in the film is a love that is more important than any romantic love -- it's unconditional love. The film also touches on important aspects such as humility, selflessness and what it means to truly forgive and love.

Disney's new generation of princesses (l. to r.): Mulan, Pocahontas, Tiana, Rapunzel, Merida, Anna, Elsa: Ever notice the princesses (except Rapunzel, Anna, & Elsa) that are ethnic are the ones whose movies have the lowest ticket sales and the lowest popularity? However, it's not their ethnicity which makes them positive role models -- it's their story and personality!

Other Disney princesses with admirable stories include Pocahontas, who teaches Englishman John Smith the value of the land and the true meaning of home and respecting human life, as well as choosing to remain with her family at the end of the movie rather than return to England with Smith; Mulan, who disguises as a man to join her country's army and fight the savage killers who are pillaging her land; and Tiana, who works hard day and night to save money to open her own restaurant and refuses the help of two men (one a voodoo witch doctor, the other a prince!) to achieve her goal.  When asked about the importance of strong female characters in mass media (TV, books, film), Meding said, "Strong female characters in media are important to me, because one day I want us to be able to stop using that phrase. I want them to just be female characters. The simple fact that there are female characters versus strong female characters is irritating. It's as though the assumption is unless we specify the woman is strong, we must automatically assume she's weak. And I hate that. I also think it's important, because it gives girls and adult women heroes to look up to who aren't men. Heroes who stand up for themselves, who kick a little ass, and who don't sit around waiting to be saved. Women aren't helpless. Sometimes we need that reinforced in our media, instead of constantly being told we aren't thin enough, pretty enough, perfect enough." But let's not be so hard on just Disney's princesses. Many romantic comedies today as well as sitcoms on TV sadly revolve around plots in which the female is portrayed as either wanting to fall in love and live happily-ever-after, or surprisingly falling in love in relation to the "Taming of the Shrew syndrome." Being a parent of two daughters, I can dismiss any negative connotations that Snow White or Belle may give my young daughters as I'm sure they do not read as deeply into the psychological or philosophical meaning of the stories as much as us adults do. However, I can't help but make sure they know that waiting for someone to do something for them is not OK, and that if a boy hits them or shoves them or constantly insults them, it is not because he likes them. As I said in a previous post, to me, that is breeding ground for them growing up, thinking a boy/man who treats them like shit secretly likes/loves them. True or not, I don't want a boy showing his affections to either of my daughters in such a way. This opening scene from the romantic comedy film He's Just Not That Into You perfectly conveys the problem I'm discussing:

However, the biases of a woman's "place" in society and relationships does not just start with fairy tales and/or adult movies/books. It starts with earlier literature too! Beware the lessons learned from some pre-teen/tween/young adult novels. I call it: The "Bella Conundrum."

This about sums it up.

Unfortunately, there are popular female characters aimed toward pre-teen, teen and young adult girls -- when they are in their "formidable years" -- that subliminally teach a bad lesson to them. A majority of young women today seem to gravitate toward Bella Swan from the Twilight young adult novel series. Bella is constantly suffering over her "love" for her vampire boyfriend Edward, and goes into a deep depression when he leaves her halfway through the series -- during which time she gets close to another boyfriend, Jacob. In the end (spoiler alert), Bella decides to become a vampire so that she can live happily ever after with Edward, and when they have a child together, the little baby girl's soul "imprints" with Bella's other love interest Jacob (the werewolf), meaning Jacob and the baby are soul mates. I don't even want to know where it goes from there. Uggghhhh (shutter). While Bella may be a bad influence, strong female characters don't have to be perfect. In fact, it is their flaws which make them relatable to others. But they do have to learn from their mistakes and take that knowledge with them; Carrie Bradshaw is best when it comes to this. Hell, even Starbuck does crazy stuff! Sadly, though, learning from mistakes and being selfless is something that is sorely missing from Bella Swan and many other characters found in a majority of today's pop culture media and mainstream stories -- something I call the "Bella Conundrum."

Josh Radnor (of How I Met Your Mother) gets the dreadfulness of Twilight's writing in his film Liberal Arts. Why doesn't everyone else?

Meding hopes her female characters will help fill the role of being strong, making mistakes and being selfless. "I hope they [her characters Evy Stone, Dahlia Perkins, Trance West] show readers that you can be strong and active in your own fate, while still wanting to share your life with someone," Meding said. "Evy is a very damaged character. She's a fighter who is afraid to let anyone close, but she also has an emotional side that wants a connection to another human being. A character can be both strong and feminine, and I think that's a careful balance many UF writers I know grapple with. [If a female character is] Too strong, she's a bitch; [if a female character is] too girly, she's a wimp." When it comes to my "Bella Conundrum," Meding agrees: "I hate the message that Bella sends to girls. That it's okay for a guy to get possessive, stalk you, and take over your life, because he says he loves you. That any guy is worth killing yourself over. That's okay to be passive and let your man do all your fighting. That you should change a big part of yourself (lose your humanity, in Bella's case) for a guy. It's infuriating, and I'm very glad to see Bella passing us by, and to see active heroines like Katniss Everdeen taking her place." Personally, give me a Buffy Summers, a Zoe Washburne, a Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson's character from Pitch Perfect), an Emma Swan, a Jo March, or a Megan (Melissa McCarthy's character from Bridesmaids)!

Just a few of the fictional female characters that are portrayed in a strong, positive light in today's media. (top, l. to r.) Buffy Summers, Kara "Starbuck" Thrace, Kara "Supergirl" Zor-El, Ellen Ripley, Fat Amy, (bottom, l. to r.) Sydney Bristow, Eowyn, Jane Eyre, Lois Lane, Hermione Granger, and Megan.

Take a lesson from Megan about life ...

Today, there are plenty of fairy tales and fiction with good, strong female characters. Our job as parents is to weed through all of the other trite, stereotypical entertainment and make sure our children know right from wrong -- the same as if they were watching violence or sex. 

Fortunately, with characters like the ones pictured above, I've got plenty of positive female characters to point my daughters toward when they're old enough and interested enough. Hermione has already been introduced to them both and I'm looking forward to all of the other characters to follow! Yes, we still watch Snow White and Cinderella. But we also watch Wizard of Oz, Star Wars, Jem (remember her?), Tinker Bell, Curious George and regular cartoons to keep satisfied.

"Broad acceptance will come when society really begins to change. When we can move past the antiquated notion that a woman's place is in the kitchen, rather than in the workplace," Meding said. "When we can accept that women are equal to men, and that we actually outnumber them. When female Senators can stand up and not be told (in so many words) to sit down and shut up by their male colleagues. Take a risk on an action flick starring a superheroine instead of another male hero reboot. The Hunger Games proves that a woman can carry an action blockbuster and that people want to see it. "But as readers and movie-goers, we vote with our dollars. If Superman keeps making eight-digit opening numbers, Hollywood will keep making those kinds of movies. If Twilight-esque books starring Bella clones are making publishers billions of dollars, they'll keep publishing them. Media provides what they think we want to see, so we need to do a better job of showing them what we want. Change often happens slowly, over time. Like I said above, maybe one day we'll only have to say 'female character' and it'll always mean strong." As for now, it's good to see that Disney is headed down the right track. After all, any company that could produce Once Upon a Time (one of the best shows about fairy tales and gender roles) and promote this video below, proves that the company is headed in the right direction and that they can't be doing all that bad:

SPECIAL THANKS TO AN AWESOME LADY & WONDERFUL WRITER:

Kelly Meding, whose books can be purchased on Amazon.com and in most bookstores. Where you can check her out on the Web: Kellymeding.com, her blog Organized Chaos, on Twitter and Pinterest. 

Works Cited

Flavell, John H. (1986). The development of children's knowledge about the appearance–reality distinction. American Psychologist, 41(4), 418-425.

Orenstein, Peggy. (2006, December). What’s Wrong with Cinderella? One Mother’s Struggle with Her 3-Year-Old Daughter’s Love Affair with Princess Culture. New York Times Magazine.