motifs – R&D Gothic Discoveries

I hope you understood the irony in this statement! Of course, I am talking about the fact that what was supposed to be cute fairy tales are, in fact, scaring children. One example of this is Rapunzel from the Grimm brothers. The brothers are renowned for their gothic and gloomy fairy tales.

First, I will summarize you a little bit the essence of the brothers’ story. It is the story of a couple who are going to have a child. To make sure the mother does not die, the husband needs to pick up fruits that are on the other side of a wall, where an enchantress lives. In order for them to have access to the fruits, the woman will take their child as soon as the mom gives birth. When she takes the child away, she brings her in a tower where no one will be able to see her, ever. One day, the enchantress realizes that Rapunzel, the child, is helping a young man entering the tower to spend time with her. As soon as she realizes it, she cuts the hair of the child and plays a trick on the young man. When the man climbs on the hair the woman had let down, she pushes him down in the rose bushes, where he gets his eyes pierced. In the end, we read that the young man finds Rapunzel back with their two children and live happily ever after. A quite long and rough journey to be able to live happily ever after!

Some gothic motifs can be analyzed in this short tale. There is the monster, of course, that is represented by the enchantress. She is considered as a human monster because she takes the child away from her parents to only do bad to her, in addition, to almost killing the young man.

Another motif would be gloom, especially towards the end of the story. When the young man gets his eyes pierced, it is quite gloomy and disgusting for the target audience that is supposed to be children.

I suggest you read the brothers’ tale and after compare with the newest version by Disney, you will realize how it was changed and how it is more directed towards the young target audience.

Rosalie 😊

Don’t breathe or he’s gonna catch you! That’s the essential statement of Fede Álvarez’s movie called Don’t Breathe. Essentially, the movie is set in an old blind man’s house because three young adults try to steal the money the rumors say he is living with. Since the old man is blind, his earing is impeccable, which the three friends did not expect. The old man ears each and every single noise they make in the house. During their chase for the money, the young adults try to escape from the dangerous old man, but he actually is able to keep them locked into his house, which allows him to try to catch evildoers. While trying to escape, they realize that the old man is getting nearer to them and that they are more and more in danger. When they see the old man around, they try not to breathe to make sure the blind man doesn’t find them. That is the principal reason why the movie is titled that way, but I’ll let you discover whether or not the young adults were finally able to get out!

The American horror movie focused mainly on the aspect of terror. During then whole movie, the three offenders are really scared of what the old man could do because they didn’t know him, and they weren’t aware of what he could potentially do to them. The apprehension of the actions of the man was the aspect that frightened the most the delinquents. During their adventure in the blind man’s house, they finally discover what was the old man really hiding in his house, once again I’ll let you discover it by yourself, and the young adults reached a state of horror. The fact that they could see the old man as well as the scary things in his house let the delinquents change their feeling from terror to horror. The scenarist really focused on those two important gothic motifs to create suspense and tension in his movie, which makes it that good.

If you love horror movies, I really suggest you watch it. And if you’re more afraid of this kind of movies, I suggest you still watch it, but in daytime maybe! 😉

Rosalie

Tag: motifs

Let’s Scare Children

Keep Quiet!