Fractured Fairy Tales: What makes them so popular?

[furryPhilanthropist]

There are many fractured fairy tales out there, and they're REALLY popular, but why?
What makes them so appealing? 3nodding

[Skye Bryar]

The knowing that the simple, happy fairy tales of our childhoods is not so perfect and happy is appealing in the sense that it's somewhat familiar, yet entirely different.

[Ninina]

Well, if you read many of the original "fairy tales" they have absolutely nothing to do with happily ever after.
In the original Little Mermaid, after she gets her legs the prince is in love with another girl and is preparing to marry this other girl. The mermaid's sisters tell her to stab him and throw his heart to the sea so she can get her tail back and return to the sea. When she's about to do it, she decides she loves him too much and stabs herself in the heart instead. No happy ending.

In the original version of the "Prince and the frog," the frog is really weird. He keeps sneaking into the princess' bed to ask to kiss him. The whole thing seems very sketchy to say the least. No prince charming at all.

So, with these new grittier versions we are closer to the spirit of many of these tales... some weren't even written for children to begin with. And others wanted to warn the young about a less than perfect world out there.

[ValkyrieSnow]

Ninina

Well, if you read many of the original "fairy tales" they have absolutely nothing to do with happily ever after.
In the original Little Mermaid, after she gets her legs the prince is in love with another girl and is preparing to marry this other girl. The mermaid's sisters tell her to stab him and throw his heart to the sea so she can get her tail back and return to the sea. When she's about to do it, she decides she loves him too much and stabs herself in the heart instead. No happy ending.

In the original version of the "Prince and the frog," the frog is really weird. He keeps sneaking into the princess' bed to ask to kiss him. The whole thing seems very sketchy to say the least. No prince charming at all.

So, with these new grittier versions we are closer to the spirit of many of these tales... some weren't even written for children to begin with. And others wanted to warn the young about a less than perfect world out there.

I agree with this. Even if you go back to some of the original tellings of such stories from the times when Bards would recite them, most of them were rather terrifying. The 'Brothers Grimm' Does a wonderful job at illustrating that fact.
Many of the stories we have today as 'happy endings' are put in such a manner to make the listener feel better about the situation they are in. Really its just a colorful mind trip.