Similar to what I have previously attempted; I read an article discussing the representations of femininity in the fairy-tale retelling of Stardust (originally a 1999 novel by Neil Gaiman, later adapted to a film by Matthew Vaughn in 2007). It has many elements which, upon study, echo parts of the Crane Wife. In its most obvious, they both contain anthropomorphic non-human creatures who become human to take the part of the female protagonist. Here, using Sarah Cahill's 2010 writing, I will look further into the ways these tales compare and contrast.
The opening sequence of stardust exposes us to an overwhelmingly male perspective: we hear a male voice narrating and see an image of a room filled with nineteenth-century gentlemen scientists. Women within cinema, and culture in general, are coded as occupying the place of the image, as “connot[ing a] to-be-looked-at-ness” (Mulvey, 2000). Within this unassuming sequence, the film constrains its performance to hegemonic patriarchal framing within the male gaze. From the onset, the audience sees the authorship and control of men. Repeatedly in this film, this notion of seeing through the eyes of men crops up. The female protagonist, Yvaine, is caught shooting across the sky in her star form by Tristan. She is chased by him, and acts as the object of his desire throughout, articulating an unease concerning female relationships to spectacle (Cahill, 60). This dynamic can be compared to The Crane Wife, both in its folk tale format and in my own re-imagining. The first time we see the Crane is when she is being stalked by the Hunter: under the eye of male gaze. Multiple times this scheme repeats in the story; for example when the Woodcutter finds the bird after pursuing her cry. The climax of the story centers around the woodcutter breaking his promise to the crane by looking at her while she weaves. The most important plot point hinges on whether he chooses to look at her or not in this critical moment.
The other major way in which these two tales are similar is with the tenuous balance between femininity and artificiality displayed in both. Associations between femininity and artificiality in literature and spoken tales have a long history, and are a major reoccuring subject in feminist readings. For film theorist Mary Ann Doane this idea that “it is femininity itself which is constructed as mask” troubles the patriarchal gaze, which relies on “the production of femininity as closeness, as presence-to-itself, as precisely, imagistic” (Doane, 2000). In Stardust the women, namely the haggard witches, 'attempt to control their representation in order that they might fit conventional ideas of feminine beauty' (Cahill, pp. 62). It is the rehashing of the threatening older woman vs. youthful, beautiful heroine trope which comes into play so obviously in this film.This ultimately revolves around conflict between female representatives of age and youth. Fairy tales tend to stage an anxiety concerning women who attempt to take control of their own image and representation, and such desire is presented as 'dangerous and ultimately self-destructive' (pp. 65) In Stardust the older women who attempt to take control of their own representation by appearing as desirable, ideal female stereotypes, are ultimately thwarted and turned back to their original form. The women to not have permission of autonomy over their own bodies and presentation. In The Crane Wife, the same fate befalls the Crane who takes human form. Not only does she become a human, but a youthful, beautiful female at that. She is seen to be 'tricking' her husband with her false appearance. Eventually, she is punished in some way for her false countenance and forced to remove her 'mask' and return to her original form. The overarching theme in folktales like this is that women, in a world dominated by the patriarchal gaze, cannot succeed in undermining this gaze.
I think though, rather than completely falling into this hole, The Crane Wife manages to subvert this typical feminist failing of other folktales, and indeed, of Stardust. While the Crane does indeed lose her position in the human world by returning to her bird form, and abandoning the mask of the woman she wears; she does this by her own choice. She is not forced to by her husband nor external forces. indeed, it is she who originally demands control of the male gaze by requiring her husband promise not to look at her as she weaves. in this way she is more assertive a female character than many other heroines in other tale plots, and I think it can be argued that this is a powerful feminist message.
The other major way in which these two tales are similar is with the tenuous balance between femininity and artificiality displayed in both. Associations between femininity and artificiality in literature and spoken tales have a long history, and are a major reoccuring subject in feminist readings. For film theorist Mary Ann Doane this idea that “it is femininity itself which is constructed as mask” troubles the patriarchal gaze, which relies on “the production of femininity as closeness, as presence-to-itself, as precisely, imagistic” (Doane, 2000). In Stardust the women, namely the haggard witches, 'attempt to control their representation in order that they might fit conventional ideas of feminine beauty' (Cahill, pp. 62). It is the rehashing of the threatening older woman vs. youthful, beautiful heroine trope which comes into play so obviously in this film.This ultimately revolves around conflict between female representatives of age and youth. Fairy tales tend to stage an anxiety concerning women who attempt to take control of their own image and representation, and such desire is presented as 'dangerous and ultimately self-destructive' (pp. 65) In Stardust the older women who attempt to take control of their own representation by appearing as desirable, ideal female stereotypes, are ultimately thwarted and turned back to their original form. The women to not have permission of autonomy over their own bodies and presentation. In The Crane Wife, the same fate befalls the Crane who takes human form. Not only does she become a human, but a youthful, beautiful female at that. She is seen to be 'tricking' her husband with her false appearance. Eventually, she is punished in some way for her false countenance and forced to remove her 'mask' and return to her original form. The overarching theme in folktales like this is that women, in a world dominated by the patriarchal gaze, cannot succeed in undermining this gaze.
I think though, rather than completely falling into this hole, The Crane Wife manages to subvert this typical feminist failing of other folktales, and indeed, of Stardust. While the Crane does indeed lose her position in the human world by returning to her bird form, and abandoning the mask of the woman she wears; she does this by her own choice. She is not forced to by her husband nor external forces. indeed, it is she who originally demands control of the male gaze by requiring her husband promise not to look at her as she weaves. in this way she is more assertive a female character than many other heroines in other tale plots, and I think it can be argued that this is a powerful feminist message.
Jack Zipes contends in Why Fairy Tales Stick that 'we use
the classical fairy tales in mutated forms through new technologies to discuss
and debate urgent issues that concern our social lives and the very survival of
the human species' (Zipes, 2006, pp.xiii). They point to an abiding anxiety in relation to
regulating the spectacle of the aging female body. Women writers such as Angela
Carter and Margaret Atwood, among others, have used the
fairy-tale genre to engage with and uproot patriarchal representations of
femininity and sexuality. The fairy tale thus offers a potent space in which to
negotiate questions of gender and gendered representations. (Cahill, pp. 58)
Cahill, S. (2010). Through the Looking Glass: Fairy-Tale Cinema and the Spectacle of Femininity in Stardust and The Brothers Grimm. Marvels & Tales, 24(1), pp.57-65.
Doane, Mary Ann. “Film and Masquerade: Theorizing the Female Spectator.” Film and Theory: An Anthology. Ed. Toby Miller and Robert Stam. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2000, pp.502.
Mulvey, Laura. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” Film and Theory: An Anthology. Ed. Toby Miller and Robert Stam. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2000, pp.487.
Stardust. (2007). [film] United Kingdom: Matthew Vaughn.
Zipes, J. (2006). Why fairy tales stick. New York: Routledge.
Zipes, J. (2006). Why fairy tales stick. New York: Routledge.
