The Impacts Literature Can Have on One 

Fairy tales were the very first stories one reads, or is read to when they were younger. Many don’t come to realize how these first stories can affect them as they grow. After all, Image, Identity, and Opinions are affected by literature and knowledge attained by living. This is important to me because when it came to fairy tales, “Sleeping Beauty” was the first tale I heard, and it largely affected how I saw the world and books. Now you must be wondering, what does this have to do with the prompt, well, I’m getting there… 

Everyone has at least read a version of “Sleeping Beauty” before, where a beautiful baby girl is about to be born from a king and queen, but cursed by a tiny fairy, or godmother of some sort. This curse usually entails the girl at a certain age dying or laying dormant for years after being pricked by a tiny needle. Leading her to be saved by the prince after receiving a kiss, and living happily ever after. This is the frame of how every “Sleeping Beauty” goes, but for the movie certain changes were made. This being that there were only three fairies, and then one witch who was not invited to the party. That being Maleficent, with her threatening dress, and her power to do many things like becoming a dragon. Another change done in the movie is that Aurora(Sleeping Beauty) is taken by the fairy Godmothers to not slumber by being pricked with a spindle, but clearly that doesn’t work as intended. The major change was that the prince got to fight against Maleficent, and wins, beating her with the help of the fairies. 

Initially, I didn’t feel like watching the movie but in the end, I had to because at the time I was in a stroller being babysat by my babysitter. This movie really left quite the impression on me as a kid, especially whenever the “scary” parts where Maleficent would pop up, and the eerie green that always was on screen when she was present. It was probably the first ever scary thing that I recognized, and I couldn’t even run away to stop watching since I was on the stroller. Now the question at hand is why is this tale impactful to me, and how did it change things.

Well, when I first witnessed the story it was the very colorful and happy “Sleeping Beauty” by Disney. This movie shifted my view of the world and stories when I was younger, into a more dreamlike and wonderland kind of world, but also a worry that something bad may occur at any moment. The dreamlike view I had developed was a result of scenes where Aurora (“Sleeping Beauty”) would be seen talking to the animals, and these animals helped her get closer to the prince. Being really young, and stuck within a stroller, resulted in my young self to believe that animals will always be there to help and that good will always prevail against the bad, whether that be a person or situation affecting one. I truly didn’t understand that most of the content within the movie was fiction, leading to my view of literature and everything around me to center around the idea of a fairytale, especially when I hadn’t seen anything else or read any complex readings at the time. Due to this, It also resulted in me developing fears at a young age, such as a fear of the unknown, a fear of time, and what this movie mainly gave me, a fear of Death. This fear was instilled to me at the young age of five, and I still try to combat this fear. All of this stemming from the fact that a dubious magical person may wish for me to die at any moment like how Maleficent cursed Aurora. Many of you may be thinking that literature and media doesn’t affect us that much at a young age, but that’s wrong and I will explain further in a moment. The movie left quite the impact and I feel that, had I watched a different movie, or experienced more media, it would have led to a different impact in my life. This would have left me with a different outlook on what’s around me and how I would act as I grow up.

Now the question at hand is, does literature and media at a young age affect us as we grow? I say yes, this mainly stemming from the experiences I had with “Sleeping Beauty” and how this piece of media influenced my growth, both positively and negatively. As I stated before, the light hearted scenes such as Aurora being helped by her animal companions, the prince saving her from her deep sleep, and her over all having a happy ending, left young me with joy, and an idea that I would be as brave to face a dragon, and strong to beat the dragon just like the prince did. This movie had an influence in the way I would think and try to build myself.  You would think I gained merely positives and that this movie only influenced me for the good and it would too for your kids, but that’s wrong. Just like how I gained some positive views on how I should be, I gained chains that would haunt me to this day. This primarily being the fear of death and time. One thing I always wondered was, when does one start thinking about their expiration date? It’s interesting to think when one worries or acknowledges this information, for me that was at the age of five due to this movie. This movie had me worrying for a lengthy time as to when, or if Aurora will wake up from her slumber (Death). Young me at the time didn’t understand the theme of death and I was simply getting a preview of what it could be, and it instilled in me the fear of death and time. These fears still affect me to this day and maybe one day I will accept these chains but for now, they will be on me till the day I accept its embrace. All of this is simply what happened to me, and it may be different for everyone especially when they view different pieces of media, and literature having no prior experience at certain ages.

Image, Identity, and Opinions are affected by literature and knowledge attained by living. This is something I recently had in mind when I realized that at a young age media and literature can affect how a kid will live and see their world. A main example that was discussed was how the movie “Sleeping Beauty” by Disney had a major effect on me as a kid and now , that being my creativity, an optimistic outlook on certain situations, and the chains that bind me. The bottom line is that any type of media or information can affect how we perceive things when we are younger and grow into adults. Just like how “Sleeping Beauty” made me have an optimistic view on things, that only grew to be a more sophisticated value of mine as I grew and experienced more in my life.