Dina Goldstein’s photo project “Fallen Princesses” was inspired by the Disney Princess obsession the artist saw in her young daughter and her friends. Goldstein decided to take the characters back to their more Grimm roots by setting the cheerfully garbed characters in darker modern scenarios. Snow White (above) has children and a lazy Prince Charming. Cinderella is drinking alone in a bar. Belle from Beauty and the Beast is undergoing plastic surgery. Rapunzel is undergoing chemo. Sleeping Beauty is in a retirement home with her prince.  Jasmine from Aladdin is involved in Middle Eastern warfare.

The concept behind the photos is fantastic but, while some of the images are striking, it feels as though the execution didn’t live up to its potential. Goldstein claims she wanted to take the tales back to their darker origins. But references to the original stories by Grimm, Perault, etc.  are largely missing.

The most disappointing picture of the series is that of Little Red Riding Hood:

The tale of Little Red Riding Hood does involve a lot of eating but to equate it with obesity is lazy both to the story and towards addressing the truths about obesity. The story set out by Charles Perrault is steeped in metaphors that could have easily been updated to a modern setting for a poignant image. The tale is commonly interpreted as being a warning against prostitution (red cloaks were a symbol of that profession in 17th century France), which would lend to a photo about the very real and dark modern practice of child prostitution. The photo also could have explored the issues of sexual violence or burgeoning sexuality– the latter ripe (pun intended) in a culture with a very disturbed relationship with sexuality.

The moral of the story of Red as written by Perrault himself:

Little girls, this seems to say,
Never stop upon your way.
Never trust a stranger-friend;
No one knows how it will end.
As you’re pretty, so be wise;
Wolves may lurk in every guise.
Handsome they may be, and kind,
Gay, or charming never mind!
Now, as then, ‘tis simple truth—
Sweetest tongue has sharpest tooth!