One of the interesting things one gains from structuralist scholarship – particularly in folklore – is the ability to recognize variants of the same theme, plot, or motif; stories are often more basic and archetypical than one might imagine, and those archetypes remain with us even into our modern artistic works. Baz Luhrman has made his career on retellings of the same tale of tragic lovers, more commonly known as Romeo and Juliet.[1] This article will examine a different sort of love story; one where the balance of power resides more within than without, where personal choices must bear responsibility (and bears have responsibility), and in which one must learn to live and love with one's equal: a tale more commonly known as Beauty and the Beast.

I claim that the animal husbandry tales are perhaps the most mature of all fairy tales, thematically, as the inherent themes of such tales are often integration of a duality – most tangibly in an adult relationships, and perhaps even within oneself. This is borne out by the attention the tale has received throughout its literary history: the interplay between male/female, god/monster, give/take has fascinated authors and scholars for eras. The beautiful young prince is transformed into a hideous beast, or hidden away in the dark, to await one who can see past his appearance and learn to love him unconditionally. Enter the figure of Beauty, who – through compassion for or the scheming of her father – goes to meet the Beast, generally of her own free will. Beast and Beauty slowly develop feelings for each other, but Beast cannot reveal his true self; he is bound by his enchantment. Eventually, Beauty, often inadvertently, betrays his trust: she seeks to see his face, to know his secrets, or to stay too long apart. Faced with the repercussions of this betrayal, the impending destruction of the relationship she now values, the figure of Beauty performs some devotion or task to earn back her love's trust. Due to Beauty's emotional persistence, Beast is not only saved, but transformed back into the handsome prince/godling.

The central moralistic "meaning" of the Beauty and the Beast tale has clearly changed over the unrelenting span of history; folklore must remain relevant or it soon finds itself forgotten. The animal bridegroom (Aarne-Thompson type 425) and animal bride tale types (AT 402) have long existed in many cultures, Western and non-Western, and its specific motifs have endured – although the emphasis and moral implications often drastically change within a cultural context, as we see from the study of the Beauty and the Beast tale in literary works. Both Marina Warner[2] and Jack Zipes[3] present similar histories of the various era-meanings of the tale in recorded literature: The rise of the literary fairy tale was at first vessel, through salons and their published products, for French aristocratic women to enforce strengthening feminine empowerment and vicarious fantasy in the works of such women as Marie-Catherine d'Aulnoy. It later morphed into an instructive tale of manners and civility for young women, such as in the works of Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumount: a proclamation of faith in morality, warning about ogre husbands and arranged marriages. In our modern day, the tale most accurately portrays an attempt of the woman to honestly admit and express her erotic nature; for both partners to compromise and achieve sensual union. Warner stresses the role of the tale in feminine empowerment and instruction, while Zipes, in his characteristic fashion, is certain they are all but manifestations of the patriarchy designed to program women to accept a submissive Oedipal role. Zipes is ultimately unable to accept any notion of free will on the woman's part: thus Beauty caring for a family member reveals nothing but dark Freudian motives, and the growth of understanding between Beauty and the Beast is merely the male dominance of the female. While one could argue various psychoanalytical notions until blue in the face, suffice it to say that most modern authors, particularly of the fantasy pantheon, do not tend to share Zipes' pessimistic portrayal of the tale. For many modern artists, the tale is primarily concerned with duality – both in the self, and in relationships – and the satisfaction of that duality, the achievement of balance. The ideas of independence/dependence/interdependence are played with; the relationship between god and monster, magic and man, female and male, and the synthesis of these parts. Trust and secrecy, betrayal and responsibility for one's actions, even when flawed: the redemptive power of love. Promises may be broken, but apologies are made, and reparations are possible. In its most intriguing and noblest forms, this particular tale may tell us something about ourselves and our relationships with others: our gods, our lovers, our partners, ourselves.

While the Disney interpretation of this tale proclaims it is a "tale as old as time," which is as true as much as it is of any fairy-tale, this paper is more concerned with the modern recasting of these themes. C.S. Lewis penned a version of the Cupid/Psyche myth entitled Till We Have Faces, concerned with the blurry line between god and monster (or faith and madness); Robin McKinley has retold the tale several times, the most recent of which has been her odd cross of baker and vampire in Sunshine.

We will be examining Hedwig And the Angry Inch, the story of a botched transsexual who must come to terms with the god and monster within hirself, as well as create a relationship with hir beautiful young boyfriend, which I propose is an inverted, or failed retelling of the tale; what happens when the duality is not achieved.

I'm going to be looking at the film adaptation of Hedwig and the Angry Inch from a modern structuralist point of view. I posit that Hedwig relates to Aarne-Thompson's tale type 425, the animal husband tale, but does so in an inverted, failed manner. Due to the subject matter, this may well be considered in the realm of gender or queer theory, but the concern of this paper is not Hedwig's sexuality, but rather hir identity as it relates to the constructs of the tale.

"How did some slip of a girly-boy from East Berlin become the internationally-ignored song stylist barely standing before you?"

Hedwig and the Angry Inch was a punk-drag-cabaret theater experiment enacted by John Cameron Mitchell and Steven Trask in the 1990s; as the persona of Hedwig evolved, Mitchell, playing Hedwig, and the band, led by Trask, developed a back-story and plot for this unique character. In this way, one could argue that Hedwig grows out of a true storytelling tradition, hir tale emerging due to personal narrative storytelling: a fusion of musical theater, rock opera, and the intimate figure of the storyteller. After touring bars and cabarets with the evolving tale of Hedwig, Mitchell's group eventually refurbished and off-Broadway warehouse into a theater, formally opening to what would be a modern musical success. Eventually, Hedwig and the Angry Inch was produced as a movie by Killer Films and became an almost instant cult classic, earning a Sundance Audience Award, Best Direct for John Cameron Mitchell, and the admiration of legions of fans worldwide. Although Hedwig's tale has gone through several variants, as any personally transmitted tale will evolve, we shall be examining the film version of this story, as it is the most widely accessible. Also, while Hedwig's tale is not told strictly chronologically, but rather in a series of expository anecdotes, we will examine the story in a linear fashion.

Hedwig starts off life as Hansel, a young boy when the wall goes up in Germany. Born of an American GI father, Hansel's mother puts him in a cart and marches firmly east, the story goes, leaving Hansel culturally conflicted; his favorite pastime is to listen to American rock on the radio in their small East Berlin apartment. Already, the character of Hedwig is presented as a paired opposition: American rockstar glamour versus communist ideals; excess versus repression. One may think Hedwig would simply rebel against hir initial childhood repression, but what Hedwig ends up internalizing is the symbol of the opposition itself, the divide, as we see in the song "Tear Me Down," where Hedwig likens herself to the Berlin Wall. The very beginning of this tale presents a nigh impossible conflict between two opposites; Hedwig takes on the persona of the struggle between two halves, defying those who might bridge the gap and thus destroy hir.

Don't you know me Kansas City?
I'm the new Berlin wall
try and tear me down

I was born on the other side
of a town ripped in two
I made it over the great divide
now I'm coming for you

Enemies and adversaries
they try and tear me down
you want me, baby, I dare you
try and tear me down

I rose from off of the doctor's slab
like Lazarus from the pit
now everyone wants to take a stab
and decorate me
with blood graffiti and spit

Enemies and adversaries
they try and tear me down
you want me, baby, I dare you
try and tear me down

On August 13th, 1961,
a wall was erected
down the middle of the city of Berlin.
The world was divided by a cold war
and the Berlin Wall
was the most hated symbol of that divide
Reviled.

Spit upon.
We thought the wall would stand forever,
and now that it's gone,
we don't know who we are anymore.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Hedwig is like that wall,
standing before you in the divide
between East and West,
Slavery and Freedom,
Man and Woman,
Top and Bottom.
And you can try to tear her down,
but before you do,
you must remember one thing:

There ain't that much of a difference
between a bridge and a wall
without me right in the middle, babe
you would be nothing at all

Enemies and adversaries
they try and tear me down
you want me, baby, I dare you
try and tear me down

Enemies and adversaries
they try and tear me down
you want me, baby, I dare you
try and tear me down

From East Berlin to Junction City
hello New York, hello Missouri
what you try and tear me down
come on and tear come on and tear me down

The next major event in Hansel's evolution is his meeting with Luther, another American GI; Luther is a literal and metaphorical "sugar daddy" who seduces Hansel with rich, forbidden Western candy.[4] Luther promises to marry Hans and take hir out of Berlin, to America – there was just one small problem. In order for Luther to legally marry Hans, Hans must become a woman. Unfortunately for Hansel, the doctor was less than competent, and s/he was left with an "Angry Inch" …

My sex-change operation got botched
My guardian angel fell asleep on the watch
Now all I got is a Barbie Doll-crotch
I got an angry inch

Six inches forward and five inches back
I got a
I got an angry inch
Six inches forward and five inches back
I got a
I got an angry inch

I’m from the land where you still hear the cries
I had to get out, had to sever all ties
I changed my name and assumed a disguise
I got an angry inch

Six inches forward and five inches back
I got a
I got an angry inch
Six inches forward and five inches back
I got a
I got an angry inch
Six inches forward and five inches back
The train is coming and I’m tied to the track
I try to get up but I can’t get no slack
I got a
Angry Inch Angry Inch

My mother made my tits out of clay
My boyfriend told me that he’d take me away
They dragged me to the doctor one day
I've got an angry inch

Six inches forward and five inches back
I got a
I got an angry inch
Six inches forward and five inches back
I got a
I got an angry inch

Long story short:
When I woke up from the operation
I was bleeding down there
I was bleeding from the gash between my legs
My first day as a woman
and already it’s that time of the month
But two days later
the hole closed up
The wound healed
and I was left with a one inch mound of flesh
where my penis used to be
where my vagina never was
A one inch mound of flesh with a scar running down it
like a sideways grimace
on an eyeless face
Just a little bulge
It was an angry inch

Six inches forward and five inches back
The train is coming and I’m tied to the track
I try to get up but I can’t get no slack
I got an
Angry Inch Angry Inch

Six inches forward and five inches back
stay under cover till the night turns to black
I got my inch and I’m set to attack
I got an Angry Inch Angry Inch

S/he is left is a scarred "one inch mound of flesh," an external manifestation of hir indecision between male and female; s/he is lost forever between the two poles. This is the moment of transformation in the tale: Hansel thus becomes Hedwig, the Beast, neither male nor female. Luther keeps his word, though, and Hedwig's mother gives Hedwig her own name and passport, makes hir "tits out of clay," and they flee Germany for America. This can be interpreted as the scene in many traditional Beauty and the Beast tales where the parent – generally a father for Beauty, and a mother for Hedwig – gives or trades the heroine away to the Beast. Yet while Hedwig's mother encourages hir to go off to America and leave the mother/motherland, neither Hedwig's mother nor Luther are particularly prominent in the overall emotional life of Hedwig. If anything, they perhaps illustrate the transient, fleeting nature of relationships in hir life: neither truly values, understands, or loves Hedwig.

For once they arrive in America, Luther soon leaves Hedwig for a younger boy… and the Berlin wall falls, proving Hedwig's sacrifices to be largely moot. Hedwig is left in middle America, "Miss Midwest Midnight Checkout Queen," inventing an identity for hirself. "Wig in a Box" explores the malleable nature of appearance and its effect on identity.

On nights like this
when the world's a bit amiss
and the lights go down
across the trailer park
I get down
I feel had
I feel on the verge of going mad
and then it's time to punch the clock

I put on some make-up
and turn up the tape deck
and pull the wig down on my head
suddenly I'm Miss Midwest
Midnight Checkout Queen
until I head home
and put myself to bed

I look back on where I'm from
look at the woman I've become
and the strangest things
seem suddenly routine
I look up from my Vermouth on the rocks
a gift-wrapped wig still in the box
of towering velveteen.

I put on some make-up
and some LaVern Baker
and pull the wig down from the shelf
Suddenly I'm Miss Beehive 1963
Until I wake up
And turn back to myself

Some girls they have natural ease
they wear it any way they please
with their French flip curls
and perfumed magazines
Wear it up
Let it down
This is the best way that I've found
to be the best you've ever seen

I put on some make-up
and turn up the eight-track
I'm pulling the wig down from the shelf
Suddenly I'm Miss Farrah Fawcett
from TV
until I wake up
and turn back to myself

Shag, bi-level, bob
Dorothy Hammil do,
Sausage curls, chicken wings
It's all because of you
With your blow dried, feather back,
Toni home wave, too
flip, fro, frizz, flop,
It's all because of you
It's all because of you
It's all because of you

I put on some make-up
turn up the eight-track
I'm pulling the wig down from the shelf
Suddenly I'm this punk rock star
of stage and screen
and I ain't never
I'm never turning back

S/he makes a persona for hirself by composing and performing rock songs, in shopping mall food courts and other very tangibly middle-American outlets. During this time s/he meets a teenage boy, Tommy, with whom she attempts to foster a relationship. Tommy himself has had problems with his own military father; in essence moving from his distant father-figure to the mysterious Beast. During the next section of the tale, Hedwig helps to transform Tommy from insecure gangly Protestant nerd-child to a hip, nubile young rockstar; she molds and sculpts him into a flashy rock performer, all hype and stage presence. Tommy is made the Beauty of the tale: the beautiful young love who can, perhaps, redeem the beastliness of Hedwig's confused identity.

However, Tommy grows increasingly reluctant to face the real content of Hedwig – not merely hir adopted rockstar persona – and, upon discovering the truth of Hedwig's genitalia, hir "angry inch," spurns Hedwig. He launches his own rock career, using and claiming Hedwig's music for his own. Tommy wins fame for himself on the power of Hedwig's songs: while spurning hir true physiology, he steals hir essence and self-constructed identity. This is the moment of betrayal in the tale; like Psyche's candle or Belle's neglect, Tommy reveals Hedwig's true nature and wounds hir deeply; unlike the traditional tales, though, it is not Tommy who embarks on desperate ordeals, but Hedwig.

Hedwig begins a series of counter-concerts; s/he plays in grungy little chain diners in the cities in which Tommy, now a famous rockstar, is playing; s/he chases him around the country, wailing demands with the help of her new publicist, but is consistently written off as a tabloid-caliber fanatic. Her quest mimics some of the classic ordeals of the brides; particularly the trials of Psyche or the variant commonly known as "East of the Sun, West of the Moon," in which the bride must labor to do the impossible to win back her love. Hedwig roams the earth in the wake of her rejection, trying to piece back together her identity and ability to love, stolen by Tommy. Struggling with her inability to accept Tommy's rejection and betrayal, s/he attempts to create a substitute mate for hirself in the figure of Yitzhak.

We are first introduced to Yitzhak as the pretty boy bandmate of Hedwig's touring band; there is an obvious sense of tension between the two of them, with Hedwig seeming to have power over Yitzhak. This power is explained when Yitzhak's origins are revealed: not a pretty boy at all, Yitzhak was a Jewish Bosnian beauty queen who Hedwig "rescued" – green card and all, into hir band. The only stipulation was that Yitzhak was forced to forsake her uber-feminine identity, and take on a male persona – effectively becoming Hedwig's new mate. If Hedwig is lost between male and female, s/he will create a lover to complete hir, female forced into male. This desire is reflected in the text of "Origin of Love," in which Hedwig defines love as a shared pain; in order for Hedwig to connect to someone, that mate must share the pain that Hedwig hirself feels. In many ways s/he attempts to create this pain in Yitzhak. Unfortunately, Yitzhak chafes against Hedwig's control and cruelty; they have no real connection or relationship. As always, Hedwig ultimately remains alone.

The thematic present of the film is set in this time of Hedwig's quest and ordeal; as s/he goes from one town to another, following Tommy; s/he is shown in malls and Laundromats and diners, all sorts of gritty, non-fantastic locales, as she desperately and futilely attempts to win Tommy's attention, to make reparations – and on a more honest emotional level, yearns for his love and apology. But alas, he ignores hir; s/he becomes nothing but a tabloid write-up to his life, and s/he sinks deeper into increasingly mundane despair. The band, including Yitzhak, becomes fed up with hir manic, obsessive, cruel behavior, and they leave, walking out on Hedwig. S/he is left financially ruined, and apparently begins to walk the streets: that is, to sell hirself. Until one rainy night, when a car pulls up to Hedwig, and it turns out to be Tommy himself – who was, apparently, looking for some transsexual gratification. This begs the idea that perhaps Tommy and Hedwig connected on a level deeper than initially realized; Tommy truly craves Hedwig, spiritually and physically, and is indeed looking for his own "missing piece." Hedwig gets into the car with him, and apologies are made; Tommy promises Hedwig rights to hir songs, writing her name beside his on the credits of his album. Unfortunately, their moment of bliss is short-lived, as in the rain and confusion, their car collides with another, and the re-united couple dies together.

Thus Hedwig takes Tommy with hir in destruction; it is not a case of revenge, but rather their unity: neither of them was a complete being alone, and they did ultimately need each other. The difference being, though, that unlike the nurturing love of traditional Beauty and the Beast tales, this is a destructive love: once finally realized, it consumes them. They have ultimately destroyed each other as an act of love.

Yet at last we have our happy ending, but it a death-throes fantasy, bittersweet at best. Hedwig sheds all of the forces s/he had attempted to control, righting the world within her mind: Tommy sings to her in dream, apologizing to her and pledging his love at last. Yitzhak is once again the uber-feminine beauty queen, happy, beaming and glamorous. Hedwig hirself takes the stage for one last blaze of rock-and-roll glory, surrendering hirself to the divide and escape. S/he transcends the monster of the flesh and becomes a true rock god, if only for an instant.

The ending feels hollow, though; as lasting as the glitter that swirls around the scene. Our narrative sense knows that s/he has ultimately failed in her quest, and we accept the bright burst of happy ending as our token placation, willing Hedwig to convince hirself that s/he's happy, if only for a moment. Then s/he walks away from hir creation.

The dual natures of humanity is a very important, repeated theme in Hedwig: we have the early conflict of east/west influences, seen in "Tear Me Down," and the contrast between appearance and identity as seen in "Wig in a Box." The most important, though, for both the film and the tale type, is that of male/female. In "The Origin of Love," we hear Hedwig's account of the creation myth, in which gods tear apart the four-legged dual-humans into "lonely, two-legged creatures." Despite mention of these double humans in male-male (children of sun) and female-female (children of the earth) configurations, it is obvious that Hedwig identifies with the muddled male-female creature, the "children of the Moon."

sometimes higher
Folks roamed the earth
Like big rolling kegs
they had two sets of arms
they had two sets of legs
they had two faces peering
out of one giant head
So they could watch all around them
as they talked while they read.
and they never knew nothing of love
it was before

the origin of love

the origin of love

And there were three sexes then
one that looked like two men
glued up back to back

called the children of the sun
And similar in shape and girth
were the children of the earth
they looked like two girls
rolled up in one
And the children of the moon
were like a fork shoved on a spoon
they were part sun, part earth
part daughter, part son

the origin of love

Now the gods grew quite scared
of our strength and defiance
and Thor said,
"I'm gonna kill them all

with my hammer
like I killed the giants."
And Zeus said, "No,
you better let me
use my lightening like scissors
like I cut the legs off the whales
and dinosaurs into lizards."

Then he grabbed up some bolts
and he let out a laugh,
said, "I'll split them right down the middle,
gonna cut them right up in half."
and then storm clouds gathered above
into great balls of fire

And then fire shot down
from the sky in bolts
like shining blades
of a knife
and it ripped
right through the flesh
of the children of the sun
and the moon
and the earth
And some Indian god
sewed the wound up into a hole

And Osiris and the gods of the Nile
gathered up a big storm
to blow a hurricane
to scatter us away
in a flood of wind and rain
and a sea of tidal waves,
to wash us all away
and if we don't behave
they'll cut us down again
and we'll be hopping round on one foot

looking through one eye

Last time I saw you
we had just split in two
you were looking at me
I was looking at you
you had a way so familiar
but I could not recognize
cause you had blood on your face
I had blood in my eyes
but I could swear by your expression
that the pain down in your soul
was the same as the one down in mine

That's the pain
cuts a straight line
down through the heart
we called it love
so we wrapped our arms around each other
trying to shove ourselves back together
we were making love
making love
It was a cold dark evening
such a long time ago
when by the mighty hand of Jove
It was the sad story
how we became
lonely two-legged creatures
It's the story of
the origin of love
that's the origin of love

Hedwig's transsexuality is not treated as the more typical gender-in-the-wrong-sex, but rather something more and apart, and yet lacking: while Hedwig retains characteristics of hir male and female personas, s/he still feels something is missing from hir life. S/he traverses sexuality. This takes a tangible form through the botched sex-change operation: Hedwig is physically neither a man nor a woman, but something other, something stunted, something more. S/he longs to become the embodiment of the shining, glorious, androgynous rock-star ideal and to find hir missing half, to truly achieve balance and love.

Not only did Hedwig not really connect to Tommy, but even to the end s/he remains conflicted about hir own identity; s/he never quite knows or loves hirself, and thus cannot reach out to others. Ignored by her mother and abandoned by Luther, she latches onto Tommy, who rejects and betrays her… only to enact hir mistakes over again in Yitzhak, with whom she cannot connect. The significant figures in hir life are never able to fully love/make love to hir; they cannot understand the truth of hir reality-identity, as s/he doesn't really understand it hirself. Neither Tommy nor Hedwig really look to see each other's true selves or attempt to build a stable relationship; Tommy uses Hedwig for hir music, Hedwig desperately wants Tommy's love to save hir. Tommy is the failed figure of Beauty; Hedwig is the failed figure of the Beast. Their love was never able to become an unselfish, pure, mature love, but rather brought the destruction of them both.

The themes of the film echo the sentiment for Hedwig hirself: Hedwig is torn between the two poles of existence, neither male nor female, monster or man. S/he yearns to ascend beyond the two, the summation of the two: to become a god. Yet s/he is unable to achieve the spiritual and physical union s/he so desperately longs for, and thus cannot attain balance. This longing and otherness is perhaps best captured in the song Hedwig wrote for hirself, and she envisions Tommy singing to her as they die: "Wicked Little Town." Thus follows Hedwig's version, which expresses her longing more so than the fantasy, hir ache and yearn for redemption, and Tommy's version, the simplistic, grounded counterpoint. There are no wicked fairies in this tale, only wicked little towns…

You know the sun is in your eyes
and hurricanes and rains
and black and cloudy skies

You're running up and down that hill
you turn it on and off at will
there's nothing here to thrill
or bring you down

And if you've got no other choice
you know you can follow my voice
through the dark turns and noise
of this wicked little town

Oh lady luck has led you here
and they're so twisted up
they'll twist you up, I fear
the pious, hateful and devout
you're turning tricks til you're turned out
the wind so cold it burns
you're burning out and blowing round

And if you've got no other choice
you know you can follow my voice
through the dark turns and noise
of this wicked little town

The fates are vicious and they're cruel
you learn too late you've used two wishes
like a fool
and then you're someone you are not
and Junction City ain't the spot
remember Mrs. Lot
and when she turned around

And if you've got no other choice
you know you can follow my voice
through the dark turns and noise
of this wicked little town

Forgive me,
for I did not know
'cause I was just a boy
and you were so much more

than any god could ever plan,
more than a woman or a man.
and now I understand

that when everything starts breaking down
you take the pieces off the ground
and show this wicked town
something beautiful and new

You think that Luck
has left you there
but maybe there's nothing
up in the sky but air

and there's no mystical design
no cosmic lover pre-assigned
there's nothing you can find
that can not be found.
'cause with all the changes
you've been through
it seems the stranger's always you
alone again in some new
wicked little town

so when you've got no other choice
you know you can follow my voice
through the dark turns and noise
of this wicked little town
oh it's a wicked, little town
goodbye, wicked little town

Aarne, Antti, and Stith Thompson. The Types of the Folktale: A Classification and Bibliography. Indiana University Press, second revision, 1995.

This is the masterpiece of folkloric structuralism: the A-T tale type index. While not a very inspiring theoretical read, being a listing of various themes, the content and underlying ideas of the index are intellectually revolutionary. An absolute necessity to those interested in the similarity and transmission of stories, retellings, or universal themes.

Beauty and the Beast. Dir. Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise. Per. Robby Benson, Paige O'Hara, Richard White, Angela Lansbury. Walt Disney Pictures, 1991.

This is an animated musical version of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale done in the trademark Disney style. Often criticized by scholars attempting to find repressive themes in every corporate work possible, this remains one of the most enthralling modern retellings; it also highly possible that the film itself was influenced by Robin McKinley's first retelling of the tale, Beauty.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Dir. John Cameron Mitchell, Perf. John Cameron Mitchell, Miriam Shor, Stephen Trask, Michael Pitt, Alberta Watson, Maurice Dean Wint et all. New Line C/inema/Killer Films, 2001.

This is the main topic of this paper: a film ostensibly about a transsexual person trying to find identity and working out hir relationships with others. It's quite thematically rich, though, dealing in explorations of gender as male/female/other/all-of-the-above, power struggles, robbing others of identity, and of course, rock and roll.

La Bohème Dir. Baz Luhrman. Film Dir. Geoffrey Nottage. Perf. Cheryl Barker, David Hobson, Roger Lemke, Christine Douglas, Gary Rowley et all. Opera Australia, 2003.

An after-piece to the Red Curtain Trilogy; this stage show (listed here in its filmed special) uses some of the surreal vivid imagery of the films to retell the Romeo and Juliet – or La Bohème – story.

This is another one of Lewis' works – all often highly influenced by folkloric and mythological structures – that includes an example of candy as temptation.

This book was in all earnest one of the first inspirations for this paper; despite the triumphant religious themes (only slightly removed from their obvious Christian interpretations, as is Lewis' style) the resolution at the end feels hollow. In many ways, this is another example of the failed tale, with only a shallow religious triumph, deus ex machina, at the end. This is told from the eyes of Psyche's sister, who struggles with the loss of her beloved sister to the god or monster on the hill; despite the pairing in the story, it is really our protagonist, Psyche's sister, who is and becomes the Beast of the tale. Hers is the devouring, selfish, blind love, unable to please her selfless and devoted pious sister. A follow-up paper, examining this particular retelling on its own and in relation to Hedwig, shall hopefully be written.

Robin McKinley has told and re-told the Beauty and the Beast tale almost countless times in the course of her career was a fantasy author; Beauty was her first direct retelling, and possibly the inspiration for Disney's film Beauty and the Beast, with her second direct retelling, Rose Daughter, to follow about ten years later. Although she plays with the tale-type theme in her other works in more minor or subtle ways, Sunshine has earned high literary praise (among those who enjoy fiction for its own sake) with its somewhat more perverse examination of Beauty as the mundane baker and the Beast as a vampire struggling for his own humanity.

Moulin Rouge! Dir. Baz Luhrmann. Perf. Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor, John Leguizamo, Jim Broadbent, Richard Roxburgh. 20^th Century Fox/Bazmark Films, 2001.

The third installment of Baz Lurhmann's Red Curtain Trilogy; this film embraces high and low spectacle in all forms, and rich visual imagery. Despite the musicality of its two predecessors, this film is an authentic musical in that the characters often burst into song and other fantasy-like elements are incorporated into the canonical story.

Romeo + Juliet. Dir. Baz Luhrmann. Perf. Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes, John Leguizamo, Harold Perrineau, Pete Postlethwaite. 20^th Century Fox/Bazmark Films, 1996.

The second of Baz Lurhmann's Red Curtain Trilogy; while this retelling focuses on the classic Shakespearean text, it does so in a highly modernized, gritty style, evoking the grunge spirit of independent film with a pulsing musical soundtrack.

Strictly Ballroom. Dir. Baz Luhrmann. Perf. Paul Mercurio, Tara Morice, Bill Hunter, Pat Thomson, Gia Carides. Beyond Films, 1992.

The first in Baz Lurhmann's Red Curtain Trilogy; a retelling of the Romeo and Juliet tale from a lighthearted, dance-oriented focus. It can is highly musical and energetic.

Warner, Marina. From the Beast to the Blonde: On Fairy Tales and Their Tellers. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1996.

Warner examines the roles of women and power in fairy tales, borrowing from throughout history to construct a sort of historic narrative of the changing roles of certain motifs and fairy tales.

Zipes, Jack. Fairy Tale as Myth, Myth as Fairy Tale. University of Kentucky Press, 1994.

Zipes is, in the author's opinion, a rather pessimistic folk theorist, although he occasionally stumbles into moments of great insight. Zipes enjoys examining fairy tales within social contexts – particularly the modern context as to better illustrate that Disney is responsible for a plethora of dominant patriarchal cultural sins. More concerned with the (real or imagined) fairy tale oppression of women than many female feminist folk theorists, including Marina Warner.

[1] Compare his film and stage productions: Strictly Ballroom (1992), Romeo + Juliet (1996), Moulin Rouge! (2001), La Bohème (2002).

[2] Marina Warner: From the Beast to the Blonde

[3] Jack Zipes: Fairy Tale as Myth, Myth as Fairy Tale

[4] The idea of candy as powerful symbol of sweet temptation is commonplace within fantastic literature. A well-known similar, although more highly spiritual temptation is found in C.S. Lewis' The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, in which the White Witch tempts Edmund with Turkish Delight candy.