The 2003 film Big Fish was an amalgam of a number of different American folktales. Directed by Tim Burton, the film uses innovative imagery and cinematography to give new life to old legends. It aims to connect some of the most widely loved folk stories of the United States in a compelling, but realistic story about a man’s life.   The plot centers around the life of Edward Bloom, a traveling salesman known for his tall tales. At the end of his life, he recounts some of the biggest tall tales to his son, which allows his son to connect with him on a deeper level. The film is a series of flashbacks as Bloom tells his son his outrageous stories, and this is where the audience gets an on-depth look at some of America’s most iconic folk stories.

The story I want to discuss here is the one that starts the film and the one that Bloom has told many times to his family and friends. This is the one about how he caught the biggest catfish in history with his wedding ring on the day that his son was born. It was a giant “uncatchable” catfish that had become a legend at the local lake for decades. According to Bloom, the catfish is what kept him from being there for his son’s birth, as it took him hours to reel it in. But at the very last moment, the catfish got off the line and Bloom lost the biggest potential catch of his life. The story opens the film as Bloom tells it to his new daughter in law, as well as ends it, as the one of the last scenes is the giant cat fish spitting out a wedding ring.

This story is reminiscent of folklore found in fishing and outdoors culture across the United States. Nearly every fishing town or major lake that attracts anglers has its own “Larry the Lunker,” a giant fish that outsmarts everyone who tries to catch it. The fish is so old and experienced, it can outwit even the most capable anglers. Yet, fisherman talk about how they almost catch it or see it often in the lakes like it is some sort of Loch Ness Monster. The film pays homage to this image with Bloom almost catching it but then loosing it at the last second. However, the catfish seems to represent more than just an angler folk legend. It comes to represent the excitement and story-telling aspect that folk tales play. They aim to help provide moral lessons, but most importantly that aim to entertain. That is exactly what Tim Burton achieves in the iconic film thanks to figures like the giant catfish.

Source:

Burton, Tim. (2003). Big Fish. Columbia Pictures.

This piece was told to me by one of my neighbors of Armenian descent. I came home one night to find my neighbors having a celebration to honor those who had died during the Armenian genocide from 1914 to 1923. Around the last few weeks of April, it is apparently a tradition to celebrate Armenian pride in honor of those who were killed. I was curious to hear more about the culture and took the opportunity to ask about some stories of Armenian folklore. I found myself talking to one of the older gentleman at the party, who was the uncle of my neighbor who lived at the house. He was very happy to indulge my curiosity about Armenian folklore and told one a second tale that he remembers hearing from an early age.

This story is about a traveling wizard who goes on a vacation around the countryside. My informant stated that “he was old, and bored, and wanted an adventure…so one day he got up and just left!” The old wizard met a number of people of his journey who he helped for their kindness. There was a woman who shared water with him and invited him to spend the night in her home for shelter. The wizard repaid them “with food plenty!” They woke up the next morning with full cabinets. He met a shepherd that was having a hard time making a living and magically made his flock larger. Then, a farmer, whose vines were not producing. The wizard magically made his vines full of grapes. “A year had gone by and the wizard wanted home again,” my informant said. On the way back, he met each person he had helped along the way, but in the time he was gone they had forgotten that his kindness was the reason for their success. The shepherd said he had to pay for meat and the farmer refused to spare him any produce because he hadn’t worked for it. Only the kind woman who had given him water welcomed him back into her home. “For that, she was repaid with a full bag of gold under her cabinet every day!”

Clearly, the folk tale is one to teach about the moral obligations of charity, kindness, and respecting those who help one out. To me, it was interesting that the wizard in the story needed so much help all of the time, which when I asked my informant he laughed and shrugged the question off. I am assuming it was because the folk tale wants to present the wizard as a humble person who is grateful for the kindness of others. The woman who is the kindest to him is rewarded the most, bot with food and money at the end of the story. This also demonstrates how gifts are not always monetary, as they can be food and help with one’s business. Still, the gift of the gold is the highest prized within the story, as it is only the woman who acts out of kindness twice that receives that.

Source: Garen Bedrossian

One of the more recent television series to utilize folk tales as a vehicle for the plotline is the ABC series Once Upon a Time that first aired in 2011. It brings in a variety of fairytale and folktale characters in an interesting story where fantasy characters are somehow transported into the real world and how the interact with normal society. Its main characters are often from more recent fairy tales, such as the ones that the Disney corporation has remade, but there are some more obscure and odd characters of folk tales that do find their way into some episodes.

Here, the folktale reference is not from ancient Greek, as the last episode; but rather from German folk stories. It is the tale of the children Hansel and Gretel who end up in the candy house of a witch who tries to eat them. The original folktale is quite grim in that it demonstrates how children’s’ curiosity can be life threatening. The witch lures the children in with her cabin made of candy and then imprisons them. She almost pushes them into her oven, until Gretel pushes her in instead. In the series, Once Upon a Time, the characters of Hansel and Gretel are imprisoned by a blind witch after being lured in by the same candy trick as in the folk tales. The witch is blind in the series and the children go through a number of blunders before they can actually escape, which is not described in the folk tale. It is an interesting episode because Gretel is the one who takes control and helps free them both. This is the same as in the original tale but has strong messages about the ability of women in a patriarchal system.

The episode goes further to portray the children as being in a very poor situation. When they escape, they cannot find their father as he has been banished by the queen. Thus, there are clear pessimistic undertones that represent the children in a much more pathetic light. In the folk tale, the children have a mother and grandmother that care for them, and thus they return to more loving homes. It is interesting for the show to perform the folktale with a father figure instead who then cannot support them after their ordeal. Instead, the children’s father is seemingly abducted by the queen, who takes no pity on them. She tells Gretel, “two helpless children, lost and alone. A family torn asunder, such a sad and moving story,” but then has her guards try to capture them. I believe these changes are meant to use the innocent children as another strategy to show the evil nature of Queen Regina, thus furthering the plot for her storyline rather than being true to the actual folktale of Hansel and Gretel.

Source: “True North.” Once Upon A Time. ABC. 2011.

One of the more recent television series to utilize folk tales as a vehicle for the plotline is the ABC series Once Upon a Time that first aired in 2011. It brings in a variety of fairytale and folktale characters in an interesting story where fantasy characters are somehow transported into the real world and how the interact with normal society. Its main characters are often from more recent fairy tales, such as the ones that the Disney corporation has remade, but there are some more obscure and odd characters of folk tales that do find their way into some episodes.

What I want to enter into the collection here is the character of King Midas, who appears in episode six of season 1 of the show. Portrayed by Alex Zahara, the character represents the figure of King Midas in Greek mythology, whose touch would turn objects—and people—into gold. There are various forms of the legend that claim Midas was from different areas all over Greece, but they all have common patterns. King Midas was a greedy king who loved gold, but was still kind and hospitable. When a sick and old satyr was taken to his palace for refuge, the satyr offered to grant King Midas one gift, which Midas quickly responded with the desire to have a touch that turned things to gold. As amazing as this was at first, it soon becomes a burden, as he cannot eat or embrace his loved ones. It is meant to be a cautionary tale about the negative effects of blind greed.

The television show gives greater depth to the character of Midas and reveals just how miserable life is after he is cursed. Not only can he not eat his favorite foods the way he used to or embrace his friends and family, he is constantly the target for kidnappers and robbers who want to exploit his curse for their own profit. Still he has to govern over his kingdom and so wears a massive glove so that he can touch things without turning them into gold. The episode has King Midas throwing an engagement party for his daughter, when the evil queen makes a surprise entrance. Once it is realized that his daughter has helped Snow White escape, the queen arrests King Midas’ daughter. Interestingly, Midas does little to stop the queen, which reflects on the image of the folk character as a weak-minded king. In fact, he even bows to the queen as his daughter is led out by the queen’s guards. His portrayal as a small, weak character that does not effectively govern over his palace reaffirms the image of King Midas as a flawed character. He is weakened by the curse, not enriched by it the way that he would think. The episode thus furthers the moral of the original folk tale by demonstrating greed as a weakness.

Source: “Snow Drifts.” Once Upon A Time. ABC. 2011.