Turnadot is an unfair tragedy. Like Taylor Swifts’ You Belong With Me Liu is the woman that truly loves Calaf, but sadly unlike the song Liu does not end up in the arms of Calaf, she ends up dead. I don’t agree at all with the plot and the behavior of the characters; the family that someone is born into should not make them any more or less worthy to live than anyone else. Turnadot is a self-centered, wretched little brat who toys with peoples lives for fun. She is removed from conventional society manipulating cities on her littlest whims. The caricature of Turnadot is not obsolete at all because characters like her bring out so much hatred from readers/viewers. So many of these stereotypical characters come to mind, and although I despise these characters, they are a powerful presence in each of their respective works. For example the antagonist from The Mean Girls is utilized to keep viewers glued to their seats waiting for her to get what she deserves, like getting hit in the face by a bus.
Turnadot is still relevant today. (as seen by my Taylor Swift and Mean Girls reference) But in today’s censored world, the “good” always prevails over the “bad” in the end. I think this is a key reason as to why I was heartbroken when Liu and Calaf never “lived happily ever after,” I wanted Liu to win so bad because her devotion deserved it. But in the real world, sometimes the “bad” people are in a position that we cannot do anything about while they continue sucking on their pina coladas on the beach. My larger point is that media in today’s age and time is very censored and fluffy, it doesn’t show the the true world.
Should media, specifically media targeted to children and young adults, be so censored that they teach kids that no matter what there will be a happy ending? There is a trend throughout time of becoming more and more protective towards children but isn’t that hurting them in the long run because they are not being exposed the the world that they will eventually have to deal with? This problem extends past just media material. I was in my elementary school last month and a little boy in gym fell while playing soccer and scraped his elbow and knee. In my dad’s childhood times he said that any kid would just get up and continue on playing. In my childhood days, we would go to the nurse get a band-aid and be fine. This kid’s mother was immediately phoned to come pick him up and take him to the doctor. I see this trend as a hindrance to children. What do you think?
I find it so interesting how you connected the opera to such a prevalent and debated topic today. I had the same exact feeling as you when Liu died, and Turnadot and the prince live happily ever after. I agree with you even more about the point of censorship and pampering. We live in a world today where kids are shielded by the outside world– and are never taught independence. I believe that these are certain traits a child must learn before reaching adulthood. Unfortunately, it seems as if this trend is only getting worse and worse, and I do not see a possible solution in the near future.
Pamper was the word that I was trying to remember while writing my response but I never found it
Your connections to modern times and the play were right on the money. I do agree that children these days are overly protected to the point they can’t do anything themselves. It seems as if today’s society doesn’t want kids to make mistakes and learn from them; they want them to be perfect without making a single error. Parents over cater for their children all the time these days; children hardly have the time to think on their own and make their own decisions. I feel future generations are going to be doomed when they reach adulthood.
I like how you connected the opera to a more contemporary video/movie. I do believe that there are too much happy endings. Whenever I watch a movie, I automatically assume that there will be a happy ending. But whenever it doesn’t deliver, I end up leaving the theater feeling betrayed and dissatisfied. You are right that life is not always going to have a happy ending. But after years of watching movies and reading stories with a happy ending. It’s not satisfying anymore to read or watch anything that doesn’t end happily. We are conditioned to expect a happy ending. And I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not.
I agree with you that nowadays, its not common for the media to portray anything less than a “happily ever after”. Like you said, I feel as though the media is convinced that the youth can’t handle a bad ending, and in the opera thats exactly what happened. The cruel, evil one is who ends up with the prince, whilst the one of pure heart is left to suffer and die. I didn’t think about it before reading your article, but I feel as though that speaks of some reality. Sometimes love does not win when no matter how pure it is. Love seems to be a very fickle thing, with no boundaries, rules, or prerequisites. And that seems to be what’s being portrayed in the opera.
I agree with you that today’s culture encourages “coddling” children too much. Unfortunately, I have seen the effects of this in high school. From what I have seen, what you end up with is someone that is incredibly naive and is not able to easily make decisions on their own. There has to be some sort of change in these kids’ lives before they leave for college or they will most definitely be taken advantage of in some way.