Who would have ever guessed that a heavy metal band’s music video would contain motifs that are present in one of the most popular fairy tales and consequently present in every child’s life? Not me, that’s for sure. After watching Rammstein’s Sonne (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4L_G5fGYU9k) I was shocked at the presence of a multitude of Snow White motifs. There was much more to the presence of motifs than just the physical presence of the Snow White character. The miners (the band) represented the dwarves present in all versions of the tale. Snow White obviously represented herself, but what was different was the lack of presence of an evil stepmother, stepsisters, or even a witch. Also, the music video had no symbol of a father figure or a magic mirror which was present in all of the Snow White fairy tales we read in class.
Rammstein’s video contained apples which, as opposed to the tales, brought Snow White back to life as opposed to poisoned her. Gold, in the video, was the cause of death for Snow White as she overdosed after snorting gold. What was funny about this is that gold is what one would mine for but none of the tales was there even a mention of gold.
The Grimm’s version of Snow White contained three methods of death, including lace, a poison comb, and the poison apple. In the music video, all three were present. The lace was not really present but a symbol of it is present in Snow White’s stockings that she delicately fixes in the video. Also, while in the bath tub, the dwarves comb her hair and one polishes apples. Near the conclusion of the video, when Snow White is in her glass coffin, an apple falls from the tree and shatters the glass, reviving Snow White.
The coffin was present in the video, as is present in all the tales, although the material it is made of varies. In the video, the coffin is made of glass while in the tales it varies from glass, crystal, and lead. Something I noticed was that in the video, it was snowing outside while no description of weather was included in any of the Snow White tales, or any of the tales we have read for that matter. I think it was included more for visual purposes but I found it interesting that none of the tales mention weather. I have always assumed that in these stories the weather is gorgeous outside and not until watching this video have I noticed the lack of description in setting and environment.
The other main difference I found was that in the stories, a prince is present which is not in the video. Also, in the video, the dwarves act almost like Snow White’s slaves while in the stories, Snow White helps clean and cook for the dwarves while maintaining a happy relationship.
Overall, the video was very entertaining. The lyrics were great as well. I wish I understood the German language so I could get the full effect while understanding the lyrics and watching all on the screen at the same time. But, overall, the video was entertaining and generally followed the fairy tales we read in class, the Grimm’s tale specifically closely.
No comments:
Post a Comment