Little Red Riding Hood as Depicted in Matthew Bright’s Freeway (1996)
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Little Red Riding Hood as depicted in Matthew Bright’s Freeway (1996) [pic]Mathew Bright’s film Freeway is literal work that presents the Little Red Riding Hood with a preface of the verbal and visual texts. The film draws ideas from different books starting from Charles Perrault’s little riding text of 1697 (Catherine, 2002). The film further contains the depiction of the Little Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in the 1982 text. In addition, the film is based on a book review of Little Red Riding Hood as portrayed by Charles Delarue’s works on French oral tales (Zipes, 2010). The books reviews have a historical dimension in their examination of the Little Red Riding Hood. Mathew Bright’s film was produced in 1996. It features the Little Red Riding Hood. The film is referred to as the freeway and it was cast in California. Little Red Riding Hood is depicted as a generation X character discerning from the way the character is clothed. The Little Red Riding Hood is shown in the film wearing saggy trousers, a jacket made of leather and combat boots that are prominent feature in hip-pop artist attires. In examining the attire it is discerned that the attire represent the people from social underclass who are closely associated with the hip-pop culture. The Little Red Riding Hood is further characterized by a voice peculiar to the marginalized youth. The voice can be classified as a class based voice since it presents someone who speaks in a manner that is typical of individuals belonging to the social underclass. The main character in the movies is Vanessa Lutz. Mathew Bright’s movie Freeway depicts the Little Red Riding Hood as a teenager whose background is filled with controversy. The character of the Little Red Riding Hood is further seen as questionable. Vanessa’s mother is portrayed as a hooker while her father who is not her paternal father is deviant. The step father is a sexually deviant individual and is dependent on illicit drugs. The character of Little Red Riding Hood is depicted as awful. She is extremely vulnerable to mood swings and she has a history of committing petty crimes (Beckett, 2008). Mathew Bright’s film is filled by scenes that depict the Little Red Riding Hood as deviant person who has criminal tendencies (Catherine, 2002). The girl’s criminal tendencies are presented by incidences of shoplifting and arson related crimes. Furthermore, the movies depict the girl as someone who does not have the etiquette of speaking the right things at the right time. She is seen as someone who speaks obscenities and has a bad mouth generally. The girl uses the kind of language that is not typical of her age. However, the girl is a central character in the movie since she plays a leading role in Mathew Bright’s film freeway (Martin, 2006). Family instability is revealed as one the issue that the small girl faces given that at one point in time her mother and step father are thrown in jail. Her deceptive character is revealed since the protagonist in the film runs away from home in her effort to avoid being taken into a foster home. Besides, the attachment to her grandmother is seen as strong since she ends up looking for her grand mother and eventually finds her. Somewhere along the film the girl is found in a compromising situation since her boy friend is killed. The movie is a depiction of violence and crime which is mixed d with comedy. One of the incidents of crime is shown when the Little Red Riding Hood steals a vehicle which she uses to go find her grandmother. A chain of events is established in the Little Red Riding Hood when her car dies in the freeway (Zipes, 2010). This event brings out her character as an extremely inquisitive person with some elements of caution. Much more crime is depicted in the movie when another character is found to be deviant. The character is the school counselor who is a serial killer. However, Vanessa turns table on the serial character through the use of deception. The movie depicts different themes that touch on sexuality which are illusionary in nature. It also reflects on disrespectful dialogue that takes place between the characters. Comedy in the film is mixed with uncomfortable situations and language. It shows a high degree of teen exploitation from the way the main character is revealed. The protagonist situation is portrayed as dreadful from the time she was born as the Little Red Riding Hood is confronted by numerous unfortunate situations. However, the determination mixed with deception of the Little Red Riding Hood is seen as vital for her to overcome the ugly situations she finds herself in. The Little Red Riding Hood can be classified as intelligent since she is able to come out of difficult and uncompromising situations. The comedic part of the freeway is seen by the way the main character uses foul language in a way that twists issues and makes them funny (Beckett, 2008). The Little Red Riding Hood is found to be appealing because she manages to get herself out of difficult situations in an effortless manner in most scenes she is found to change tables on other characters in a way that makes her to avoid being a victim of circumstances. The main character however may pass for an innocent teenager but on close examination it can be discerned that the Little Red Riding Hood is not the innocent character that she seems to be. This because of a trait of not letting go of anything without a fight. The incidents in the film make it to be classified as extremely disgraceful shocking movie or a cult typical. Mathew Bight provides a contemporary adaptation of Little Red Riding Hood with sophistication. The intelligence of the Little Red Riding Hood makes someone to mistake the little girl for an insecure teen. The movie contains scenes that present symbolism and sexual connotations in a twisted manner. The character in the freeway is tied with personality names that may portray different interpretations (Catherine, 2002). The movie presents an allegorical character in the Little Red Riding Hood that shows the nature of women both the old and young who can be preyed on. The movie is a campy and in some instances reveals gruesome that presents feminism. The film uses the Little Red Riding Hood to create a satire that is based of fairy tale that has a classic origin. The Little Red Riding Hood is revealed as a character that uses violence to get whatever she wants since she feels the world has failed her. The character does not seem to be bothered by her behavior and finds it perfectly fine to behave in a violent manner. The character is portrayed as a multifaceted female character whose aggression alienates the audience. The main character presents what can be classified as female power as much as her character is filled with violence. The messages that the Little Red Riding Hood conveys is that women power can be used to suppress the masculine domination of the female gender. The character is portrayed as someone who fits in the critical world but the depiction in the film is ambiguous. The film shows how violence can be reevaluated because the movie illustrates the main character’s use of violence for defense purposes in some instances. The limited ability of the female gender to empower themselves without violence is revealed in the film. The question that arises is if the character is an appealing feminist protagonist. Furthermore, her violence can be seen as subversive since in some instance she uses violence to rebel against the common course. In another different perspective her violence can be classified as appalling since violence in the contemporary world is not allowed especially when used to push for personal or a societal agenda (Martin, 2006). The anger portrayed by the Little Red Riding Hood can be seen as irrational in different circumstances in the movie. The main character represents female anger on screen. Since, the character is not able to access the traditional means of achieving girl power, she resorts to violence. The film is classic representation of girl power and the third wave of feminism. The film contains another theme that is different from the sexual undertones. It portrays a symbol of the natural hunting instincts of animals through the wolf. A critical analysis of the Little Red Riding Hood shows elements of how feminism is subject to exploitation both physically and sexually (Martin, 2006). The movie symbolizes women through Little Red Riding Hood as people who are susceptible to sexual exploitation from sexual pests. This exploitation can be seen as having dreadful consequences since they lead to more evils from the victims. The movie depicts the dangers that are associated with the sexual exploitation of young women in the society. These young women are sometimes so defenseless that they have to resort to violence in order to counter the actions of sexual pests and rapists. Moreover, the dysfunctional nature of a family and its consequences are depicted in the movies. It is revealed that a dysfunctional family leads to criminal tendencies in young people whose life is characterized by co-existing with criminals. The issue of drug abuse and the force of the law can be reckoned in this film. The film shows that addiction to drugs is a sure way of taking someone to jail. When the Little Red Riding Hood step father is send to jail the reasons for the sentence are clear (Martin, 2006). He was a drug addict and the law caught up with him. The film depicts the consequences of drug abuse and provides a perfect example of how the society’s norms catch up with people abusing drugs. Mathew Bright provides a good example of how classic fairytales can be redone in the contemporary world and still maintains their originality. He reveals the magic of creativity and originality in composing a film that is made up of different themes. The dark humor and fairytale in the movie are a representation of the originality of the movie. The twist in the film presents a graphic tale that symbolizes humor and the simplicity of the film (Beckett, 2008). His work can depict the importance of using someone’s work but still maintain originality in a creative way. The multifaceted approach of the movie is important in terms of illustrating the magic of beauty and the protest against social ills like rape, incest and drug abuse in the society. The film can further be used for entertainment with children but the obscene parts ought to be censored. In addition, the films views on foster care are an important consideration. But it is imperative to observe that such homes are supposed to be able to handle the homeless in a way that rehabilitates them (Martin, 2006). The reason for Little Red Riding Hood to run away from the possibility of being taken to foster care raises a few questions about the suitability of the homes. It is important for the homes to have the ability to take care of children from different backgrounds and address their needs in totality. From the cast of the movie in which the Little Red Riding Hood talks abut sexual molestation in the hands of her step father, some lessons are revealed. It can be seen that the listener actually enjoyed the Little Red Riding Hood’s story which was an indication of the person being a pedophile. This shows that the people who enjoy violence are sadistic people. The character of people who are crooked can be learnt from the way they react to different situations. This is because such people may find gratification in evil. The depiction of the struggles that the Little Red Riding Hood had shows that the upbringing of the girl is what leads her to a life full of violence.

References
Beckett L. S. (2008). Red Riding Hood for All Ages: A Fairy-Tale Icon in Cross-Cultural Contexts. Detroit: Wayne State University Press,
Catherine O. (2002). Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked: Sex, Morality, and the Evolution of a Fairy Tale. New York: Basic Books.
Martin A. (2006). Red Riding Hood and the Wolf in Bed: Modernism's Fairy Tales. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Zipes J. (2010). Enchanted Screen: The Unknown History of Fairy-Tale. Philadelphia: Taylor & Francis,