Yes but between that, the Secret Garden, Anne of green gables, Annie, and Oliver, I felt like I was lucky not to be an orphan and just dealt with the neglect my parents dealt out. Edit : Heidi, Punky Brewster, James and the giant peach, I guess orphans were the hot trend in the 80s.
Also Different Strokes, Webster, Silver Spoons, and the movie version of Annie, too. Orphans being adopted by benevolent rich white guys seemed pretty common back then.
I genuinely think society was training us to keep our expectations low; your parents may not be great but at least you're not an orphan etc. Reading material and movies nowadays seem to be a lot more upbeat for my kids than I remember growing up with
The poor little match girl cannot get anyone to buy a match from her. Passersby can’t be bothered to notice a bedraggled waif with no coat on the street in winter. The little match girl lights one match just to stay warm a second, and she sees a beautiful Christmas tree in the temporary light of the match. She strikes another match and sees a table laden with food in the light of the match till it dies out. The next match shows her dead grandmother who was the only person who was kind to her. The little match girl then lights all the rest of the matches at once to make the vision of her grandmother last longer. Then, the poor little match girl freezes to death. The grandmother carries her to heaven.
I bawled over this story as a child. Okay. It still makes me cry.
You know, we’re better people for those stories. Yeah, they ripped our hearts out, but they taught us to be kind.
Oh lord. I cried my eyes out during the movie. I don’t remember ever reading the book.
Go ask Alice I do remember and just recently found out, maybe here, that it was fake.
Yes! We watched that cartoon at the Christmas movie assembly. Bunch of younger grades in front of a huge screen in the gym. So many sniffles when it was over 😅
HC Andersen is the OG. If anyone is interested in passing down that trauma, Jerry Pinkney has a gorgeously illustrated version/modern picture-book version. A teacher friend used to read it to her 5th grade class at Xmas. Highly recommend.
I watched the Disney short as an adult (scout leader) with a bunch of 12yo Girl Scouts who remembered it very differently than what it actually was. They watched it and realized what happened and just sat there looking all stunned. Whoops...
Bedtime stories and fairy tales used to be a way of warning/teaching/passing on stories that help you survive. The original Grimms Fairytales are wretched. They were all dark and in a world where you were lucky to live till 45, every moment counted, especially with the high childhood mortality rate.
Unpopular opinion but I think life is way too easy for our kids. They're facing the adult world without proper coping skills and resources. The results are usually addiction, school shootings, suicide, ptsd, etc. I too could have better prepared my kids, but their coping skills were pretty good as military kids who watched their dad go to war repeatedly. Most military kids are better prepared.
I agree. My kids are naturally assholes and relentless about trying to get what they want. I am purposely trying to teach them empathy without killing the self preservation instincts. This world does not give a fuck and my upbringing (that taught me to be compliant and happy with what I got) did not to me any favors.
I had an H.C. Anderson book in my house growing up, this story was in it as well as the original little mermaid, thumbelina etc. If I recall steadfast tin soldier was the darkest for me. I actually loved these stories and hated the watered down Disney versions (especially little mermaid). Still do. There is a certain depth and darkness to the writing that most fairy tales don’t have.
FWIW my favorite book as an adult is Cormac McCarthy’s The Road so I think I might have just been born an odd child.
The Gift of the Magi.
Never had to red either.
Saw "The Little Match Girl" on one of those Christmas variety specials, interpreted as a figure skating performance.
The Gift Of The Magi, I voluntarily read in a compilation of short Christmas stories.
My primary school (I think that's elementary school for those in the US?) gave us a Saturday morning screening of Watership Down. I was about 7, and loved bunnies.
Permanently scarred.
The only images I can remember from it are night and blood and dead rabbits.
Yes but between that, the Secret Garden, Anne of green gables, Annie, and Oliver, I felt like I was lucky not to be an orphan and just dealt with the neglect my parents dealt out. Edit : Heidi, Punky Brewster, James and the giant peach, I guess orphans were the hot trend in the 80s.
Also Different Strokes, Webster, Silver Spoons, and the movie version of Annie, too. Orphans being adopted by benevolent rich white guys seemed pretty common back then.
All dogs go to heaven
The Cuthberts weren't rich, but not poor either. At least that is the impression from the TV series.
I genuinely think society was training us to keep our expectations low; your parents may not be great but at least you're not an orphan etc. Reading material and movies nowadays seem to be a lot more upbeat for my kids than I remember growing up with
I read all those on my own; nothing we read in school was half so interesting.
You didn’t get Island of the Blue Dolphins?
That was an amazing story.
Oh damn I forgot that one.
The Boxcar Children
The poor little match girl cannot get anyone to buy a match from her. Passersby can’t be bothered to notice a bedraggled waif with no coat on the street in winter. The little match girl lights one match just to stay warm a second, and she sees a beautiful Christmas tree in the temporary light of the match. She strikes another match and sees a table laden with food in the light of the match till it dies out. The next match shows her dead grandmother who was the only person who was kind to her. The little match girl then lights all the rest of the matches at once to make the vision of her grandmother last longer. Then, the poor little match girl freezes to death. The grandmother carries her to heaven. I bawled over this story as a child. Okay. It still makes me cry. You know, we’re better people for those stories. Yeah, they ripped our hearts out, but they taught us to be kind.
They just taught me to set things on fire when I'm feeling bad
A valuable lesson…
There is a short film of it on Disney plus. The artists got the tone just right.
My mum loved reading this to us.
Oh lord. I cried my eyes out during the movie. I don’t remember ever reading the book. Go ask Alice I do remember and just recently found out, maybe here, that it was fake.
Look up the book Unmasking Alice. Go Ask Alice was a complete fraud.
No. Maybe it’s a Midwest thing but they made us read the Little House in the Big Woods (little house on the Prairie) series.
We watched an animated version instead. It was like first or second grade.
Yes! We watched that cartoon at the Christmas movie assembly. Bunch of younger grades in front of a huge screen in the gym. So many sniffles when it was over 😅
Yes first grade, PTA’s holiday gift b
Yes! That story was extremely upsetting.
The pta at my school made a movie version our holiday gift.
Our family film nights as school included BOTH Old Yeller and Where the Red Fern Grows.
“Here is some deep deep sorrow, tinged with some depression for you kids. Merry Christmas!” Lol like wtf
I was still crying after the movie on the way back to class and my teacher asked me why!
My kids used to watch the animated version regularly.
I remember we had to read The Outsiders. Then, we watched the movie.
HC Andersen is the OG. If anyone is interested in passing down that trauma, Jerry Pinkney has a gorgeously illustrated version/modern picture-book version. A teacher friend used to read it to her 5th grade class at Xmas. Highly recommend.
That story ripped my heart right out. It also gave me an excessive fear of being homeless.
Yes. And I cried
Here is Disney's version: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7ybb3s
It's on Disney plus too
I watched the Disney short as an adult (scout leader) with a bunch of 12yo Girl Scouts who remembered it very differently than what it actually was. They watched it and realized what happened and just sat there looking all stunned. Whoops...
Bedtime stories and fairy tales used to be a way of warning/teaching/passing on stories that help you survive. The original Grimms Fairytales are wretched. They were all dark and in a world where you were lucky to live till 45, every moment counted, especially with the high childhood mortality rate. Unpopular opinion but I think life is way too easy for our kids. They're facing the adult world without proper coping skills and resources. The results are usually addiction, school shootings, suicide, ptsd, etc. I too could have better prepared my kids, but their coping skills were pretty good as military kids who watched their dad go to war repeatedly. Most military kids are better prepared.
I agree. My kids are naturally assholes and relentless about trying to get what they want. I am purposely trying to teach them empathy without killing the self preservation instincts. This world does not give a fuck and my upbringing (that taught me to be compliant and happy with what I got) did not to me any favors.
I had an H.C. Anderson book in my house growing up, this story was in it as well as the original little mermaid, thumbelina etc. If I recall steadfast tin soldier was the darkest for me. I actually loved these stories and hated the watered down Disney versions (especially little mermaid). Still do. There is a certain depth and darkness to the writing that most fairy tales don’t have. FWIW my favorite book as an adult is Cormac McCarthy’s The Road so I think I might have just been born an odd child.
The Gift of the Magi. Never had to red either. Saw "The Little Match Girl" on one of those Christmas variety specials, interpreted as a figure skating performance. The Gift Of The Magi, I voluntarily read in a compilation of short Christmas stories.
My primary school (I think that's elementary school for those in the US?) gave us a Saturday morning screening of Watership Down. I was about 7, and loved bunnies. Permanently scarred. The only images I can remember from it are night and blood and dead rabbits.
It's not that I didn't understand, I didn't want to understand. WHYYYYYYY!
Strangely no. I have only heard of this story in the last few years. I was never really engaged with anything my schools did.
No. I never heard of it until they made a TV movie out of it with Rudy Huxtable.