Tuesday, January 9, 2024

Podcast

Disregard for the “Original”? Novelly Author Mira Jiang’s Thoughts on Today’s Retellings

In S1E3 of Novelly’s Read to Heal Podcast, Mira’s interview brings up an important topic: the retelling of traditional folktales. Are the issues found in recent retellings and adaptations of folklore and stories justified, or does it require self-reflection?

By Nancy Martinez

For the past couple of years, number of classic stories and movies have been retold and readapted, often to be more inclusive and diverse. Hosts Eve and Harnoor on Read to Heal, a podcast presented by Novelly, ask a question surrounding this topic. Their interviewee, Mira, is the author of “River of Stars”, a novella and a sapphic retelling of the Chinese folktale “The Cowherd and the Weaver”, where a cowherd and a goddess fall in love and struggle to survive in a world that wants to tear them apart.

When she is asked what she thinks of people who could find a problem with her story, she emphasizes that it is a retelling, not the original tale. This is timely, especially when you think about the backlash movies and shows have gotten from audiences when a character’s race, ethnicity, or appearance were changed from the inspired story. Such examples are the casting of Halle Bailey in the live adaptation of “The Little Mermaid”, and most recently, the revealed cast for the “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” show.

When these changes are criticized on social media, it prompts you to think about why. Are they just avid fans of the first version, or is there a deeper reason? In Mira’s case, the folktale is estimated to be 2,600 years old, so there could be some culturally sentimental attachment to the story. On the other hand, the fact that the cowherd was changed to a female character shouldn’t be a big issue. It doesn’t change the storyline at all. So why would it bother anyone?

As for the Disney adaptations, the controversy was on a huge scale, creating debates on social media about race and what the “limits” on inclusivity are. This bleeds into other topics and identities. Disney’s “Lightyear” has a less-than-a-second long kiss between two women that raised concerns. “Turning Red” and “Baymax” introduces the topic of menstruation, which also elicited anger.

I think it’s great that writers and producers are taking the chance to show that there’s more than just one narrative in the world. For hundreds of years, LGBTQ+ people and other marginalized groups have had to conform to the Euro-centric standards. With the rise of social media and the internet throughout the past decade, the world is able to explore all the creativity that each person has to offer.  To hear more about this topic, tune in to Novelly’s Read to Heal podcast on YouTube. We hope to see you there!

Nancy Martinez is a senior at Camino Nuevo High School Dalzell Lance. As a part of Novelly's Summer 2022 internship program, she is excited to be a part of change that comes from raising the voices of youth in today's society.

Hosts Harnoor and Eve with Novelly Author Mira Jiang

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