Words Of a Feather

I never wanted to read a fairytale as a kid

I mean, look at the moral of each story and you’ll see who wrote them

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Little Red Riding Hood

Is that a story about who you can trust?

Make sure not to talk to people like the Big Bad Wolf

Or is it a story about how injustice always prevails, and that some crimes are better than others?

Like how the huntsman killed the wolf after he killed someone else

Alice in Wonderland

Is that a story about believing in the impossible?

Allow your imagination to run loose, I suppose

Or is it a story about a corrupt society?

The Queen of Hearts is so menacing and her subjects are so dreadful of her, it kinda reminds me of something

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

Is that a story about honesty?

Maybe that little boy shouldn’t have lied about a wolf

Or is it a story about how easily we lose trust in one another?

Did the townsfolk seriously stop listening to the boy after two harmless lies?

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Who is the person writing these stories?

Where are these morals going?

Why are we so easily taught such graphic nonsense

Learning of how hostile the world can be when so young?

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Jack and the Beanstalk

Is that a story about ambition and opportunity?

Jack successfully took the egg when the time was right

Or is it a story from the perspective of the villain?

Jack stole from a man and didn’t face any consequences

He was a hero

Snow White

Is that a story about true love?

It was so sweet of Prince Charming to save Snow White

Or is it a story from the perspective of a nasty man?

Why did he kiss her in her sleep?

He didn’t even know that would work, but let’s ignore that because he’s so cool

Beauty and the Beast

Is that a story about how looks don’t matter?

The Beast wasn’t awful, he was just hurt

Or is it a story from the perspective of a monster?

You should always look past someone’s faults

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Who is the person writing these stories?

Whose side are we on?

Did the Giant really deserve being robbed?

Is the Queen of Hearts actually funny and hammy or a tyrannical dictator?

Maybe Gaston was right about the Beast, but of course not

He’s not the hero of this story, the aggressive kidnapper is

We can never see beyond the thin pages

Read between the lines when we are young

And now, we can’t see the lines

Turning a blind eye to the faults of these so-called heroes

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Here’s some more unfair tales

Sorry, I meant fairytales

The Revolutionary War

A beloved story about how many men fought for the freedom of the USA

Ignore the part where women fought in the Revolution

Ignore the part where most of those men were only fighting for the rights of white men

What matters is the US is free and your favorite slave owners made it happen

The Civil Rights Movement

A wonderful story about how black people gained their freedom and equality

Asian? Hispanic? Pacific Islander? Never heard of those

Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks…

Claudette Colvin? Who’s that?

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I’m bored of stories

Let’s look at different people

Mother Teresa: She was a hypocrite who thought suffering was good because it brought you closer to God

Thomas Jefferson: He didn’t like slavery, per se, he just really liked his slaves

Thomas Edison: He stole the credit for “his” inventions

But when a nobody like Colleen Ballinger is outed as the opposite of a bride, of course she’s not a hero

We can’t sweep the actions of someone who isn’t popular and cool under the rug

You don’t like it? That’s why they don’t read you these stories

That’s why these stories stay undercover

Oh, wait, but Lewis Latimer helped develop the lightbulb, and Hedy Lamarr invented WiFi

Are those stories enough?

Will you finally shut up about “not being seen” or “hidden history”?

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So, no, I will never read a fairytale

I will not allow my children or my friends’ children to read them

Until we learn the true story and we make the right judgment for ourselves