LRRH is probably one of the most famous fairy tales. The original story went something like this:
One day Little Red goes to see her grandmother
She walks through the woods by herself with a basket of fruit
She meets a wolf and tells him what she is doing and where she is going
The wolf runs off to granny's house and Lil' Red skips around the wood and picks flowers for a bit
The wolf eats granny
Lil' Red arrives at granny's house and the wolf disguises himself as granny to trick her
Lil' Red makes some comments about the size of wolf-granny's ears, nose, hands, eyes and teeth
Wolf eats Lil' Red
Basically the story was about stranger danger, and the message behind it was don't tell strangers or wolves where you live/where you are going because they will follow you and kill/eat you and your family if you do.
So in its original form, the story is quite effective for scaring children into not talking to strangers and warning them of possible dangers they might face.
However, the modern interpretation succeeds in confusing the message entirely and messing with children's brains.
Because Disney or whoever it was decided that Granny and Lil' Red dying was too upsetting, they changed the story so everyone lived happily ever after. the wolf still ate Granny and was about to eat Lil' Red, but then suddenly a nice woodcutter man appeared out of thin air and killed the wolf. The he cut the wolf down the middle and out stepped granny, alive and well. Lil' Red and Granny said thank you to the woodcutter and everyone went their separate ways.
This interpretation is stupid for two reasons.
1. It gives children the message that if they behave naively and tell strangers where they live it will still be okay because a magic woodcutter will save them
2. It tells them that if you get eaten by a wolf there is still a possible chance of survival.
Both messages are false, and I just feel sorry for all the little kids that trust strangers or aren't capable of understanding that once a wolf eats you, you're dead.
Also, if anyone wants to read a good book about creepy fairytales I seriously recommend "The Book of Lost Things" by John Connolly. It's a bit like The Bloody Chamber (but better), and it has a really disturbing version of Little Red Riding Hood in it.
