Mother Calls For ‘Sleeping Beauty’ To Be Banned From Schools Because Of “Inappropriate Sexual Misconduct”

It’s not common for a movie from the ’50s to inspire headline-worthy outrage in 2017, but here we are. A mother has called for schools to ban the classic fairy tale Sleeping Beauty due to issues pertaining to “sexual behaviour and consent.” This comes during the ongoing wake of Hollywood’s many ongoing sexual harassment and assault scandals as well as the #MeToo campaign.

According to an interview in the Newcastle Chronicle, this fairy tale outrage is from Sarah Hall from Newcastle. Hall says she was disturbed to see the non-consensual kissing that happens when Prince Phillips kisses an unconscious Princess Aurora on the lips. The mother contacted her son’s primary school and asked for books about the story to be removed from the classroom. She also questioned how relevant this story is in modern times and accused the story of contributing to a toxic sexual environment. Disney‘s 1959 adaptation of Sleeping Beauty also features the non-consensual kiss.

Hall’s argument has been met with a lot of criticism online.

However, despite Twitter outrage, Hall is not arguing that the fairy tale and all adaptations of it should be banned from all audiences. Her primary argument is that the question of consent is a complicated one, and it’s something that could confuse younger children.

“My son is only six years old and he absorbs everything he sees, and it isn’t as if I can turn it into a constructive conversation,” Hall said to the Newcastle Chronicle. “I don’t think taking Sleeping Beauty books out of circulation completely would be right. I actually think it would be a great resource for older children, you could have a conversation around it, you could talk about consent, and how the Princess might feel.”

Despite what side you fall on, Hall’s tweet and call for Sleeping Beauty‘s removal echoes the way our current pop culture climate is being re-evaluated in the wake of so many sexual assault and sexual harassment scandals. This certainly won’t be the first or the last older property that will face public criticism as mainstream conversations about consent start to happen more and more frequently.

But let’s get back to Princess Aurora for a second. On one hand you can argue that without that non-consensual kiss, the iconic Disney princess would have died. On the other hand, the original version of Sleeping Beauty, which was based on Sun, Moon and Talia, ended with the princess getting raped by a king. Fairy tales are dark, you guys.

Where to stream Sleeping Beauty (1959)