First there was Beauty and the Beast- originally a classic Faerey-Tale. So exceedingly popular did this tale prove, that it yielded (Popular-Culture, wise) a Jean Cocteau film in 1946; a 1987-1990 TV series; a Disney movie in 1991; that Gods help us all, became a Broadway musical- never mind a recent (2011) movie remake called Beastly, about how asshole fraternity guys can get theirs, if they piss off a Goth Witch.
Now comes a new TV series Beauty and the Beast, to broadcast on the CW Network, starring Lana Lang, and a guy with really chiseled features. The CW is apparently pushing the show with some vigor, as posters are being plastered all over Manhattan-Town. One pasted above a subway entrance in my neighborhood caught the attention of a small toddler the other day. The child looked at the poster, and laughed with merriment. As near as I can figure, the child was experiencing some reaction akin to, Look! That man has Funny Eyes!
A bit under the CW’s demographic perhaps, but the toddler seemed willing to give the Show with the Man who has Funny Eyes a try.
In addition to recent movies starring Red Riding Hood and Snow White (two starring Snow White), plus the long-kicked around Hansel and Gretel re-do, the TV shows Once Upon a Time and Grimm are preparing their second-season premieres- in addition to two new shows, one ostensibly about Green Arrow (but as an astute Juggler pointed out, more like Robin Hood in the Occupy Era), and yet again, that enduring classic Beauty and the Beast (a Tale as old as Time, a Song as old as Rhyme- oops, sorry, that’s another one). Need we further confirmation of a Renaissance of Faerey-Legend in Pop Culture Entertainment?