The project was inspired by Goldstein’s observation of three-year-old girls, who were developing an interest in Disney’s Fairy tales. As a new mother she has been able to get a close up look at the phenomenon of young girls fascinated with Princesses and their desire to dress up like them. The Disney versions almost always have sad beginning, with an overbearing female villain, and the end is predictably a happy one. The Prince usually saves the day and makes the victimized young beauty into a Princess.
As a young girl, growing up abroad, Goldstein was not exposed to Fairy tales. “These new discoveries lead to my fascination with the origins of Fairy tales. I explored the original brothers Grimm’s stories and found that they have very dark and sometimes gruesome aspects, many of which were changed by Disney. I began to imagine Disney’s perfect Princesses juxtaposed with real issues that were affecting women around me, such as illness, addiction and self-image issues.”
With limited funds she began to assemble her series, incorporating many important details in each image. Cinderella sits in a dive bar in Vancouver’s infamous Hastings Street; Snow White is in a domestic nightmare surrounded by unkempt children with a lazy out of work prince in the background. Rapunzel deals with Cancer in a hospital room, sitting beside her long blond wig. An overweight Red Ridding Hood is on her way to her grandma’s carting fast food in her basket.
