Fairy Tales and Fantasy for Artists - p8

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Cuteness, Love, and Protectiveness  

By Ty Hulse

Cuteness has the power to tap into many of our most primal urges; nostalgia and sentimentality, the desire to protect others, the joy of play, and a hope for pure friendships. Cuteness in fantasy has been used for all these things, not just in children’s stories but in epics such as “Lord of the Rings” and “Dragons of Autumn Twilight”.

 

Tolkien’s Hobbits with their small size and idealized lifestyle are in many ways cute, or at least they fulfill the same role as cute creatures do. They are something to protect, something to engender the sentimentality of imagined country life in the audience, and of course they are ‘pure’ beings who are the best friends one could ever hope for. As a result they draw the readers into the story, making them want to protect these tiny and innocent people. In the novel “Dragons of Autumn Twilight” by Margret Weis and Tracy Hickman the character ‘Tasslehoff Burrfoot’ fills the same role. He is small, silly, and often acts in a way we would associate with being cute. This allows him to act as the heart of the group of friends during the evil and difficult times they face. In each of these cases, cuteness makes it easier for people to long for a friendship like the one represented in the story. 

This longing for friendship and protectiveness is one of the primary reasons “My Little Pony” became a surprise hit among adult male audiences. 

cuteness is an aestheticization of powerlessness because of its relationship to the childlike. Ngai concurs, adding that part of the appeal of cuteness lies in its vulnerability… Cuteness, seeming to have a will of its own, also demonstrates aggression by imposing demands. For example, it may demand that we allow it to submit to us. Its immediate visceral impact is often counteracted by the viewer’s sense of having been manipulated, arousing the viewer’s suspicions. It desperately awaits our evaluation of and interaction with it. It is a supplicant awaiting our judgment, a judgment that will give it power over us. Cuteness thereby engenders its own discipline by enforcing particular behaviors of the viewer; in turn, it engages and disciplines its viewer. Its disavowal of power is one of its powers. (Elizabeth Howie)

As already stated, these are powerful and primal emotions, which likely explains why cuteness is so often used in relation to objects of religious art. Claire Maria Chambers points out that Korean Buddhist temples have figures of small chubby monks and “temple devotees ritually bathe a statue of the Buddha as a small boy.” In America Precious Moments toys have become important to a number of Christians. These cute, innocent figurines, often include spiritual and biblical quotes. They are like children but better, “they also sincerely express experiences of comfort, love, and community in the face of the difficulties that the riddle of faith presents for thousands of consumers around the globe.” (Claire Maria Chambers) 

 

Like cute art, fantasy arts have often been created as a person’s striving for beauty that the rest of the world doesn’t always fully embrace. At one time, of course, depictions of elves, gnomes, and fairies were dominated by cute art. Yet after some of the most talented illustrators poured their hearts into creating these works, they fell away, leaving those who loved this type of art as semi-outsiders – at least within the art community and the mainstream of what was considered intelligent and high art. 

 

Further, fantasy taps into many of the same emotions as cuteness. Fantasy can frequently represent a desire for comradery, a desire to be loved and cared for and to care for and protect others. The heroes of modern fantasies protect the helpless, often with the help of companions who fight beside and aid them. This desire to protect, bond, and be protected is what allows humans and society to exist. It is the most intrinsic and important of human desires. ‘

 

Adams (2013) points out that: “On the surface, the fantasy tabletop roleplaying game Dungeons and Dragons may appear to be a game of simple make-believe. However, the emotions, camaraderie, and accomplishments experienced in the game are real; thus, suggesting that real world needs are met through communication in socially constructed RPG scenarios.” 

 

People who are more likely to feel alienated and cultural estrangement are the ones who are more likely to play D&D and the amount of money a person “spent on game materials was positively correlated with feelings of general alienation.” That is, people who need to feel a sense of community the most, spend the most money on D&D. For its part D&D does seem to help reduce a person’s sense of meaninglessness while allowing players to belong to a group, and “belonging to a group of people with similar interests could increase one's sense of purpose.” (DeRenard and Kline)

 

The most popular fantasy game, like cute art and gifts of Christmas sweaters is correlated with a desire to belong, to be a part of other people’s lives. 

 

Cuteness can serve another narrative role besides friendship, protectiveness, sentimentality, etc. 

 

Thomas LaMarre, analyzing the figure of the child in Hayao Miyazaki’s films, contends that “Miyazaki’s children or tweens are not so much about purity or innocence as about a sensory-motor openness, elasticity, and malleability. The child does not simply return you to the old pretechnological world but opens the possibility of a post technological world” 

 

Part of the charm of the cute object is its seeming stasis, permanence, and resilience—qualities that contribute to a sense of security. Cuteness, as much as it allows for temporal fantasies, remains outside of time. The child does not grow up. Frances Richards suggests that cuteness “stabilizes infancy, or the frailty of old age (Jen Boyle)

 

By presenting us with something cute we are returned to childhood and perhaps more importantly, potentially to the past, to a time of wilderness. This is perhaps one of the primary reasons why fairies were made cute in so many Victorian works of art. Because by making the fairies small they came to represent the idealized past and in a way, a hope that there could be a better future. 

 

Nenkov and Scot state that “exposure to whimsically cute products primes mental representations of fun, increasing consumers' focus on approaching self-rewards and making consumers more likely to choose indulgent options. 

 

So it may be that when something is cute that we don’t have to take care of, but which might potentially take care of us, we are able to let ourself go. Fairies, with their incredible powers and ancient age are such a being. We don’t necessarily have to take care of them, indeed they might take care of us after they invite us to celebrate and have fun with them. After all, whimsically cute things can lead people to watch more ‘low brow’ and fun films. 

 

By a similar token, cute things that one knows one doesn’t have to take care of can heighten emotions in other ways, specifically increasing fear. When confronted by a child that is a ghost or a doll that is possessed by a demon, we experience dissonance that comes from the contrast between its cute and innocent nature and the fact that it is murderous and dangerous. This can heighten the effects of fear. 

 

Christmas Sweaters. Love and Cuteness. 

The Voice of the Voiceless. 

When many people wish to express love or affection, they turn to something cute such as teddy bears given as gifts on Valentine’s Day. Another example are Christmas sweaters historically knitted by an aunt or Grandmother. The first Christmas sweaters weren’t ironic or ugly, they were artistic expressions by people who had spent much of their life with a limited ability to express themselves. Handmade cute sweaters reflect a desire to care for others. They are knitted by loving hands, often as a present. In this they reflect both the desire to love and to be loved and on some deep level we realize this, this is why people wear them when the maker comes to visit, because they are demonstrating this affection or at least comforting the creator with a forced display of affection. 

Rather than trying to understand the aesthetic or emotions behind these works of art, however, society derided the creators, regulating them to kitsch to later be used as the butt of jokes. It is common for people to deride and belittle cute art without ever trying to fully understand its function in people’s life. This is the danger of creating cute art, that it will be not only misunderstood but wrongfully looked down upon. 

Kitsch art brings joy

Cute art matters and is loved, even if some people think of it as kitsch. It is rather amusing to read art Critics who support an industry of artists selling art for thousands or even millions of dollars, deriding the happiness that a teenager or elderly person can get from giving five dollars for something to place of their shelf or hang on their wall. Kisch, in essence, means that many people with little money are able to take joy in it – while ‘high art’ means something that only a single wealthy person owns and few well ever enjoy. I imagine the wealthy art collectors take joy in their million dollar while kicked back in a leather chair while sipping on cognac that costs more than an average person’s yearly wages. I don’t have a problem with this, joy is joy, after all. Still, why would we ever seek to take that opportunity away from the teen sitting on their bed, with a cookie they shouldn’t be eating there, staring silently and the affordable art around their room as they contemplate their life and future? Or the elderly person, rested in a mechanical chair, pondering the world that they’ve been a part of while absently staring at the knickknacks they’ve chosen to represent themselves.

So, what does this have to do with fantasy art?

Like cute art, fantasy arts have often been created as a sort of act of rebellion. A person’s striving for beauty that the rest of the world doesn’t always fully embrace. At one time, of course, depictions of elves, gnomes, and fairies were dominated by cute art. Yet after some of the most talented illustrators poured their hearts into creating these works, they fell away, leaving those who loved this type of art as semi-outsiders – at least within the art community and the mainstream of what was considered intelligent and high art. 

Further, fantasy taps into many of the same emotions as cuteness. Fantasy can frequently represent a desire for comradery, a desire to be loved and cared for and to care for and protect others. The heroes of modern fantasies protect the helpless, often with the help of companions who fight beside and aid them. This desire to protect, bond, and be protected is what allows humans and society to exist. It is the most intrinsic and important of human desires. ‘

Adams (2013) points out that: “On the surface, the fantasy tabletop roleplaying game Dungeons and Dragons may appear to be a game of simple make-believe. However, the emotions, camaraderie, and accomplishments experienced in the game are real; thus, suggesting that real world needs are met through communication in socially constructed RPG scenarios.” 

People who are more likely to feel alienated and cultural estrangement are the ones who are more likely to play D&D and the amount of money a person “spent on game materials was positively correlated with feelings of general alienation.” That is, people who need to feel a sense of community the most, spend the most money on D&D. For its part D&D does seem to help reduce a person’s sense of meaninglessness while allowing players to belong to a group, and “belonging to a group of people with similar interests could increase one's sense of purpose.” (DeRenard and Kline)

The most popular fantasy game, like cute art and gifts of Christmas sweaters is correlated with a desire to belong, to be a part of other people’s lives. 

Cuteness can serve another narrative role besides friendship, protectiveness, sentimentality, etc. 

Thomas LaMarre, analyzing the figure of the child in Hayao Miyazaki’s films, contends that “Miyazaki’s children or tweens are not so much about purity or innocence as about a sensory-motor openness, elasticity, and malleability. The child does not simply return you to the old pretechnological world but opens the possibility of a post technological world” 

Part of the charm of the cute object is its seeming stasis, permanence, and resilience—qualities that contribute to a sense of security. Cuteness, as much as it allows for temporal fantasies, remains outside of time. The child does not grow up. Frances Richards suggests that cuteness “stabilizes infancy, or the frailty of old age (Jen Boyle)

By presenting us with something cute we are returned to childhood and perhaps more importantly, potentially to the past, to a time of wilderness. This is perhaps one of the primary reasons why fairies were made cute in so many Victorian works of art. Because by making the fairies small they came to represent the idealized past and in a way, a hope that there could be a better future. 

Nenkov and Scot state that “exposure to whimsically cute products primes mental representations of fun, increasing consumers' focus on approaching self-rewards and making consumers more likely to choose indulgent options. These effects do not emerge for kindchenschema cute stimuli, since they prime mental representations of vulnerability and caretaking. Four empirical studies provide evidence for the proposed effects and their underlying process.”

So it may be that when something is cute that we don’t have to take care of, but which might potentially take care of us, we are able to let ourself go. Fairies, with their incredible powers and ancient age are such a being. We don’t necessarily have to take care of them, indeed they might take care of us after they invite us to celebrate and have fun with them. After all, whimsically cute things can lead people to watch more ‘low brow’ and fun films. 

By a similar token, cute things that one knows one doesn’t have to take care of can heighten emotions in other ways, specifically increasing fear. When confronted by a child that is a ghost or a doll that is possessed by a demon, we experience dissonance that comes from the contrast between its cute and innocent nature and the fact that it is murderous and dangerous. This can heighten the effects of fear.