[ SECRET POST #2813 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2813 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.


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02.
[Vocaloid]


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03.
[Homestuck]


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04.
[Luke Evans, Dracula Untold]


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05.
[Guardians of the Galaxy]


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06.
[John Green]


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07.
[Ace Attorney: The Adventures of Ryunosuke Naruhodou]


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08.
[Legend of Korra]


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09.
[Paul Hollywood of The Great British Bake-Off]















Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 038 secrets from Secret Submission Post #402.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

The 1001 Nights

[(Anonymous)]

So I'm reading a translation of The 1001 Nights/The Arabian Nights I got used from a bookstore recently, mostly because I'm curious about the original stories behind Aladdin, Sinbad and Ali Baba, but also to maybe glean something about Arabic culture from a more direct source.

It wasn't unexpected from something so old that there's a lot of sexism, violence and racism, but I'm having trouble picking out any overall morals and values from the stories. The fairy-tales, myths and such that I've read from other cultures (mostly western) all tend to have a set of morals they espouse even when that isn't the immediate point of the story. Don't lie, don't cheat, don't steal, don't be a moocher, don't murder - horrible consequences if you do.

But in the Nights the heroes are doing all of those things and being rewarded and called virtuous, noble, ect. for it, but when the villain of the story does them it's shown as, well, villainous. From one story to the next, and sometimes within the same story, the exact same actions are considered villainous or heroic depending on if they're the protagonist.

Or the pretty girl he wants. In "Julnar the Mermaid and her Son" for example, the princess the king wants to marry turns him into a bird in a demonstrably malicious way when they first meet (something repeatedly shown as a villain behavior that wasn't forgiven in previous stories), but is excused and marries him at the end because he 'is still madly in love with her.' In fact, I've found the characters to be so simplistic and shallowly created and self-centered in their motivations that to me they're all horrible and unlikeable so far despite the overall story being very entertaining.

Being overall unfamiliar with the culture I feel like I must be missing or overlooking something, so I wonder if anyone here could shed some light, or just point me in the right direction to begin looking it up myself.

Re: The 1001 Nights

[(Anonymous)]

I think some of it is that they are a collection of stories from different sources, and mostly weren't originally kid stories.

And there are a fair number of western stories with lying, cheating, stealing protagonists. Jack and the Beanstalk, for example, or Puss in Boots.

Re: The 1001 Nights

[dahli]

I'm not familiar with the book (I have it on pdf for reading later), but anon up there is right about being from different sources and where collected from pretty ancient times from all over Asia, Middle East, etc.

Also, as far as we know, Scheherazade was trying not to get decapitated and bullshiting the Sultan with her "to be continued..." stories.

If it's more to your taste, consider maybe watching the Arabian Nights (TV miniseries)?