Finally, a fairy tale hero who’s a boy! Jack is a bold trickster and a rule-breaker, not unlike his compatriots Aladdin and Peter Pan. He trades the family’s only cow for a handful of magic beans. When a giant beanstalk sprouts overnight, Jack seizes the chance to climb to a giant’s castle and steal all of his magical possessions.
As Sur La Lune Fairy Tales points out, ‘The desire for a means of ascending to the sky is as old as the Tower of Babel and Jacob’s Ladder. Asia has the story of the branch of the Bodhi of Buddha which grows rapidly towards the sky once it is planted.’ There are versions found among Europeans, Scandinavians, and Native American groups across Canada.But the story we know is from England.
In fact, Jack is actually English, or why would the giant call out ‘Fee fi fo fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman’? Jack himself is the perfect role model for young imperialists being raised to conquer the globe: Daring, athletic, and bold, he feels entitled to everything he can grab, from the giant’s golden harp to the goose that lays the golden eggs. He ruthlessly chops down the beanstalk, killing the giant.
Can’t you just see him claiming the world in the sky for queen and country?There have been two fairly lame live-action films of this story over the past decade, Jack and the Beanstalk (Avalon, 2010) and Jack the Giant Slayer (Warner, 2013) but as far as we can see, this exciting action adventure opportunity is still open for the taking. Fairytale filmmakers, take note!
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