SBD -- The Swiss Family Robinson

[jmc_bks]

Okay, I’m not sure if this counts as an SBD entry, but I’m posting it anyway.

I loved The Swiss Family Robinson as a kid. What wasn’t to love? Adventure! Tree houses! Pirates! I’m pretty sure that there’s a worn, worn copy of TSFR on my mom’s bookshelf that I bought at a book fair in elementary school. I can remember watching the movie adaptation, too, the 1960 Disney version. Which was rerun on cable this past weekend. Feeling under the weather, I huddled on the couch and watched mindlessly. But it wasn’t as good as I remembered.

Why? ‘Cause the boys get to have all the fun, while the girls have to be ladies. The women are stuck wearing dresses and petticoats and being lady-like, tending the homestead (which was pretty awesome, btw -- I totally want to live in a tree house like that someday). All I can say is, screw that! You’re shipwrecked and have limited resources, but you still wear a pink frilly gown and apron, with full compliment of petticoats, stays, and stockings? What’s wrong with you? Bertie (a/k/a Roberta) gets a chance to adventure and what does she do? She cries about her hair being cut off, and is immediately turned back into a girly girl. “We’ll try to make it easier for you,” Fritz says. Meaning, we’ll cram you into a stereotypical role and refuse to let you have any fun. I know, the book was published in 1812, so that was suitable for the time...but GAH!

And the boys! Seriously, the scene in which Ernst and Fritz are lying on the beach, shirtless, fantasizing about walking down the Whateverstrasse and looking at girls, feeling horny? Call me a perv, but I was totally expecting Fritz to roll over and plant one on Ernst. [Talk about a prime opportunity for some slash FF, that scene screams for it.] And later, once Bertie has turned out to be Roberta? Yeah, the love triangle totally didn’t work for me. First, because Ernst the geek was way hotter than Fritz. Second, because Fritz was so obviously hot for Ernst – that’s why he was so testy and bitchy through out their exploration of the island.

In addition to the utter lack of adventure for women, the movie version (and maybe the book too, but I haven’t read it in years) is full of stereotypes. Ernst is smart but a wimp – he can’t do anything without relying on a map or compass or other source of information. He talks too much. Fritz is the strong, silent type, the one to trust – he doesn’t need a compass, he’ll use his penis to guide everyone to safety! And the Asian pirates – the British admiral talks louder, using broken English to communicate with them. Because if you just speak slower and louder, everyone will understand English? Uh, okay, Anglo-centric sea farer.

Yep, I watched the movie and enjoyed it (bad me) but noticed all kinds of stuff that I missed as a kid. I may have to find a copy of the book and see how it compares, both to the movie and to my memory.

Comments

[eackerman.livejournal.com]

I generally avoid books I enjoyed as a child 'cause I'm afraid they'll turn me off as an adult, but one I recently re-read and still enjoy is Mara, Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw. Plucky heroine, a swoonworthy hero, adventure in ancient Egypt! What more could a 6th grader ask? And when I was in the 6th grade I was sure this would be my favorite book forever!

And what do you know? It's still on my keeper shelf.[g]

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

Yes, I think I need to stop "revisiting" because I keep getting disappointed.

I never read Mara as a child though. Is it something an adult reader would enjoy? Especially one who reads a good bit of YA?

[eackerman.livejournal.com]

I think an adult who reads YA would appreciate it. A good book is a good book. One of my favorite YA authors is Sharon Shinn, who I find to be equally talented whether she's doing her YA or her adult series.

Look for Mara, and you might also enjoy E. Jarvis McGraw's The Golden Goblet. No romance, and a hero rather than a heroine, but still a great YA novel about ancient Egypt.

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the recommendation, I'll look for copies!

~jmc

[ebayer.livejournal.com]

I was been a big Ernst fan, couldn't fathom why Roberta picked the other brother, who was way too alpha.

[tinyluv.livejournal.com]

As far as I recall there were no pirates in the book. there was alot of action in the movie not in the book. the whale is the biggest event I remember from the book.

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

I don't remember the whale. I have the movie and book versions inextricably linked in my mind. Maybe I should try rereading.

And no pirates? What sort of island adventure is it without pirates?

[(Anonymous)]

Don't remember much from the book, except that the father was such a relentless fount of knowledge.
'Father, what is this red bean?'
'Ahh, this is the Csidcus bean, combine it with this stick and a piece of cord washed up on the beach - and see, we have a fully functioning jacuzzi.'
I don't think I've ever seen an adaption - I'm not remembering it as a book with a lot of action - but it's so long since I read it, that I might just have forgotten the pirates.

Marianne McA

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

The father is less of a fount of knowledge in the movie, I think. Because the emphasis is much more on action. There is a scene full of angst though, right after the shipwreck, in which the father wonders if his hubris and discontent with his station in life brought them to this.

As I mentioned to Jane above -- I have the book and movie hopelessly intertwined. No pirates? It can't be a real 19th century seafaring adventure without pirates!