Jigsaw's Little Red Riding Hood

What I researched and why:
When I started this I really wanted to find an example of how we have turned the Red Riding Hood story into a "sexy" image. Red is often portrayed as a sort of temptress, walking through the woods and luring the wolves to come and get her if they dare. The concept of Red intentionally calling the wolves out was interesting to me. I was looking for TV commercials with this image other than the ones mentioned in the last half of the Orenstein book. After I came across the clip I chose to put up, I switched my focus more to the woodcutter's role in the story because it seemed like a valid course to switch to. Usually, the woodcutter's interest in Red is not at all sexual, but rather very paternal. He rescues her from the wolf and makes her safe again. In this version of the story, the opposite is true. Without the woodcutter's intervention, we can assume that Red never would have even come across the wolf, let alone need his protection.

What I found:
I found a variety of adds that use this temptress image of Little Red Riding Hood, including a Chanel 5 and a Pepsi commercial, but accidentally stumbled across this video. It comes from the Saw II DVD, but no worries it's actually a shadow puppet show so there's no gore or anything like that. Here is the link to the video: http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIB1R-pGVD0

My interpretation:
In this version, the woodcutter is in love with Red, a self-assured and strong woman who relies on no one but herself. The woodcutter is a stalker; a man obsessed with Red and determined to have her despite her repeated refusal to accept his advances. He is no longer the paternal savior at the end of the story, but now is the engineer of her downfall. This story actually has two wolves, the wild animal that desires Red solely for the purpose of devouring her, and the human who desires Red in a very different and much more twisted way. The wolf only wants to eat her, but the woodcutter intends to keep her even after death and continue using her as he pleases once she is completely under his control. It is implied at the beginning that the woodcutter loves and wants to protect Red, but in truth, he is perhaps even more evil than the wolf. Red, surprisingly is not at fault in this particular version. Usually she stops to talk to the wolf, but here she never even speaks to the wolf. Even when talking with the woodcutter, she only speaks once when she tells him that she's not interested. She doesn't stray from the path and she doesn't talk to strangers. Despite the way that her image is represented (very curvaceous), Red is essentially a complete innocent in this story, and still she is taken advantage of, not by an outside, wild threat, but rather by a man who is always near her and would be expected to protect her.

What this adds to our discussion:
So far in class, we have mainly discussed the woodcutter as being the positive male role who comes in at the end to save Red from her folly and to set the world right again. He comes in at the end, after the story has been told and only by good luck is he close enough to even notice that anything is wrong. The woodcutter in this story is present from the beginning, but instead of being a protective role, he instead is a very dangerous character. His presence in the story completely changes the way that the story ends and what the moral of the story is, if we can really call the ending a moral.