The National Post’s Popcorn Panel March 18 on the film Red Riding Hood included Alison Halsall, adjunct professor of English literature at York University [Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies]. She has published articles on “South Park” and Harry Potter, and is working on a study of the Victorian legacy in graphic novels:

“Red Riding Hood has all the marks of [Catherine] Hardwicke as a director [said Halsall]: sprawling soft-focus tree sequences, slow-motion dream sequences, the fetishization of extreme angst among teens (those exchanges between Peter and Henry are just too funny), and her man-candy shots.

…. I agree that it had no irony, and therein lies the missed opportunity of the film.

…. I enjoyed Julie Christie – the linking of the grandmother with the wolf for much of the film was one of the more intriguing details. Too bad they didn't pursue this. Unfortunately, Red Riding Hood neither rethinks nor revises the fairy tale. It was gory, but if it wanted to produce a gory version of the tale, it could have been even more gory!

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile , York University’s daily e-bulletin