Matthew Barney's Cremaster Cycle and how it overturns the tropes of Fairy Tales

This reflection and writing relates to the second activity for the first lesson of the "History of Narratives" module. It goes as follows:

Choose one artwork from one of the following artists <within the following lecture slides> and describe in as much detail as possible how it follows or overturns myth/fairy tale expectations. 

Of all the artists, I chose Matthew Barney's most well known work The Cremaster Cycle. I was introduced to the artist in my diploma studies and was curious to understand more about his works.

Of all the films in the series, I found Cremaster 3 - particularly the arc where the main "protagonist" (The Entered Apprentice played by Matthew Barney himself) traversed the Guggenheim Museum - to be most attention grabbing and I would like to talk about it specifically in regards to the activity.

There was a scene within the film where the entered apprentice and the "Entered Novitiate" played by Aimee Mullins first meet that really struck me. There is a sense of endearment as they embrace each other that is almost akin to a "Happily ever after" sequence where the prince and princess finally are united. However there is also a certain tension and unease in how the two embrace - cautiously and tentatively - as though to say that there's more to this than meets the eye. Indeed, the two then suddenly find themselves in a dance of fiery wits against each other with the Entered Novitiate showing herself to be a dangerous cheetah-woman intent on killing him.

I feel that this scene shows how love is not a straightforward thing. You can't just lock eyes with someone and know "that is my true love." The tropes of true love and even of beauty, happiness and a good future is completely overturned by this scene, which I feel in a way represents the fickle nature of reality. There is no ensured happy ending - life is fraught with backstabbing, manipulation and distrust and not everyone can be beautiful like the princes and princesses of fairy tales - as can be seen I feel from the less-than perfect and bizarre portrayal of the two initiates. Furthermore, the way the protagonist constantly travels up and down the building exploring different scenes and peoples overturns the lie of fairy tales that life only gets better. Life is filled with ups and downs and new experiences - good and bad. It is not always uphill. Finally, in the end, the Entered Apprentice strikes down the Entered Novitiate in cold blood singling out how happily ever afters are something not quite what we should expect.