So, do you weirdos like fairytales? I fucking love 'em. Like to the point where I bought two full books worth of fairytales. Namely a Hans Christian Anderson, of The Little Mermaid fame, and The Brothers Grimm of everything else you've probably heard before.
Now, I guess I should preface this as saying that I don't know every fairytale out there, and while the two examples I gave are European and German there is more fairytales out there, I just am not savvy to them beyond a few San or Xhosa fairytales. But I really doubt that I am the best person to talk about them as I've only read at best five of these fairytales and I am not a cultural expert on the deeper meanings in these fairytales. Rather go find someone who has actual creditionals or better yet find an actual collection to read yourself.
Honestly, I don't have a good answer. Fairytales are usually short, sweet, if a bit grim, and somewhat easy to just chill and read. Fairytales are usually somewhat moral, with a sort of point to the story so it doesn't feel entirely short and pointless. Case in point in Hansel and Gretel the step-mom and the evil witch are kinda the bad guys with the cunning of Gretel being the good trait the heroes have.
A major thing which I like with fairytales, is that the main characters are realistically powered. I don't know if that makes senes? Like, The Little Mermaid isn't special or magical she is just a mermaid. So, it kinda feels more "down-to-Earth"?
I would say, I do hear some people claiming that fairytales are sexist or not inline with "modern story telling" which, I suppose is fair. I don't want to get into an entire arguement on the morality of fairytales or how it is not the best thing to read to children, as I am a bit of a dumbass. So, rather, I'm gonna talk about what I do like about fairytales. I'm sure you can easily find other blogs ragging on fairytales if you want to.
Germanic and European fairytales are clearly based on pre-Christian or just after Christian introduction to the area, as it's stories that started prior to Christianity's spread but was only really written down afterwards. As a result most fairytales involve mythological elements that was present prior. Case in point fae-like entities which map onto the villains of the fairytales. It is almost hand in hand like Christianity's demonology. Now, I am not certain if it is because of Christianities own seperate demonology or it is something the prior religions ended up providing to Christianity. I sadly never got into demonology. But that is mostly me just nerding out on old European mythology and Early Christianity.
The other thing which I really like with fairytales is actually the morality. Some fairytales are wide spread because of it's easy to agree with morality. Things like, "Don't judge a book by it's cover" or "don't trust random strangers". The interesting thing is that most fairytales were likely told to teach children.
I mean, usually it is easier to explain to someone through a plot, at least that's the style I defualt to and understand best. Like, if I tell you "Oh, yeah, don't judge a book by it's cover" I doubt it would stick as much as if I tell you a story where the moral is "don't judge a book by it's cover". Hence why stories like Little Red Riding Hood (or Little Red Cap depending on who you ask) and Beauty and the Beast stuck around for so long.
Another thing I find interesting is the magic systems used in fairytales. I don't know if there is a proper term for it. But it is the concept that magic relies on concept. Like, a key is used to unlock doors, so a key can be used to "unlock" sight and see the reality of something or someone. Or a loom is used to turn raw wool into sting which can than be made into cloth, but it can also be used to turn hay into gold. It's just fun. I prefer that sort of magic in fairytales. Like, don't get me wrong, I love complex magic systems but sometimes something more simple works fantastic.
I will say, I find it genuenely funny how many evil step-moms are in fairytales. I am convinced that there is good, nice, sweet step-moms out there, but I firmly believe that either Hans or the Brothers Grim had a bad childhood with a horrible step-mother, because it is a very common thing in their stories. I do suppose it makes sense. Family abuse is a real thing, and I suppose having childrens media that depicts it is important to help kids realise that their parents are still human and humans are capible of evil. I know I said that like it was a bad thing, but I do like that fairytales do that.
More or less, my point is that I like Fairytales. I like how they're written. And yeah not everyone likes them. But hey, I'm going to hell either way, what's another sin to my list?