#03-001: Little Red Riding Hood

Amanda Seyfried as Red Riding Hood
(Wikipedia)

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Note: Mark, an American student, and his Indian friend Sunil talk in their dorm about a new movie adaptation of an old fairy tale.

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Get Ready: Have you seen the film Red Riding Hood, or read the original fairy tale? What do you think of either one?

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Mark, an American student, is sitting in the Common Room of the dorm when his Indian friend Sunil comes in.

Mark: Hi, Sunny. Where ya been?

Sunil: Oh, I just saw a movie.

Mark: Which one?

Sunil: Red Riding Hood.

Mark: Oh, with that hottie from Mamma Mia in the title role?

Sunil: Yeah, Amanda Seyfried. And her dad in the film is Billy Burke. He played Bella's dad in Twilight.

Mark: Never saw it. Chick flick.

Sunil: Whatever. Anyway, Red Riding Hood was pretty good, but it was a far cry from the original story.

Mark: Yeah, but that wouldn't make much of a movie, would it?

Sunil: Right. So how did the original go, exactly?

Mark: There are different versions. But the earliest ones written down and printed, by Perrault and Grimm, are essentially the same.

Sunil: So, the girl is walking in the woods...

Mark: And a wolf wants to eat her. He gets to Grandma's house and eats her, then dresses as Grandma and waits for the girl.

Sunil: Right. So the girl sees her, and says "What big hands you have" and so on...

Mark: Yeah, and then when she gets to "What big teeth," the wolf eats her, too.

Sunil: Is that the end?

Mark: Not quite. A hunter comes, cuts open the wolf, and the girl and her grandmother are still alive inside.

Sunil: Yuck!

Mark: I know. He ate them whole.

Sunil: Well, the movie's a very loose adaptation of that.

Mark: What's it about?

Sunil: Don't be such a tightwad! Spend a few bucks and see it for yourself.

Mark: Will do.

NOTE: "Perrault and Grimm" were famous collectors of fairy tales. Charles Perrault (1628-1703) was French; the Grimm brothers (Jacob 1785-1863, and Wilhelm 1786-1859) were German.

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Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Riding_Hood_(2011_film)

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Practice: Match the term to its definition below:

1. a chick flick
2. essentially
3. a far cry from
4. a few bucks
5. a hottie
6. a loose adaptation
7. Mamma Mia
8. a tightwad
9. the title role
10. Whatever
11. whole
12. Will do
13. Yuck!

1. I will do that.
2. a movie made for women; not polite
3. very different from
4. a little bit of money
5. a sound of disgust
6. an attractive woman or man
7. a retelling with only a few similarities to the original
8. a word used to dismiss what has just been said; not polite.
9. the character in a film after whom the film was named. For example, the character Shrek in the film "Shrek."
10. basically
11. a musical movie with Meryl Streep
12. someone who is stingy with money
13. without biting or chewing it

Answers are in the first comment below.

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Submitted to the Shenzhen Daily for January 2, 2012

This lesson received 207 visits on my old site between January, 2012, and July, 2021.