History YMMV / LittleRedRidingHood

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: The Big Bad Wolf. While people know him to be a predator who tricks a little girl into telling him about her grandmother, other versions have a more disturbing take on him. The song, "Little Red Riding Hood", has him be a StalkerWithACrush who just wants to walk with Red through the woods. Other darker versions have him be a sexual predator who tries to take Red by force. Yikes. This was, indeed, the ''original'' interpretation.
-->'''Charles Perrault:''' ''Children, especially attractive, well bred young ladies, should never talk to strangers, for if they should do so, they may well provide dinner for a wolf. I say "wolf," but there are various kinds of wolves. There are also those who are charming, quiet, polite, unassuming, complacent, and sweet, who pursue young women at home and in the streets. And unfortunately, it is these gentle wolves who are the most dangerous ones of all.''

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: The Big Bad Wolf. While people know him to be a predator who tricks a little girl into telling him about her grandmother, other versions have a more disturbing take on him. The song, "Little Red Riding Hood", has him be a StalkerWithACrush who just wants to walk with Red through the woods. Other darker versions have him be a sexual predator who tries to take Red by force. Yikes.

** The werewolf part also comes up from time to time. Some may think the idea of turning the wolf into a werewolf or shapeshifter is a modern twist. While never a mainstream idea, some areas of France did in fact have versions of the story in which the wolf is called a "loup garou" their term for werewolves. For people scared of werewolves, the addition of the talking wolf being one was no real stretch of the imagination.

* CriticalResearchFailure: One of the primary instances to invoke this with fairy tales. Lots of people are unaware of the history.
** Such as Perrault so far being the first known to ever used "red" importantly in the story.
** Bringing up sex symbolism even though the versions where sex was in the story predate both Perrault and Brothers Grimm and were not included in their versions.
** Werewolf inclusion, a lot of people think this is a modern addition even though older versions did indeed call the wolf a "loup garou".

* OlderThanTheyThink:
** This story's origins are [[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/6142964/Fairy-tales-have-ancient-origin.html even older than Perrault]].
** It's also often a point people think the HotterAndSexier versions of the story are a new idea. Even though versions where the girl is older and hints of sex or direct sex used to be a regular part of the story.

* FreudWasRight: A common interpretation of the tale is as an Aesop about a young girl's burgeoning sexuality, with the wolf standing in as a sexually aggressive man. The red hood is often interpreted as representing menstruation, carnality, virginity, or sin in general.
** The musical ''Theatre/IntoTheWoods'' may be going with this interpretation, mainly the original '80s stage version where the Wolf has, ahem, visible genitals.

** Such as Perrault so far being the first known to ever used "red" importantly in the story

** Werewolf inclusion, a lot of people think this is a modern addition even though older versions did indeed call the wolf a "loup garou"

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: In some versions where the wolf tricks the girl into eating some of Grandma's dead body and blood, a cat suddenly comes to call her a slut because she eats her grandma... then the cat is never heard again.

* OlderThanTheyThink: This story's origins are [[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/6142964/Fairy-tales-have-ancient-origin.html even older than Perrault]].
** Also often a point people think the HotterAndSexier versions of the story are a new idea. Even though versions where the girl is older and hints of sex or direct sex used to be a regular part of the story.

* FantasticAesop: Don't talk to rapists or your grandmother will get eaten.

* RuleOfSymbolism: There are lots of possible underlying meanings to the story, mostly to do with growing up and/or [[FreudWasRight sex]]. The color of the girl's hood is usually given some significance -- even though subsequent collection of French folk tales found that it was a detail that Perrault added; the folk tales do not specify the color of the hood. A more likely symbol occurs in the regional variants that have her choose between a Path of Pins and a Path of Needles - girls learning to be young women were said to be "gathering pins," while needles had a definite sexual meaning (prostitutes would even indicate their profession by wearing needles in their sleeves).

* CriticalResearchFailure: One of the primary instances to invoke this with fairy tales. Lots of people are unaware of the history

* OlderThanTheyThink: This story's origins are [[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/6142964/Fairy-tales-have-ancient-origin.html Even older than Perrault]].

* EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory: There are lots of possible underlying meanings to the story, mostly to do with growing up and/or [[FreudWasRight sex]]. The color of the girl's hood is usually given some significance -- even though subsequent collection of French folk tales found that it was a detail that Perrault added; the folk tales do not specify the color of the hood. A more likely symbol occurs in the regional variants that have her choose between a Path of Pins and a Path of Needles - girls learning to be young women were said to be "gathering pins," while needles had a definite sexual meaning (prostitutes would even indicate their profession by wearing needles in their sleeves).
* FantasticAesop: Don't talk to rapists or your grandmother will get eaten. Or something like that.

* CrossesTheLineTwice: Perrault kills off Grandma, then has Little Red tricked into becoming a cannibal, and then she too meets a gruesome end in the wolf's jaws. Sleep tight kids.

* NightmareFuel
* OlderThanTheyThink: This story's origins are [[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/6142964/Fairy-tales-have-ancient-origin.html Even older than Perrault]].

* FetishFuel: Though the original story was an Aesop against sexual promiscuity and the modern one is merely a child's fairy tale, [[RedHotRidingHood provocatively dressed]] adult versions of Little Red have cropped up in pop culture. Sultry Red Riding Hood outfits are often a popular Halloween costume. An (un)surprising amount of [[RuleThirtyFour naughty]] stories have also been written with the theme and/or motifs of Little Red Riding Hood.

* AccidentalNightmareFuel: Regular or {{High Octane| Nightmare Fuel}}, depending on which version of the story you hear.

* OlderThanTheyThink: This story's origins are [[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/6142964/Fairy-tales-have-ancient-origin.html Even older than Perrault]].
* TooDumbToLive: You'd think the fact that Grandmother suddenly had big ears and eyes and teeth might have tipped Red off that something was up, but nope. Terry Pratchett put it best in ''Discworld/TheWeeFreeMen'':
--> "... some girl who can't tell the difference between a wolf and her grandmother must either have been as dense as teak or come from an extremely ugly family."

* NightmareFuel: Regular or [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel High Octane]], depending on which version of the story you hear.

* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: Don't talk to rapists or your grandmother will get eaten. Or something like that.

* NightmareFuel: Regular or [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel High Octane]], depending on which version of the story you hear.