Once Upon a Time---Pre-Watch Thoughts
Nov. 2nd, 2012 06:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ashkirynSo, this is where I am at the moment, regarding TV shows: I'm watching Supernatural in real time, with the Marathon with my IRL friends on weekends when we can, so I'm watching at least one episode a week. I've already watched all of the Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood episodes available on Netflix, and am waiting for the last two DVDs to become available at the library so I can check them out and continue watching.
So, in the mean time, I'll be indulging myself by watching the first season of Once Upon a Time that's on my Netflix, and possibly start consistently keeping up with the second season in real time.
As of this moment, I have watched three episodes: the first episode of season 1, the first episode of season 2, and the episode that appeared last Sunday, Oct 28. Apart from that, I've spoiled myself for bits and pieces of other things, mainly from TV tropes, but also because the season 2 opener came with an hour-long recap of the previous episodes, so while I didn't totally pay attention to that (my mom was watching it, and I only started actively paying attention when a Certain Great Love of Mine showed up), I did absorb a few plot points. So, below my eventual LJ cut, there will be lots of spoilers, and unfortunately, I can't guarantee how spoilery they acutally are, you know what I mean?
Anyway, the purpose of this particular post is just for me to write about some thinky thoughts that I have, that may or may not have much to do with anything.
[Brief aside: in case if you didn't already know, that Certain Great Love of Mine was Prince Phillip. I don't know if he's actually, like, dead or not, but if he is, I'm going to be pissed. Bad enough they totally killed off Maleficent, so do they really have to take Phillip too?]
Okay, thinky thoughts, here we go.
So, the second I heard about the premise of this show, I was excited and wanted to watch it. Because I am a giant Disney nerd and fangirl, so I was excited to see them and other fairytale characters reimagined, you know?
On the cusp of finally getting my ass in gear and watching the damn thing, I'm still excited, especially with what I know about Rumplestiltskin being integrated into the Beast and given Belle as a Love Interest/Morality Pet(/Girlfriend). And there's something about Pinocchio having been supposed to guide Emma that's interesting as well.
After having said all of that, I'm still....wary, of all this. A bit peeved, if you will. And that peeve has a name: Snow White.
*sigh* I have....many, many personal issues with Snow White. So I recognize that my....disinterest in basically all things involving that particular story and those particular characters is my own bias, and that it doesn't necessarily reflect an inherent flaw in the show's placing the seemingly greatest significance on those characters and not others. But. I have to ask.
Why?
No, really. Why?!
Because I seriously can't be the only person who's noticed the trend in recent years, this seemingly....obsession that people have with Snow White: Reimagined. Once Upon a Time is only one example. Two others that immediately come to mind are that Kristen Stewart movie, Snow White and the Huntsman, and then Julia Roberts being fabulous as the Queen in Mirror Mirror.
So, what the fuck is with this????
Now, I know that the Cinderella trope has been used a million times over, and apparently they're coming out with a Maleficent movie (which, yes, so much excite), but I just...don't understand. I just don't get what's so special about Snow White, and why there is a bandwagon to be jumped upon by everyone with their own Snow White: Improved to Badassery version.
And now, we lead in to my biggest problem with this whole thing: Snow White, Apparently Badass Now That She's Got A Sword To Swing Around.
Because, you know, if y'all want to be so ~super interested~ in this particular fairytale and its cast of characters, then fine. I personally don't see the appeal, but fine. Different strokes for different folks/boats and all.
But why, oh fucking why, do we have to stick a sword into Snow White's hand?
Yes, I understand the...theory behind it. I hear it everywhere, and pretty much always concerning female characters (Kairi from Kingdom Hearts is the most prominent example that comes to mind): if we can give them a weapon and make them fight, then the gals will stop being weak and lame and will actually be cool and awesome. So, how do we upgrade Snow White from being Disney's poster child of the idea that women are basically idiots who need men to think for them, and that it'd really be for their own good if they just stayed in the kitchen and baked the men gooseberry pies? The school of thought that our collective social consciousness agrees on is that we give her a sword to wave around. Instant badass, hardly any work involved.
Um.
So, basically, make her Manly. Because Swords = Masculine, and Masculine = Good while Feminine = Bad.
Riiiiiiiiiiight. Of course this makes everything better!
Now, I'm not trying to say that having women who can fight, with or without swords, is a bad thing, or are promoting anti-feminism. Feminism, to me, is about being able to choose, so by all means, ladies, pick up your swords and kick ass! For instance, Mulan is now here in season 2 doing this, and apparently Emma gets in on a lot of this action too. And if Snow White wants to do this too, then okay. But in the latter's case, what I'm doing right now is questioning why we're so obsessed with giving Snow White in particular a sword.
Because did it ever occur to anyone that the problem of Snow White isn't her inability to fight, but rather a flaw in her actual character (that may or may not be intrinsic to said character)? To me, just giving her a sword is everyone's easy way out of fixing Snow White. But my problem with this 'solution' is that it literally has nothing to do with what's wrong with Snow White as a character.
Newsflash: The problem with Snow White is that she is naive to the point of fucking stupidity. Whether or not she can use a sword had no bearing on anything whatsoever. Everything could have been avoided if Snow White actually had enough brains to be an even somewhat accurate judge of people, and NOT by whether she could have just picked up a sword and run the Hag/Evil Queen through. That line of thinking is missing the entire point.
So giving her a sword, in my book, accomplishes nothing, and is just a shallow way of appearing to, on the surface, have fixed up Snow White in an attempt to get ratings and appeal to our feminist-hyenas of society.
And that just doesn't work for me, and for all of my own personal Issues with Snow White, I feel that's an inexcusable disservice to her character.
I don't know all that much of how Snow White is portrayed in the show, or how they've reimagined the plot of that particular fairytale. I'll be finding that out. But I don't think that they should need to give her a sword, and have that be the crutch that the character leans and depends on for her Badass Points.
Newsflash the Second: PEOPLE, not even just women, can be badass without having to fight or use swords.
I don't know much about Aurora, and so I don't know if she's been Upgraded to Weaponry, or what her position in the apparent Four Women Band is at all. But so far as I know, the only main female character (aside from maybe Belle, but I don't know if she really counts as a 'main character') that doesn't use swords is Regina/the Evil Queen, so what does that mean? That only Evil Women can dispense with physical prowess?
Just...can we maybe balance things out a bit here? Balance would be nice. Because then, funny thing, I'd be able to see the women as people, and not a subset to pay extra critical attention to. How about that!
So, in conclusion, my question to our society is simply: why Snow White? Why are we so obsessed with her and this story? I mean, personally, I think that the Sleeping Beauty characters and plot could have completely transplanted the roles the Snow White characters play in this show (and IMHO, would have made everything so much better, and there would have been nothing on earth that could have kept me away from the show). If we wanted another Disney Princess in drastic need of some character development, there's Cinderella. Fuck, if we wanted a Disney Princess that would logically use a sword or some sort of sharp, dangerous weapon, they could have used fucking Jasmine, and have had an ethnic main female protagonist. So: why??!!
*takes a breath* I suppose we'll see how much the show addresses my concerns.
[A Brief Snippet of Fangirl Outrage: WHAT THE FUCK, HOW COULD THEY KILL MY MALEFICENT???? AND POSSIBLY PERMANENTLY HAVE KILLED MY PHILLIP TOO? HE BETTER NOT HAVE DIED. OR ELSE MY RAGE MAY KNOW NO BOUNDS. *tries to comfort self with the brief bit of Phillip and Mulan being besties*]
So, in the mean time, I'll be indulging myself by watching the first season of Once Upon a Time that's on my Netflix, and possibly start consistently keeping up with the second season in real time.
As of this moment, I have watched three episodes: the first episode of season 1, the first episode of season 2, and the episode that appeared last Sunday, Oct 28. Apart from that, I've spoiled myself for bits and pieces of other things, mainly from TV tropes, but also because the season 2 opener came with an hour-long recap of the previous episodes, so while I didn't totally pay attention to that (my mom was watching it, and I only started actively paying attention when a Certain Great Love of Mine showed up), I did absorb a few plot points. So, below my eventual LJ cut, there will be lots of spoilers, and unfortunately, I can't guarantee how spoilery they acutally are, you know what I mean?
Anyway, the purpose of this particular post is just for me to write about some thinky thoughts that I have, that may or may not have much to do with anything.
[Brief aside: in case if you didn't already know, that Certain Great Love of Mine was Prince Phillip. I don't know if he's actually, like, dead or not, but if he is, I'm going to be pissed. Bad enough they totally killed off Maleficent, so do they really have to take Phillip too?]
Okay, thinky thoughts, here we go.
So, the second I heard about the premise of this show, I was excited and wanted to watch it. Because I am a giant Disney nerd and fangirl, so I was excited to see them and other fairytale characters reimagined, you know?
On the cusp of finally getting my ass in gear and watching the damn thing, I'm still excited, especially with what I know about Rumplestiltskin being integrated into the Beast and given Belle as a Love Interest/Morality Pet(/Girlfriend). And there's something about Pinocchio having been supposed to guide Emma that's interesting as well.
After having said all of that, I'm still....wary, of all this. A bit peeved, if you will. And that peeve has a name: Snow White.
*sigh* I have....many, many personal issues with Snow White. So I recognize that my....disinterest in basically all things involving that particular story and those particular characters is my own bias, and that it doesn't necessarily reflect an inherent flaw in the show's placing the seemingly greatest significance on those characters and not others. But. I have to ask.
Why?
No, really. Why?!
Because I seriously can't be the only person who's noticed the trend in recent years, this seemingly....obsession that people have with Snow White: Reimagined. Once Upon a Time is only one example. Two others that immediately come to mind are that Kristen Stewart movie, Snow White and the Huntsman, and then Julia Roberts being fabulous as the Queen in Mirror Mirror.
So, what the fuck is with this????
Now, I know that the Cinderella trope has been used a million times over, and apparently they're coming out with a Maleficent movie (which, yes, so much excite), but I just...don't understand. I just don't get what's so special about Snow White, and why there is a bandwagon to be jumped upon by everyone with their own Snow White: Improved to Badassery version.
And now, we lead in to my biggest problem with this whole thing: Snow White, Apparently Badass Now That She's Got A Sword To Swing Around.
Because, you know, if y'all want to be so ~super interested~ in this particular fairytale and its cast of characters, then fine. I personally don't see the appeal, but fine. Different strokes for different folks/boats and all.
But why, oh fucking why, do we have to stick a sword into Snow White's hand?
Yes, I understand the...theory behind it. I hear it everywhere, and pretty much always concerning female characters (Kairi from Kingdom Hearts is the most prominent example that comes to mind): if we can give them a weapon and make them fight, then the gals will stop being weak and lame and will actually be cool and awesome. So, how do we upgrade Snow White from being Disney's poster child of the idea that women are basically idiots who need men to think for them, and that it'd really be for their own good if they just stayed in the kitchen and baked the men gooseberry pies? The school of thought that our collective social consciousness agrees on is that we give her a sword to wave around. Instant badass, hardly any work involved.
Um.
So, basically, make her Manly. Because Swords = Masculine, and Masculine = Good while Feminine = Bad.
Riiiiiiiiiiight. Of course this makes everything better!
Now, I'm not trying to say that having women who can fight, with or without swords, is a bad thing, or are promoting anti-feminism. Feminism, to me, is about being able to choose, so by all means, ladies, pick up your swords and kick ass! For instance, Mulan is now here in season 2 doing this, and apparently Emma gets in on a lot of this action too. And if Snow White wants to do this too, then okay. But in the latter's case, what I'm doing right now is questioning why we're so obsessed with giving Snow White in particular a sword.
Because did it ever occur to anyone that the problem of Snow White isn't her inability to fight, but rather a flaw in her actual character (that may or may not be intrinsic to said character)? To me, just giving her a sword is everyone's easy way out of fixing Snow White. But my problem with this 'solution' is that it literally has nothing to do with what's wrong with Snow White as a character.
Newsflash: The problem with Snow White is that she is naive to the point of fucking stupidity. Whether or not she can use a sword had no bearing on anything whatsoever. Everything could have been avoided if Snow White actually had enough brains to be an even somewhat accurate judge of people, and NOT by whether she could have just picked up a sword and run the Hag/Evil Queen through. That line of thinking is missing the entire point.
So giving her a sword, in my book, accomplishes nothing, and is just a shallow way of appearing to, on the surface, have fixed up Snow White in an attempt to get ratings and appeal to our feminist-hyenas of society.
And that just doesn't work for me, and for all of my own personal Issues with Snow White, I feel that's an inexcusable disservice to her character.
I don't know all that much of how Snow White is portrayed in the show, or how they've reimagined the plot of that particular fairytale. I'll be finding that out. But I don't think that they should need to give her a sword, and have that be the crutch that the character leans and depends on for her Badass Points.
Newsflash the Second: PEOPLE, not even just women, can be badass without having to fight or use swords.
I don't know much about Aurora, and so I don't know if she's been Upgraded to Weaponry, or what her position in the apparent Four Women Band is at all. But so far as I know, the only main female character (aside from maybe Belle, but I don't know if she really counts as a 'main character') that doesn't use swords is Regina/the Evil Queen, so what does that mean? That only Evil Women can dispense with physical prowess?
Just...can we maybe balance things out a bit here? Balance would be nice. Because then, funny thing, I'd be able to see the women as people, and not a subset to pay extra critical attention to. How about that!
So, in conclusion, my question to our society is simply: why Snow White? Why are we so obsessed with her and this story? I mean, personally, I think that the Sleeping Beauty characters and plot could have completely transplanted the roles the Snow White characters play in this show (and IMHO, would have made everything so much better, and there would have been nothing on earth that could have kept me away from the show). If we wanted another Disney Princess in drastic need of some character development, there's Cinderella. Fuck, if we wanted a Disney Princess that would logically use a sword or some sort of sharp, dangerous weapon, they could have used fucking Jasmine, and have had an ethnic main female protagonist. So: why??!!
*takes a breath* I suppose we'll see how much the show addresses my concerns.
[A Brief Snippet of Fangirl Outrage: WHAT THE FUCK, HOW COULD THEY KILL MY MALEFICENT???? AND POSSIBLY PERMANENTLY HAVE KILLED MY PHILLIP TOO? HE BETTER NOT HAVE DIED. OR ELSE MY RAGE MAY KNOW NO BOUNDS. *tries to comfort self with the brief bit of Phillip and Mulan being besties*]
