once upon a retelling

So, last week I promised I'd have something better to talk about this week. Of course, after  publishing that post I was wondering what that better thing would be. Low and behold, my need to fill a void in a different area has provided the answer.

I had been satiating my need for a good TV show with BBC's Call the Midwife series [which is awesome, by the way] but I finished the last episode a few weeks ago and last night I found myself itching for another binge-worthy undertaking and I found one: Once Upon a Time.

I know, I know, most of you are probably aghast at the idea that I haven't seen the show before. It's been out for ages, what, have I been living under a rock? Well, I suppose I have, of sorts, in relation to this show. When it first aired it became instantly popular with just about everyone at college and I have this somewhat juvenile reaction to things that garner cult followings in such a short period of time. I generally avoid them. How mature of me, I know. Anyway, I had heard enough about the show and I suppose I had become curious enough, and willing to give into that curiosity this time, to check the show out last night. The first season or two are instant-play on Netflix so why not?

I'm only eight episodes in right now [though that number will probably have increased by the time I publish this post] but I can say that I'm honestly surprised. In my experience, fairy tale retellings/spin-offs tend to get butchered more often than they are successful so I didn't have my hopes set to high for this series, but I'm impressed. Not only have they created an insanely convoluted and complex timeline that almost runs in two different directions at once but still somehow totally works [A feat worthy of praise from the Doctor, in my opinion. These people have a madman's grasp on that timey wimey business], but they've also managed to transform these fictional characters into real people who are still identifiable as the characters we know and love, but with more rounded out back stories and personalities. [Holy run-on sentence, Batman!]

But my favorite thing? Practically all of the central characters that you really get to know are women. I'm not the crazy feminist that thinks all TV shows should be completely overhauled so women always hold the limelight but guys, this is really kind of a unique thing here and I think it says something wonderful about the genre of fairy tales in general. A lot of people dismiss or deride fairy tales because they say they're sexist, casting women as the perpetually weaker sex and there is, therefor, no merit to them. What Once Upon a Time is proving here is that these princesses [and otherwise] that we know, aren't doomed to this fate. You don't even have to change that much about them to make them women that you'd be comfortable having your daughters look up to. Each character hits all the important plot points of their original stories, those tried and true mile markers aren't changed or removed. All this show is doing is filling in gaps that are already there, already teasing us with the well-rounded and humanly flawed reality of these ageless characters.

They don't have to radically change the story of Snow White - turn her into some sword-brandishing man-hater - in order to show her as a strong-willed, independent, selfless woman who falls in love, not because she isn't a complete person without a man, but because love is something everyone wants. It doesn't define her, it's just part of her story, like it is for all of us. The pasts of these characters are all just as complicated, if not more so, than those of their male counterparts and none of them are purely good.

That's probably the best twist overall, even over the timey wimey stuff, because to be flawed is to be human. To do some not-really-awesome stuff while on your quest to become the honorable person you want to be is something that happens to all of us so we can all relate and connect. It's an amazing thing to take a character that a lot of people love, just coming into it, give them some skeletons [we all have them] and then see those same people still loving that character, perhaps even more than they did before.

Now, letting our characters be flawed in their humanity means that they will make certain decisions you may not like [really, Mary-Margaret?] but mistakes are things we all have to be aloud to make. While I may not love some of the choices certain characters are making at the moment, as long as the reality of consequences plays out as well as the reality of the characters, I'll be okay.

I'm excited to see what happens. But I am on episode 12 now [having watched only mini series recently, this longer season is throwing me off] which has Belle's first appearance. Belle is my favorite fairy tale character. So who knows, I might feel differently after this episode ;P