Like most of us, I came to feminism later on in life. I wasn't born fighting for equality, nor was I born viewing all television and films through a feminist lens, so it's no surprise that I used to watch Disney movies unquestioningly and fanatically, like many little girls. I was particularly fanatical about two of those Disney princesses, Ariel and Belle. For me, as with many young girls, these were my roles models. I loved Ariel's rebelliousness, and Belle's love of books. But for all the good that Disney taught me (yes, rebelliousness is a good trait...), they also taught me a lot of bad.
For example, I thought it was okay to fall in love with your captor. For years I thought it was even a romantic notion. That is, until I realized it's called Stockholm syndrome and that we should be super aware that this is not a good thing and shouldn't be supported. I also thought that Ariel changing herself for Eric was brave, and again... romantic. Until, years later I would come to realize that someone should really love you for being you, and not be okay with ripping you away from your family, taking you to a new world, and making you physically change your body in order to be with them.
So, yes, fairy tales (and Disney's versions of them) gave us rebellious women and smart women, but they also gave us horribly oppressed and obedient women. When I came into feminism as a young adult, I was suddenly struck by how un-feminist my favorite characters really were, and almost felt a traitor to the cause for ever liking them.
I was stuck in this limbo for a while, caught between my love for Disney and my love of feminism. And I'm not the only one. (As a quick Google search will show you). But when ABC's Once Upon a Time (OUT) aired, I felt I could breathe again. Suddenly the characters were complicated and interesting and... well... real.
This breathing of new life into old characters inspired me to really critically look at the one dimensional aspects of the Disney versions, and how they would translate into real life. Could Snow White really exist? And if she did, how would her struggles actually affect her? Would Aurora be so content with being left unconscious in a tower awaiting a stranger to come and sexually assault her in her sleep? Or would she want revenge? Would Mulan easily slip into role of "wife" once all was said or done? How would her gender-bending actually be received by an ultra-conservative family? Would Pocahontas really fall in love with a man set on destroying her land? However devishly handsome he was? It always sits a bit funny with most people (and I think most white people watching it had at least some sense that white colonialism really couldn't be construed as a positive thing, no matter what beautiful songs accompanied it).
OUT plays out these ideas on screen, puts these characters, hopes, fears, ideals and all, smack into the center of reality and challenges the audience to really think about what these characters humanity does for them.
Snow White / Mary-Margaret
The Disney version portrays Snow White as an animal-loving and hard-working character but…
- She's overly trusting (for no good reason).
- Her value to the seven dwarfs is based on her domestic skills.
- She relies on a man (actually, several men) to first let her go (the Huntsman), then help her survive (the seven dwarfs) and then to rescue her (the Prince).
OUT's Snow White is viewed as trusting as a child but who, after being mistreated and made outcast from the kingdom, has grown a tougher shell. While initially portrayed as a struggling princess (she was), her new-found friends the Dwarfs actually teach her how to fight for herself. While her “Prince Charming” does rescue her once, he is portrayed being her partner in her fight against the Queen, rather than her savior (yay for equality), and is just as often in need of her help as she is of his. This is good people, this is healthy.
OUT makes sure that Snow White is still Snow White, however. She's still good, and still tries to see the good in everyone. She motivates others to hope for good too, but even her resolve that this is so is sometimes shaken because, well, she's real and complicated and no frickin' person is always that optimistic.
Belle / Lacey
Ugh, Belle. How I adored you as a child. And how I pity you as an adult. Everyone and everything loved you, even though your head was in a book half the time. I loved how you would steal a few moments to yourself to read while on errands, I loved how you didn't realize that people admired you, I loved how oblivious you were, so enraptured with your stories you were. I also loved that you were so devoted to your father, and that he was always so devoted to you (as a self-proclaimed Daddy's girl from childhood, and a gal who was raised in a single-parent family by her Daddy, you can only imagine how much this hit home for me) but really... Stockholm syndrome? Did nobody in Disney say... hold on, we've killed a Mammy (Bambi) and a Daddy (the Lion King) so how about we, y'know, stop fucking with these kids' brains? N'awh. Give a bit of terrifyingly unhealthy relationships disguised as humble heroism.
Anyways, rant over.
Belle in OUT is pretty bland for me (this may be due to my high expectations..?). She hasn't really found her persona yet, but I think this could be viewed as a reflection on her character. She focuses too much on finding the good in others (Rumplestitskin) that she doesn't really focus on herself all that much. She centers her whole life around the man (seems familiar...) and when she's left without him, she's almost at a loss as to what to do. She's teary eyed and lost, like a puppy. But one I'm okay with letting wander for a little bit longer. She undermines her participation in anything - I'm thinking of when she cast a spell to stop intruders getting into Storybrooke or when she sent a message back with Ariel about Wendy, they were both great acts but still, she seems unimpressed with herself.
Similarly to the Beast, Rumple is self-obsessed and self-centered. You're almost left wondering if he's really interested in her or in her idea of him. Which then again leaves us ignoring Belle as a character. C'mon Belle, you can do this! Get your individuality back!
The Evil Queen / Regina Mills
I included the Queen for one important reason, and I also chose her real world character as her comparison image to support this reason: The Queen in OUT is not simply evil. Actually, as a young woman, she seemed quite sweet. OUT really goes out of their way to explain her character and what motivates her to do what she does. You actually come to really pity the character, a woman forced to marry a man she doesn't love, a woman whose true love is actually killed by her own mother. And moreover, a woman who finally finds happiness (and a sense of morality) in the taking care of another human being: her adopted son, Henry.
I absolutely adore the fact that I am now sympathizing with Regina/the Evil Queen. I really am rallying for her, hoping that she does change, that she realizes that people will give her a second chance, if she only believes that they will. Because they will Regina, trust me. Just believe (Team Regina!)
Ariel / Ariel (she wasn't trapped by the curse)
I included Ariel because she's one of the few characters that were not under the influence of the curse (reality) but that enters into this reality eventually. I just wanted to point out what OUT actually changed in this character, in small but important ways that I think make all the difference.
In OUT Ariel finds her own way to Eric after losing him when "Ursula" intervenes. Eric actually has no involvement with their becoming reunited (because you know what? Ariel was always the proactive one. Not Eric. So this makes total sense to me). Another thing that OUT does is that they don't present Ariel as part of a huge, loving family. As a matter of fact, she seems quite isolated, like someone who is looking to escape loneliness. This makes her wanting to be reunited with Eric more logical. And finally, and most importantly, while Ariel can have legs, she isn't stuck with them. She has a bracelet that she can take on and off as she desires.
Not all of OUT is perfect, and I've only chosen a handful of the characters that they include in their fairy-tale show. Not all the characters are super powerful feminist amazonian women set on the world to reconquer what was taken from them in their previous fictional Disney character forms. No, they're characters that were already existent, ones with specific and unique character traits that are both flawed and perfect all at once. OUT plays around with how these personalities would play out in reality, how they would react to different struggles, and most importantly: How they would develop as people.