I very much agree with the above! I also feel like I’m one of a very small minority that can sympathize with Milah…she wasn’t awful to Rumpel until he wounded himself in order to return from the wars, thus making himself (and therefore Milah by extension) a village pariah because of his cowardice (although personally I can see how his actions required courage in a way as well, but that’s a whole different discussion). His actions made her life miserable, so of course she was angry with him.
And something I think people seem to forget is that the night before Milah left, she asked Rumpel to move somewhere else, where they could start over without his reputation dragging them down. Since he couldn’t even do that for her, she left him for the life she wanted. And then ten years later, he murdered her for it. I wouldn’t necessarily equate that with “rape culture”, but I can see the argument there–he felt that as his wife, he basically owned her and she had no right to make her own decisions. I see it more as murdering her simply because she hurt him, but either way, I think murdering Milah was one of the worst things we’ve seen him do. I mean, he murdered his son’s mother! Yes she had left, but who knows what might have happened if she’d tried to establish a relationship with her son when he was older.
I also take issue with the whole “she’s-evil-because-she-left-her-son” thing. I know I’m looking at it as a modern person and all, but the idea that a woman’s worth is only as great as her ability to have and nurture children really bugs me. I think I’ve said it before on this thread, but would it have been any better for Bae to grow up with a mother who hated and resented his father, and as a result went out drinking every night? I think Milah knew that as much as she’d grown to loathe Rumpel, he still genuinely loved his son and would take good care of him. It wasn’t like Cora leaving Zelena in the middle of the woods—she knew Bae would be taken care of and apparently regretted having had to leave him behind.
So yeah…I don’t necessarily identify with Milah myself (luckily for me!), but I certainly do feel bad for her. Of course, I really like Rumpel as a character too—I just kind of have to forget that he murdered his first wife/mother of his son for having hurt and insulted him, just like I enjoy Regina’s story and have to sort of block out the fact that she once ordered the massacre of an entire village to get on her side.
Whew, long post—now to catch up on the more fun stuff!