Of course Tolstoy’s novel ends tragically
I support Hook and/or Emma throwing themselves in front of a train
Are they just very young viewers raised on Twilight, but not yet exposed to these more complex moral tales?
I don’t know the stats now, but I do know that a few years ago, the majority of OUAT watchers were women under the age of 35. That ultimate sweet spot of advertising, between the ages of 18 and 25, was especially high. So, yes, young but I don’t think they are so young that they’ve never read/watched any of those classic moral tales. I think a lot of it (sadly) comes down to the “Twilight effect” but not the series itself. The guy is super hot, described as perfect in every way while the object of his desire is a blank slate, perfect for audience insertion. And suddenly the guy can do no wrong because of said hottness and because the reader/viewer has inserted themselves in the place of the object of affection and being told by the author how that should feel. Hook is (apparently) super hot; Emma has always been our “everyman” for the audience caught up in the mythical world. CSers got caught up in the feeling of what it would be like to be “wooed” by Captain Hook when he looks like Colin. One of the best comebacks I ever heard against CS was to picture yourself being held down, sword at throat, being told that “when I jab you with my sword, you’ll feel it” but by the Dustin Hoffman version of Hook. Now do you still ship CS? Probably not. The act both versions of Hook commit are the same but one is romanticized and becomes a shippable moment because that Hook is hot. It’s what we, as women in this society, are told is acceptable and desirable. It’s the adult version of telling a little girl that a boy picks on her on the playground because “he likes her” and she shouldn’t fight back or put up resistance because then he won’t like her anymore.
Hey, look. I brought this back to rape culture.