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Something that has annoyed me a bit is how the writers don’t seem to get the point of the different fairy tales they use in Once.
Snow White is all about vanity. The Queen is obsessed with her looks and hates Snow White for her beauty. And the things the Queen uses are a ribbon and a comb. It’s all about looks in this story, but the writers changes it completly around. And I understand why they did it. But they could have done something really interesting if they had just stuck to what they story is actually about instead of letting it just be about how Snow ruined Regina’s life by telling Cora about Regina and Daniel. Let Snow be a vain and spoiled little girl who wants to take the spot light from the new queen Regina who has been let to believe her whole life that beauty is all that matters. That would be an interesting thing to see, also because vanity and beauty are so relevant themes today.
I just hope they don’t do the Disney version of The Little Mermaid. Ariel was so annoying, and the original fairy tale is so much more interesting than the Disney version.
Of course it’s not all the fairy tales they change too much. Pinnochio, Cinderella and Beauty And The Beast are very true to the original form. Of course this Pinnochio is based on the Disney version which has a lot nicer Pinnochio than the original Italian story. And Little Red Ridding Hood has been changed A LOT, but I think it still deals with some of the themes of the fairy tale.[adrotate group="5"]I like OUAT’s version of Snow White. I think the main point of the show that hopefully, this is the accurate interpretation. The vanity thing though, it was touched on briefly in the pilot but I’m glad it’s not all about a beauty contest. There’s more substance to the rivalry between the Evil Queen and Snow.
I can’t wait until OUAT does Ariel. The Little Mermaid has always been my favorite. I will be super giddy and probably hyperactive lady if the shows ever does The Little Mermaid.
It’s a more compelling story if they give it more layers. A story about the EQ being vain and wanting Snow dead because she was prettier wouldn’t sustain the show for multiple years. They haven’t eliminated the theme entirely. Regina owns 1 or 2 (hundred) mirrors. 😉
Regarding The Little Mermaid, I’m hoping she’ll be a recurring character, which means I hope she’s still alive in present day, which means I hope that whatever else they do with the character, they don’t go with the ending of the Anderson version of the story.
@Phee wrote:
They haven’t eliminated the theme entirely. Regina owns 1 or 2 (hundred) mirrors. 😉
That plus ALL HER AMAZING COSTUMES.
Also I think they are going to touch on Snow not being that nice in the future episodes in the flashback when her mom was still alive.I always disliked, that the rivalry and jealousy in Snow White was so much reduced to beauty and vanity, into obssession with looks. It never made that much sense to me. But right, it’s the traditional tale. Or maybe not.
Can question, what kind of beauty is or was meant. Might never have been all about beauty on the outside, good looks, what pleases the eyes, but as much about beauty on the inside, what pleases mind and soul. We often presume that one mirrors the other, we do nowadays and guess they did some 200 years ago. The good is beautiful, the evil is ugly, and beauty is good while what is ugly is bad. The word fair or fairest as it is used in the English translation of the Grimm’s version can mean more than just being pretty on the outside. Even the German word “schön” can mean more, it’s used in different ways, although if asked most would tell you it means merely beautiful or pretty (and because Germans use the word fair as well, but in the sense of just, deserved, suitable, right, lawful, a few Germans might be confused somewhat in the right way by the English translation).
And looking at the term vanity: It doesn’t only mean excessive and false pride but as well futility, something which is in vain, and was more used even in that sense ages ago. In German the word is “eitel” and the noun “Eitelkeit” – but we all learn in German schools (not all remember) in literature about a poem from 17th century with the title “Alles ist eitel” (The Vanity of the World scroll down for the English translation) by Andreas Gryphius, a morbid poem but not totally without hope (last line makes in a way a suggestion what to do about vanity, to turn attention to what is immortal without saying what is). It’s telling that whatever we build, create, do, even nature surrounding us and stone will be gone in time. The poet grew up during Thirty Years’ War, one of the most devastating wars of European history, no wonder his works are so morbid.
Sorry for this little excursion into German literature. Back to Snow White.
On first sight Once Upon a Time might deviate a lot from the tradional story, but on second look I think it doesn’t.
As I see it Regina was never just reacting to Snow’s childish betrayal, that was the start, the trigger, but Regina also then has been jealous of Snow’s happiness and what you can call her inner beauty. Things seem to come easy to Snow (they didn’t, but that is how I think Regina perceives her). Yes, she lost her mother, but her father did everything for Snow, remarrying not for his own sake but her sake. The huntsman Regina sent to kill Snow fell for her innocence and fairness and let her escape. Snow found good friends while on the run, she stumbled upon her true love. People love Snow because they perceive her as friendly, generous, considerate, just, open minded, and never anyone seems to question it, or only a few. Every day with Snow alive was a reminder for Regina, that she lost the beauty of true love, while Snow had it (her father) and later found it again (Charming, as well as Red, Granny and the dwarfs as her loyal friends). At first Regina wanted to get rid off Snow, but her vengeance turned more and more into a quest to punish Snow by destroying her happiness, and not just because Regina failed first to kill her. Regina was too proud to let go and jealous that Snow got, what Regina felt Snow didn’t deserve but she, Regina, should have.
So in my opinion Once Upon a time adds plenty of layers to the story of Snow White, but the motif of beauty and false pride is still somewhat there.
And what Regina does is rather futile, vain, because in the end good always wins, at least in fairy tales. So much for vanity in the antique meaning of the word.
I’m glad they didn’t turn Snow into a spoiled princess believing only beauty matters and ousting Regina as queen just because she was the cute princess. That would have turned the story of the traditional fairy tale upside down (interesting as a darker version, maybe, but nothing I would expect as good story telling from main stream TV). In the traditonal tale, Snow takes care of the household of the dwarfs without any known complaints, she does it with all her heart. That’s the way of the fairy tale to tell, that Snow White is a friendly and good person, not just a good looking one.
In the episode “The Stable Boy” though I had the impression, that Snow was a bit of a spoiled brat at that time, that she was not always considerate but indeed somewhat vain and ignorant as kid (I could very well picture, how she would have gone on my nerves as kid). And from what the writers said in interviews recently my impression might be not wrong, and we might see more of a less nice side of Snow. Ironically probably Regina helped to turn Snow into a better person.
And isn’t the story of Regina and Snow a lot about looking at things from the inside and not just see things on the outside? A tale to look beyond apparent beauty and apparant ugliness? First impressions might be wrong, Snow is not all about beauty and goodness, the Evil Queen, Regina is not simply an evil person, the characters are more complex as are the stories. To me that means among other things questioning the understanding of beauty and vanity we have today. (However this is a TV show, entertainment, so everybody looks good no matter what, so questioning our present concepts of beauty are only goes so far)
¯\_(?????? ?)_/¯
Wonderful, insightful post, myril. Lots of excellent points. 😀
@myril wrote:
As I see it Regina was never just reacting to Snow’s childish betrayal, that was the start, the trigger, but Regina also then has been jealous of Snow’s happiness and what you can call her inner beauty. Things seem to come easy to Snow (they didn’t, but that is how I think Regina perceives her). Yes, she lost her mother, but her father did everything for Snow, remarrying not for his own sake but her sake. The huntsman Regina sent to kill Snow fell for her innocence and fairness and let her escape. Snow found good friends while on the run, she stumbled upon her true love. People love Snow because they perceive her as friendly, generous, considerate, just, open minded, and never anyone seems to question it, or only a few. Every day with Snow alive was a reminder for Regina, that she lost the beauty of true love, while Snow had it (her father) and later found it again (Charming, as well as Red, Granny and the dwarfs as her loyal friends). At first Regina wanted to get rid off Snow, but her vengeance turned more and more into a quest to punish Snow by destroying her happiness, and not just because Regina failed first to kill her. Regina was too proud to let go and jealous that Snow got, what Regina felt Snow didn’t deserve but she, Regina, should have.
Yes, if you look at the whole scope of the situation and how it evolved and how Regina’s resentment snowballed out of control, it makes much more sense. When they first showed us the reason it all started, I thought Regina was overreacting in a major way. But looking at the entire situation, it’s really much more complex than simply misplaced revenge for Daniel’s death. It involves many different emotions and themes, including those from the original story.
wow myril really long post but fantastic insights and I agree with you completly
Good always wins < That's just what Rumplestiltskin wants you to think Keeper of Belle's Theme Music, The Queen of Hearts Maze, Cora's Missing Heart,Tiny's Golden Harp
They at least gave a nod to the original tale 🙂
At one point (I think it may have been in the pilot) Snow says to Charming –
“She poisoned an apple because I was prettier than her!”I don’t know if anyone of you have seen the BBCseries Merlin, but for those of you who have, you should see the inbetween quest the two main actors Colin Morgan & Bradley James did, where they go a search for the real Merlin and Arthur ledgends. Anyone who has seen the series, knows it is not true to the tales that are out there. But they soon find out that the ledgends themselves are written and changed over centuries before finally being written down. They were adapted to the times they were written in, and they were embelish. Messages changed to suit the teller. And so we don’t have to feel guilty if we do that now. if anything we enrich the story, make it better and suited to the time we live in.
If this is true for Arthurian tales, it certainly is for fairy tales, that have many incarnations. Just put Beauty & the Beast next to Hans the Hedgehog, they are similar tale, yet seen as two different tales. Cinderella has so many german versions that it can make you head spin. The importance of a fairy tale is that it has morals,and a lesson to learn us. And so far I think the writers have done fine with that.
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