Home › Forums › Once Upon a Time › Character discussion › Why is Hook such a divisive character within the fandom?
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December 17, 2016 at 12:52 pm #332218MichaelBlocked
<p style=”box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, serif; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.74902);”>Even Henry telling Hook that he genuinely doesn’t care for him, according to Michael, is false because the writers said so. I don’t buy that. I’m sure that was exactly how Henry felt deep down inside.</p>
<p style=”box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, serif; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.74902);”>But ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Hook must be held in high regard by all.</p><p style=”box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, serif; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.74902);”>So you’re taking a S4A quote as canon and ignoring what happened on the show and with that relationship in 4B,5, and 6. Interesting. Definitely makes sense.</p>
[adrotate group="5"]December 17, 2016 at 3:47 pm #332219TheWatcherParticipantSo you’re taking a S4A quote as canon and ignoring what happened on the show and with that relationship in 4B,5, and 6. Interesting. Definitely makes sense
ignore what? Henry’s true feelings were that he wasnt fond of Hook. That is canon. He literally said it. While I agree with others that despite personal feelings, a lot of the characters have to tolerate Hook for the sake that he is with Emma and she loves him, including Henry, thats just my view. Henry may like hook more than he did before. They’ve had scenes and dialog. But henrys true feelings was that he did not like hook and liked him even less with his mother. He was magically forced to say it.
You said A&E said that henrys words were untrue and thats not really how he felt. My question is why retcon the point of the shattered mirror curse? Were some people unable to handle that someone could not like Hook? .
Anyway, Michael you havent answered my question from pages ago. Dont u think Hook coukd have a storyline outside of CS? Im not talking about scenes with other people where they tell him they like him and forgive him and all that. Im talking an actual story like all the other major characters? Or should he just float around Emma all the time? Do you think thats enough to keep the audience invested in him?
"I could have the giant duck as my steed!" --Daniel Radcliffe
Keeper Of Tamara's Taser , Jafar's Staff, Kitsis’s Glasses , Ariel’s Tail, Dopey's Hat , Peter Pan’s Shadow, Outfit, & Pied Cloak,Red Queen's Castle, White Rabbit's Power To World Hop, Zelena's BroomStick, & ALL MAGICDecember 17, 2016 at 4:01 pm #332220TheWatcherParticipant(I mean, i dont think henry hates hook. I just dont think henry would prefer hook with his mother. But now that he is,hes gotta deal. Regardless, Henry liking Hook doesnt address any of my complaints about him)
"I could have the giant duck as my steed!" --Daniel Radcliffe
Keeper Of Tamara's Taser , Jafar's Staff, Kitsis’s Glasses , Ariel’s Tail, Dopey's Hat , Peter Pan’s Shadow, Outfit, & Pied Cloak,Red Queen's Castle, White Rabbit's Power To World Hop, Zelena's BroomStick, & ALL MAGICDecember 18, 2016 at 7:11 am #332223PriceofMagicParticipant(I mean, i dont think henry hates hook. I just dont think henry would prefer hook with his mother. But now that he is,hes gotta deal. Regardless, Henry liking Hook doesnt address any of my complaints about him)
I think Henry not liking Hook should’ve been an issue that was explored more and would actually be a NATURAL problem for CS to overcome. If Henry didn’t like Hook, that would’ve caused problems for CS because Emma would be torn between Henry and Hook and, as her son, Henry would always come first for Emma. It would make sense for Hook to want to ingratiate himself with Henry because he comes as part of the package.
Actually seeing Henry start to accept Hook after Hook’s worked so had to earn his trust would be more of a satisfying payoff than Hook being somewhat automatically accepted.
All magic comes with a price!
Keeper of FelixDecember 18, 2016 at 11:34 am #332227hjbauParticipantI definitely agree that if Hook had continued as Rumpel’s nemesis, the true love of Milah aka Neal’s mother, Captain Hook of Neverland, pirate connection, cohort of Cora, then maybe there could have been something there. The thing is that all of that was just wiped away at the end of Season 2 when they changed Hook’s character. In Season 2 he was one character and then suddenly they got the rights to do Neverland as an arc and suddenly they rewrote him, then reintroduced him as this completely different character in Season 3.
Hook is boring and serves no purpose, has no connection, does nothing for the characterization of the show. He is just there to stand next to Emma and sometimes to serve as a place holder in scenes of exposition when necessary. He is just there so that the important characters can sometimes talk to someone, aka the audience, while still keeping things from the characters that matter. Emma and Belle and Henry and Charming talk to Hook because they are hiding things from other characters or figuring out things about the relationships in their lives that matter and because sometiens there are things the writers need to tell the audience. They could replace Hook in any of those conversations and it wouldn’t matter if it was him or not. It could be anyone. Except the ones about Emma and Hook’s romantic relationship, which as others have said, not everyone finds interesting.
December 19, 2016 at 1:55 pm #332239MichaelBlocked<p style=”box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, serif; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.74902);”>Do you think thats enough to keep the audience invested in him?</p>
Just cause you don’t like him don’t make the assumption that audience is not invested in him already. He’s one of the most popular characters on the show for a reason.
And no that’s not a minority opinion, go have a look on social media. Sure he’s divisive, like Regina but that’s part of what makes them so popular.
December 19, 2016 at 3:25 pm #332240TheWatcherParticipantTons of people stopped watching the show including reviewers of it, with him being one of the reasons why.
And im sure CS fans are invested in his relationship with Emma. Im asking what more is there to be invested in and shouldnt he have more? Or do you believe that should be all there is for Hook. Im asking for your opinion. A lot of us find Hook boring and the ship to be lackluster and poorly written. I think we could deal with that if he had more to do in the story. Its rarely happened but qhen it i have enjoyed . Snowing is often times boring but again, they play a much more prominent role with much more happening outside eachother.
Im not denying hes popular for whatever reasons people may have just as u shouldnt deny he is just as hated. I just disagree that he is on par with Regina in any way. Even here on this forum we’ve had a large anount of people leave because Hook was so polarizing here.
i kind of disagree that him being polarizing makes him popular. It makes it hard to have a discussion about hook that isnt singing his praises because no one wants to hear negative things about him. We can do that about other villains including Regina but when it comes to Hook things become difficult and i will repeat i think its just because a lot of the hook are primarily CS fans and are just content with the ship and cant see it from the perspective of those who liked hook but dont care for the ship.
"I could have the giant duck as my steed!" --Daniel Radcliffe
Keeper Of Tamara's Taser , Jafar's Staff, Kitsis’s Glasses , Ariel’s Tail, Dopey's Hat , Peter Pan’s Shadow, Outfit, & Pied Cloak,Red Queen's Castle, White Rabbit's Power To World Hop, Zelena's BroomStick, & ALL MAGICDecember 20, 2016 at 10:39 am #332246thedarkonedearieParticipanti kind of disagree that him being polarizing makes him popular. It makes it hard to have a discussion about hook that isnt singing his praises because no one wants to hear negative things about him. We can do that about other villains including Regina but when it comes to Hook things become difficult and i will repeat i think its just because a lot of the hook are primarily CS fans and are just content with the ship and cant see it from the perspective of those who liked hook but dont care for the ship.
And while I am no CS fan, I do think the ship is being written better than you do. But if you say that CS fans can’t hear anything negative about Hook, I think you could say the same for SF fans who are quick to find things wrong with Hook and dwell on them. It works both ways. You can’t say there is bias on one side and not on the other. My whole point was that other characters on this show get more passes, or at least their actions don’t get dwelled on as much as Hook’s, it seems. One example was when Hook took the book out this season and reminded Emma of who she was and that she can do anything she puts her mind to. Many fans were annoyed bc they felt it was just Hook being Emma’s lapdog again and only serving to act as her supportive boyfriend, when in fact, the scene was actually really sweet and continued to put Hook in a great light this year. But let’s say it was Robin telling that to Regina (like he did all the time and literally only served as her lapdog for years), many fans would have loved it. Robin was just as boring as Hook but people on this thread loved Robin and hate Hook. I had people tell me they shouldn’t have killed off Robin just bc he was poorly written and was boring. I was told that just because the writers didn’t flesh out his story and only used him as a support shoulder for Regina, that it didn’t mean he needed to die becasue it sends a bad message to families watching the show. Ok, well Hook is basically serving the same role here with Emma. Never once were people this annoyed over Robin’s role until AFTER he died. But with Hook, it’s completely different. And if you think that Robin getting a pass and Hook getting more scrutiny has nothing to do with inherent bias within the SF fan club who simply don’t care for Hook bc he’s not Neal, then I think we aren’t being honest with ourselves. And I think THAT is just one instance of the double standard Mike is referring to that can get quite annoying for people who are fans of Hook as a character.
December 20, 2016 at 11:25 am #332249PriceofMagicParticipantAnd while I am no CS fan, I do think the ship is being written better than you do. But if you say that CS fans can’t hear anything negative about Hook, I think you could say the same for SF fans who are quick to find things wrong with Hook and dwell on them. It works both ways. You can’t say there is bias on one side and not on the other. My whole point was that other characters on this show get more passes, or at least their actions don’t get dwelled on as much as Hook’s, it seems. One example was when Hook took the book out this season and reminded Emma of who she was and that she can do anything she puts her mind to. Many fans were annoyed bc they felt it was just Hook being Emma’s lapdog again and only serving to act as her supportive boyfriend, when in fact, the scene was actually really sweet and continued to put Hook in a great light this year. But let’s say it was Robin telling that to Regina (like he did all the time and literally only served as her lapdog for years), many fans would have loved it. Robin was just as boring as Hook but people on this thread loved Robin and hate Hook. I had people tell me they shouldn’t have killed off Robin just bc he was poorly written and was boring. I was told that just because the writers didn’t flesh out his story and only used him as a support shoulder for Regina, that it didn’t mean he needed to die becasue it sends a bad message to families watching the show. Ok, well Hook is basically serving the same role here with Emma. Never once were people this annoyed over Robin’s role until AFTER he died. But with Hook, it’s completely different. And if you think that Robin getting a pass and Hook getting more scrutiny has nothing to do with inherent bias within the SF fan club who simply don’t care for Hook bc he’s not Neal, then I think we aren’t being honest with ourselves. And I think THAT is just one instance of the double standard Mike is referring to that can get quite annoying for people who are fans of Hook as a character.
I used to absolutely hate Hook but this season, I actually kind of like him. He genuinely apologised to Belle for what he did to her and even offered to help her out, not because it benefitted him in any way, but because he genuinely wanted to help. THIS is the Hook we needed to see several seasons ago before Emma got together with him. I think the main issue with CS is the build up. There was no reason why Emma would’ve gotten with Hook when she did, other events which should’ve been important to Emma were ignored such as Neal’s death because that should’ve had an impact on Emma, in general the writers were lazy with developing Hook and rather than show him progress, they just told us he was redeemed. Considering the way he was introduced, more effort needed to be put in to make his “redemption” believable. Also, in the early days of CS, it did seem like Emma was spending all her time exclusively with Hook and other people such as Henry got forgotten. In fact this season, I’ve actually liked Hook more than Emma. When Belle came into the diner looking for a room to stay in, Emma disparaged Granny’s rooms (which was uncalled for IMO) yet did nothing to offer Belle an alternative place to stay. It was Hook who actually stepped up and offered Belle alternative accommodation. For the past couple of seasons, Hook has kind of been Emma’s lapdog but this season he does seem to be moving beyond Emma’s vicinity so good for him!
Robin was a wasted opportunity because he never moved past being Regina’s lapdog. For me OQ was more badly written than CS. At least with CS in the episode “Tallahassee” you can see the chemistry. With OQ, Robin had just literally met Regina, we find out later that EQ was responsible for Marian’s death, and yet Robin is completely unbothered by the fact that Regina was the EQ. Even though the audience knows Regina has changed, Robin shouldn’t know that so it would’ve been more natural for him to show some initial distrust of her, at least until she saved Roland from the flying monkey. The relationship could then be built from there. As it was, Robin immediately fancied Regina and what made it look even worse was that Ginny was visibly pregnant in the first episode of 3B so it looked like Robin helped Regina up but left a heavily pregnant woman lying on the floor.
All magic comes with a price!
Keeper of FelixDecember 20, 2016 at 11:46 am #332250thedarkonedearieParticipantI used to absolutely hate Hook but this season, I actually kind of like him. He genuinely apologised to Belle for what he did to her and even offered to help her out, not because it benefitted him in any way, but because he genuinely wanted to help. THIS is the Hook we needed to see several seasons ago before Emma got together with him. I think the main issue with CS is the build up. There was no reason why Emma would’ve gotten with Hook when she did, other events which should’ve been important to Emma were ignored such as Neal’s death because that should’ve had an impact on Emma, in general the writers were lazy with developing Hook and rather than show him progress, they just told us he was redeemed. Considering the way he was introduced, more effort needed to be put in to make his “redemption” believable. Also, in the early days of CS, it did seem like Emma was spending all her time exclusively with Hook and other people such as Henry got forgotten. In fact this season, I’ve actually liked Hook more than Emma. When Belle came into the diner looking for a room to stay in, Emma disparaged Granny’s rooms (which was uncalled for IMO) yet did nothing to offer Belle an alternative place to stay. It was Hook who actually stepped up and offered Belle alternative accommodation. For the past couple of seasons, Hook has kind of been Emma’s lapdog but this season he does seem to be moving beyond Emma’s vicinity so good for him! Robin was a wasted opportunity because he never moved past being Regina’s lapdog. For me OQ was more badly written than CS. At least with CS in the episode “Tallahassee” you can see the chemistry. With OQ, Robin had just literally met Regina, we find out later that EQ was responsible for Marian’s death, and yet Robin is completely unbothered by the fact that Regina was the EQ. Even though the audience knows Regina has changed, Robin shouldn’t know that so it would’ve been more natural for him to show some initial distrust of her, at least until she saved Roland from the flying monkey. The relationship could then be built from there. As it was, Robin immediately fancied Regina and what made it look even worse was that Ginny was visibly pregnant in the first episode of 3B so it looked like Robin helped Regina up but left a heavily pregnant woman lying on the floor.
I agree with everything you said here.
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