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It’ll be Aladdin and Jasmine ‘cos they had their own Disney movie. But damn, I wish it was all four! I was hoping for Sinbad since 5X23. Scheherazade is also such an amazing woman. I could see her being friends with Belle. I’m also really glad that they’re finally drawing from the mythology of the Arabian Nights. The Nights are an absolute goldmine!
[adrotate group="5"]Here’s an interesting video on unconscious bias:
This applies to all walks of life, but explains neatly why OUAT and media more generally, continue to have such problems with representing diversity, despite claiming to have good intentions. The research has been around for a while now, and some companies are taking specific steps to counter hidden bias in areas like recruitment. It’s helping more women reach senior executive positions. I would really like to see the media industry do something similar. Biases are shaped by our environment, and the media is a huge part of our “cultural marinade”. If they’re not actively countering biases, they’re contributing to them.
Hmm, so it seems like people are divided both on whether he will retain his hook and whether he should.
There’s a couple of points I’d like to hone in on. The first is to do with the symbolism of the hook and how it links the character to his original mythology. Many people, including myself, have said that the hook represents Hook’s dark past. Some have also said that it’s what makes him him. For the sake of argument, I’m going to present a different interpretation here. Suppose the hook symbolized Hook’s heartbreak over Milah and his desire for revenge on Rumple? If that’s the show’s take on it – and it could be, then it would make sense for him to lose it once he was over those things. This interpretation also implies that Killian Jones is not limited to or defined by the persona of ‘Hook the pirate’. It’s just something he was for a period of his life, like Regina was the Evil Queen. Most people seem alright with Regina cutting ties with the EQ, so why is it different for Hook? Like we know the the EQ will always be part of Regina; we don’t need a physical reminder of that. So why do we need it for Hook? Does it boil down to the message about disability, or is there something about the character that would feel off if he was completely severed from his mythological roots?
My second point is to do with Hook being an amputee and therefore the show’s representation of people with a disability. In that case, do you think it is inappropriate to have people, eg. Regina, make derogatory remarks that reference this fact – calling him a “one handed pirate” for instance?
do you think we’ll see Belle as more Lacey like by the end of it?
Not exactly as “more Lacey like”, but I do hope we’ll see Lacey. I’d like to see Belle experience more power through Lacey and come to understand its allure. Not sure how that’s going to happen if Lacey’s a different person, but still. Conversely, I’d like to see Rumple get frustrated with Lacey’s bad behaviour. It’d help their relationship to walk in each other’s shoes for a bit.
1) No I don’t think he will. At the end of the day, he’s Captain Hook of Peter Pan and however far the writers want to push that redemption, they need to keep him tied to his original mythos.
Well, another way to look at it is that OUAT’s Hook is part of Killian Jones. Killian wasn’t always a pirate, nor was he always ‘Captain Hook’. It’s a similar situation to Regina and the EQ. So their take on it could be that the mythological character is just one personality that the more human Killian took on for a while. At the end of the day, I’m interested to see whether they WILL keep him tied to his original mythos, and if not, then what the audience’s reaction will be.
2) No I don’t want him to. First, I think there’s something disquieting saying that not being fully abled is somehow the same as being not whole or less than a “real man.” In the Apprentice episode Hook makes a comment that if his date with Emma goes well and she wants held, he needs to be able to do it with both hands. There’s just something….insulting to handicaped people with that line and train of thought.
Good point. Hook is an amputee.
3) To me, it represents something that many characters have touched on: once a pirate, always a pirate. It’s his link to his past, to his true nature, and to who he really is.
Agreed. But this is exactly why I think they will give him back his hand. They’ve been pushing his so called transformation pretty hard. If they want him to settle down and play happy families with Emma, having a reminder of his pirate past will only get in the way. Yes, it’s insensitive, but that’s almost a trademark of the show by now. They’ve already taken away much of his personality in trying to get CS to work, so why not go the whole hog?
Does anyone think that Hook will regain his hand at some point? I think he will, but only at the end. The hook is the defining characteristic of ‘Captain Hook the Wicked Pirate’. It symbolizes his dark past. That’s why they didn’t want him to lose it in S4; they want to play both sides of him as we’ve discussed before. But at the conclusion, they may well be happy to return his hand, thereby completing the transformation from pirate to soccer dad.
So…do people believe Hook will get his hand back? Would you want him to? What, if anything, do you think his hook symbolizes?
Since it’s been quiet recently, I thought I’d try and stimulate some discussion by resurrecting one of these character threads. Some questions to kick things off:
1) What do you think of Prince Charming’s character development over these last couple of seasons?
2) What, in your opinion, were some highlights for the character?
3) Do you think Charming has any interesting stories left in him?
4) Do you wish Charming had gotten more character development, or are you happy for him to play second fiddle to the strong female characters?
My answers:
1) His character, and Snow’s have been completely assasinated. Season 4 made them look hypocritical and immoral with the baby kidnapping plot. Season 5 made them look like incredibly stupid and incompetent parents. They left their newborn to traipse down to the Underworld!!! The writing’s been really bad for these two, and the more the show progresses, the worse it gets.
2) Being made a Knight of the Round Table. It didn’t last long, but it was just so perfect for Charming.
3) I’m of the opinion that Snow and Charming should take a back seat in S6 as they don’t contribute anything to the story any more. When they are given a plot, it feels silly and contrived. So, I want them off screen, as much to save them from further character assasination as anything else. Having said that, I can think of one more story for Charming which might be interesting. In 207 (‘Child of the Moon’) King George says to Charming, “You should have killed me when you had the chance!” As far as I recall, we never saw how Snowing captured George. So that might be a possibility.
4) Honestly, I don’t mind him playing second fiddle. Then again, perhaps Charming could have been made as interesting as the ladies, if written right. Part of his problem (for me) is that he’s just so unrelatable. He always meets any challenge with a Colgate smile and line from a motivational calendar. Hardly ever do we see any self doubt. You’d think that a shepard turned prince would have plenty of self doubt. It would have been fascinating to see Prince Charming struggle with feeling scared, or not being worthy of a princess.
This is so much fun! Now I want Zelena to become friends with Lisbeth Salander and feature in Millenium Book #5.
Maybe have Henry in high-school (Since Jared Gilmore is probably the only one of the regulars who would stay for the foreseeable future) and he can be a mystery solver
Maybe we’ll see Nancy Drew portalling in from fictional River Heights to partner him. 😉
There were other reasons for that too though. There was no creative freedom with Elsa and Anna and the arc suffered because of it. If they’d been allowed to explore the characters more, the Frozen arc could have been very interesting. They could’ve integrated Elsa into the OUAT storyline instead of the other way round (something which also caused resentment).
Also, Emma and co felt like they had far more potential at the start of S4 than they do now. Take this last half season. Emma, Hook, Snow and Charming really didn’t contribute much. I’d argue that it was Hades and Zelena who carried the arc. Their scenes had an energy about them that I found was missing with the other mains. In S6, I suspect it’ll be Regina, Rumple and Hyde doing the carrying. The worst of it is when they force a ridiculous situation just to give the mains something to do and assasinate the character as a result. Snow and Charming are a testament to that.
But I strongly suspect that they won’t upset the status quo. Not this close to the end.
Their best bet would be to make a spinoff sequel to the main series so that they could focus on new characters without demeaning the original. So have the spinoff’s characters appear in the main show at various points without dominating the show so the audience know them then end the main show and continue with the spinoff using the new characters. The audience would then know that this is the next “phase” or rather “chapter” of the show rather than a complete replacement and the original characters could even make cameos here and there to show that they are still in town eg the new characters go to the library and Belle is there.
I would be way more excited for a sequel than I would for Season 7. If they do have any ideas, then they should definitely do a back door pilot in S6.
