On April 17, 2016, the latest episode of "Once Upon a Time" featured the story of how Ruby, Little Red Riding Hood, tried to save Dorothy. Viewers were aware of an implied lesbian relationship. The idea of true love’s kiss is something that fairy tales emphasize and is no new idea for this show. This show creates such an interesting way to look at fairy tales as being much more than what we were told growing up.
I'm all about watching a Disney Princess movie any day. To see this show create such interesting relationships, between unlikely characters, is a breath of fresh air that makes this TV show unique in its plot. While we still have Prince Charming and Snow White, we get to see a relationship with Rumpelstiltskin and Belle. We even get to see Captain Hook with Snow White and Prince Charming’s daughter, Emma Swan, also known as the Savior. Even the Evil Queen falls in love with Robin Hood. How crazy is that?
I could go on for ages about this show, but that’s not that the point I’m making. The point is that certain characters are not how they seem. We don’t know how a character might have become “evil.” It’s interesting to see how Ruby, Little Red Riding Hood and Dorothy Gale from Kansas would end up being in a relationship.
This is progressive, right? This show is about differences that deviate from what we know. It brings new ideas to the table. So why are people criticizing ABC for airing such a show? Gay marriage was legalized last year. I’m not trying to push any views on anyone about LGBT issues, but it’s more about why people are having such a hard time with both characters being portrayed as lesbians. True love’s kiss wasn’t in the form of just a man kissing the woman. Instead, you had two strong females share true love’s kiss.
What I find funny is that people believe this is a family show in general. While ABC does have ties with Disney, "Once Upon a Time" is in no way a family show. There are elements of fairy tales, but that doesn't mean it's for children. Disney just happened to make it more G-rated. No child should watch this show, unless they are fully aware of what happens through the series. There’s some violence and dark plots that can scare a child.
On top of this madness, I don’t see the problem with the show showing how it isn’t always a man coming to sweep the princess off her feet. At the end of the day, it’s a show. We see it all around us, and why shouldn’t it be on television? If you don’t like it, don’t watch it. I think that this is progressive. It makes unlikely stories that completely blow us away. Some people may complain that this isn’t what they grew up with, but the show decided to change it up to make them different. If you want your child to watch a G-rated Disney princess movie, show them that. It’s on the parents as well.
It’s not like the show is showing an intimate sex scene for all to see. I wouldn’t say that the show doesn’t push its boundaries of being more than just the typical fairy tale show, because it does. We also forget that the show had a lesbian interest with Mulan and Princess Aurora. Mulan fell in love with Aurora, but it was an unrequited love that Aurora never knew about. This was hinted a few seasons ago, but people seem to forget that it happened. I don’t even think that anyone really commented on Mulan’s lesbian love for Aurora, either. Isn’t that interesting?
The way I see it, people like to comment and judge on what they see on television, believing that it shouldn’t be aired based on their own individual views. We made fairy tales Disney-fied to the point where we forgot the origin of them having not-so-happy endings.
I don’t see the problem with the episode, because it just showed another true love’s kiss. There’s a family love kiss, like with Emma and her son when he was under the sleeping curse. Why not have two females have their moment of a lover’s kiss too? It’s still an amazing show that captures beautiful stories that I will continue to watch. "Once Upon a Time" has no fear in being progressive and showing the changes of the world and true love.
