Yes, I too wondered why they wanted to have a baby boom while on the run with NO FOOD, LIKE AT ONE POINT THEY ACTUALLY RUN OUT OF FOOD. It's why I also always never bought those arguments some fans used to bring up early on that they should have brutally only taken those most likely to survive with them, ditching old people and kids and stuff because, well basically that only works if you know you're going to find a safe place right around the corner and restart; if you're going to be living for years, possibly more than a generation on a ship, you need a staggered population.
Honestly, they pretty much did nothing WITH the Arabian Fables women except...dress them up and let them be oppressed. :( I have some thoughts on this and the widening of the Fables world with new creators, but I will respond over on the Totenkinder thread.
Thanks for the information about Scheherezade! I never knew that - I never knew that her sister was such an integral part of her story. That's both fantastic, fascinating and yes, sad that it's gone. Especially since, while not free of potential problems, a far more interesting reimagination of the tale would have been for Snow to somehow take on the role of the sister/supporting female character so that it would still have been a tale about two women and a plan. Perhaps if Scherezade were still the bride, but colluded with Snow so that, in her role as ambassador, Snow asked to hear one final tale from Scherezade before such tales could no longer be heard. It's so sad when stories are so...wasteful of such great potential. :(
I'm honestly not sure what to say about Once Upon A Time. I don't really think that it is trying to be deconstructionist? I mean, sure, I guess it is on the level that there are attempts to make both Rumplestiltskin and Regina characters with reasons to be evil rather than cartoon characters and we have a more modern narrative structure. But I feel those are more concessions to our current storytelling mores rather than deliberate commentary on the nature of a fairytale. I think what Once Upon A Time is doing is...telling fairystories.
I think it's trying to modernise without criticising, rather than rebuilding through critical deconstruction. I want to believe that what it's trying to do is possible, but I waver wildly on how successfully it's achieving it. Its record on pretty much all issues save gender issues is abysmal. I had fairly high opinions of the way it had three female leads with complex relationships with each other on multiple levels, and I still really appreciate that, but I'm starting to seriously pissed at the way the fallout from Mary Margaret and David's affair is blowing back solely onto her in ways that can't be solely explained by the Mayor's personal vendetta and secret can of red spray paint.
Finally! I didn't even know the Vampire Diaries WERE a series of books. If they were pre-Twilight, I bet the author is seriously annoyed they missed the moment... ;)
And as I said, no worries on Fables. I'm enjoying it a lot right now, but I don't think it needs to be cocooned away from criticism, particularly not the criticism it's fairly obviously earned. My opinions may not be as harshly critical as yours on some issues, but I have the benefit of different OTCs, and a longer run where I got to power through more of the stuff I found distasteful and find more stuff I enjoyed. Plus, never, ever get me started on Jack of Fables! :p
no subject
Yes, I too wondered why they wanted to have a baby boom while on the run with NO FOOD, LIKE AT ONE POINT THEY ACTUALLY RUN OUT OF FOOD. It's why I also always never bought those arguments some fans used to bring up early on that they should have brutally only taken those most likely to survive with them, ditching old people and kids and stuff because, well basically that only works if you know you're going to find a safe place right around the corner and restart; if you're going to be living for years, possibly more than a generation on a ship, you need a staggered population.
Honestly, they pretty much did nothing WITH the Arabian Fables women except...dress them up and let them be oppressed. :( I have some thoughts on this and the widening of the Fables world with new creators, but I will respond over on the Totenkinder thread.
Thanks for the information about Scheherezade! I never knew that - I never knew that her sister was such an integral part of her story. That's both fantastic, fascinating and yes, sad that it's gone. Especially since, while not free of potential problems, a far more interesting reimagination of the tale would have been for Snow to somehow take on the role of the sister/supporting female character so that it would still have been a tale about two women and a plan. Perhaps if Scherezade were still the bride, but colluded with Snow so that, in her role as ambassador, Snow asked to hear one final tale from Scherezade before such tales could no longer be heard. It's so sad when stories are so...wasteful of such great potential. :(
I'm honestly not sure what to say about Once Upon A Time. I don't really think that it is trying to be deconstructionist? I mean, sure, I guess it is on the level that there are attempts to make both Rumplestiltskin and Regina characters with reasons to be evil rather than cartoon characters and we have a more modern narrative structure. But I feel those are more concessions to our current storytelling mores rather than deliberate commentary on the nature of a fairytale. I think what Once Upon A Time is doing is...telling fairystories.
I think it's trying to modernise without criticising, rather than rebuilding through critical deconstruction. I want to believe that what it's trying to do is possible, but I waver wildly on how successfully it's achieving it. Its record on pretty much all issues save gender issues is abysmal. I had fairly high opinions of the way it had three female leads with complex relationships with each other on multiple levels, and I still really appreciate that, but I'm starting to seriously pissed at the way the fallout from Mary Margaret and David's affair is blowing back solely onto her in ways that can't be solely explained by the Mayor's personal vendetta and secret can of red spray paint.
Finally! I didn't even know the Vampire Diaries WERE a series of books. If they were pre-Twilight, I bet the author is seriously annoyed they missed the moment... ;)
And as I said, no worries on Fables. I'm enjoying it a lot right now, but I don't think it needs to be cocooned away from criticism, particularly not the criticism it's fairly obviously earned. My opinions may not be as harshly critical as yours on some issues, but I have the benefit of different OTCs, and a longer run where I got to power through more of the stuff I found distasteful and find more stuff I enjoyed. Plus, never, ever get me started on Jack of Fables! :p