The
subject of LGBT characters on ABC’s hit show “Once Upon A Time” at times has
been both a tense and joyous topic. The fandom community of the show hasn’t
always agreed on how the show should approach this topic, but the fact it is a
topic at all says a lot about where our culture is in terms of acceptance
towards the LGBT community. As someone who comes from Hispanic background, I
understand what it’s like to watch TV and not see many representations of your
community. While there are many people working to make TV more diverse, the
discussion of LGBT characters on OUAT is an important discussion to have for
many reasons.
First, if you’re not already a fan, I’ll give you a brief
summary to put this in context. OUAT follows many classic fairy tale characters
from the Enchanted Forest who have been cursed to live in our modern world by
the Evil Queen, Regina Mills. They are frozen in time and have no memories of
their former lives. Before the curse, Prince Charming and Snow White sent their
newborn daughter, Emma Swan, through a magical wardrobe into our world where
she has grown up not knowing anything about where she is from or who her family
is, believing she was abandoned. When she turns twenty eight, the son she gave
up for adoption ten years ago, Henry, appears at her door to tell her she needs
to come to his hometown of Storybrooke to save her long lost family.She goes
with him, and the show continues from there”}
Since the show started, murmurs from the fandom community
have suggested Emma and Regina have sexual chemistry. The people who believe
the two should be in a romantic relationship are part of the SwanQueen
community. There are a number of reasons I don’t agree with this pairing, and
don’t feel it would make sense considering what is already revealed about the
characters. First off, I find it a little icky because of their family tree.
Regina is Snow White’s Stepmother, and Emma is Snow White’s daughter, so Emma
is kind of Regina’s granddaughter. That alone makes the pairing odd to me.
Also, neither of these characters have ever even been alluded to being gay or
bisexual. so for those characters, a lesbian relationship may be a bit of a
stretch or just would not fit with what we have been shown about these
character so far. In the end I would not really mind the two being put
together, but the writers of the show have made it clear that is not what they
have planned for the show, so I respect their decision.
However, there are some, a vocal minority I think I can
say, in the SwanQueen community who have taken this decision as a sign of
homophobic beliefs of the writers. They argue if violence or straight sexual
relationships can be shown on the show, so should gay or bisexual characters.
And I agree there should be diverse characters. But just because a storyline is
not going where you would like does not mean you are allowed to suggest a show
is homophobic. This is especially wrong to me because so many cast and crew
members are very open supporters of the LGBT community, and these accusations are
too extreme for what seems to be merely a creative decision by the writers.
Besides the fact I believe Regina and Emma should not be
together because of what I’ve already discussed, I have a huge problem with a
major argument many members of the SwanQueen community has put forth. I’ve
heard and read from many of them that Regina and Emma should be together
because they have clear and strong chemistry with each other. The chemistry
part I agree with. The two actresses play off each other very well and their
scenes are always very intense. The two characters do not get along and have a
tense relationship. They are portraying two women who are trying to do the best
for their son, there is no way those scenes wouldn’t be intense. In the second
season finale, Regina wants to sacrifice herself in order to save the rest of
the town. She wants to use her magic to prevent another curse coming over the
town, but by using that amount of magic she will die. Emma insist that while
she herself doesn’t have powerful enough magic to stop the curse, they can work
together and uses her magic with Regina to both stop the curse and allow Regina
to live. It was a beautiful scene that showed the two characters needed each
other whether they wanted to or not. But the belief that just because two women
have a bond or strong chemistry together means they need to jump into bed
together is a problem for me. It would be a problem if we were talking about the
same situation with a man and a woman.
I believe people can have connections with others and not
feel any sexual desire towards each other. There are people in my life, both
men and women, who I am very drawn to and felt an instant bond with when I
first met them. These are people I can talk to about anything and who I feel
just understand me on a deep level naturally. There are human connections that
we all have and need. I just don’t understand the argument Emma and Regina need
to be having sex in order to be in each other’s lives. To me, it’s an insulting
premise for both straight and gay people. There was a really sweet scene
between Regina and Emma a few episodes ago. It was also a Frozen illusion, so
of course I loved that. In the scene, Regina has locked herself in her office
after she goes through a very emotional and stressful event (I would go further
in detail but it’s a long story and I’ll just add it involves her boyfriend having
to break up with her). She’s devastated but Emma speaks through her through the
door, telling her that she won’t give up on Regina and she will make sure
Regina gets a happy ending. I thought this was perfect scene to show that even
though Emma and Regina may not always get along, they do want each other to do
happy at this point. I think this kind of message is a great one to be sending
to women. Look, you might not always be best friends with someone, but if you
can help make their life better somehow, you should try. Being there for someone
else, having empathy for someone else, is such an important part of life.
More recently, there has been backlash for Emma kissing
Captain Hook. Emma and her new love interest, Hook, shared a kiss on the season
premiere. It was not their first kiss. Again, I don’t want to be writing
episode summaries here, but I’ll give a little background to fill you in and
understand this incident. Emma and Hook have been flirting and trying to figure
out if they want to be in a relationship for a while now, but due to the
unstable nature of their lives, being together has not been really feasible. In
the season premiere, however, Hook tells Emma their lives will always be
unstable so they shouldn’t let life get in the way of their chance to be
together. Emma agrees she wants to be with Hook but then just is not the time.
They have this kind of talk throughout the entire episode. Nothing frantic,
nothing angry, just two adults figuring out their adult relationship. Towards
the end of the episode, when Hook yet again tells Emma their lives will always
be chaotic. Emma gives Hook a small peck and says “be patient”. To me, this was
nothing more than Emma saying with a kiss “I’m here and I want to be together,
just give me a little while.” However, a vocal minority in the SwanQueen fandom
have taken this kiss to somehow be anti-feminist because, according to some, this
is somehow the writers having Emma use her feminine sexuality to shut up Hook?
I’m honestly just baffled. At this point, it feels to me that certain members
are contorting parts of the show to fit something they already believe. It
almost makes me laugh because this is something I’ve always been warned against
as a historian. It’s very easy to misuse or manipulate evidence to fit your
theory. Throwing around a phrase like anti-feminist because Emma shared a kiss
with a man? I think some people in this fandom need to take a step back, take a
deep breath and really think if they believe what they are saying is true.
The writers have told the Swan Queen community from the
beginning that while Regina and Emma will never be in a romantic relationship,
there would be characters from the LGBT community. Sure enough this promise
came true this season with the character of Mulan. When Emma and Snow
accidently get sent to the Enchanted Forest, they meet Mulan and Aurora,
Sleeping Beauty, who are looking for a way to save Prince Philip. As the four
make their way through the Enchanted Forest, there is some indication that
Mulan has feelings for Phillip. The two had spent a long time together before
when they were trying to find Aurora to wake her up from her cure. Mulan having
feelings for Prince Philip was never really explicitly said, so I understand if
other fans say she had no such feelings or if the writers wanted you to think
she had feelings for Philip but it was Aurora all along. As time goes on, it
becomes clear Mulan does have romantic feelings for Aurora. Once Philip and
Aurora are reunited, Mulan debates whether she should admit her feelings to
Aurora or go to live with Robin Hood and his band of merry men. She builds to
courage to tell Aurora, but not before Aurora tells her she is pregnant with
Philip’s baby. It is then Mulan makes the decision to leave and go with Robin
Hood. It is clear Mulan is very happy for her friend. To me, Mulan leaves
because of how much she cares for Aurora. She wants her to be happy, which she
clearly is with her husband, but living near her friend and not being able to
tell her the truth is too difficult for her.
The scene where Mulan leaves was both beautiful and
painful to watch. It was someone sacrificing their own wants so someone they
loved could be happy. I’ve seen straight couples on TV have to make this same
painful decision, but never a gay character, and it was nice to see diversity
in the show. Having Mulan be gay was important to me, besides the need for
diversity in TV, for a few reasons. First, OUAT is show that is targeted
towards families, as it’s on a family channel (ABC) and is on in the early
evening. The fact this kind of character is no longer not considered family
appropriate by a major network is progress in my mind. The other nice thing
about Mulan being gay was not what I heard about the choice, but what I didn’t
hear. I didn’t hear any group protesting the show or channel, like when
JCPenney chose Ellen Degeneres as their spokesperson and the company was
boycotted. In fact, most articles I read about Mulan’s sexuality were praising
the show for having a gay character or sympathizing with Mulan’s difficult
choice. The world has a long way to go when it comes to diversity on tv TV and
acceptance of the LGBT community, but the small step of having a gay character
on OUAT shows the progress that is slowly coming.
In no way am I saying it’s wrong for someone to write a
fanfic with Emma and Regina together or it’s wrong just to wish they could be
together. But flat out harassment from this vocal minority is wrong and is not
feminist, as many of them claim to be. As a feminist, I’m never going to tell
women it’s wrong to have platonic but deep relationships with women. In a society
where we are constantly told as women our only interaction with other women is
competition, I think this is a negative message to be sending out. Why can’t
these women just have a relationship? What is wrong with that? I like having a
show that shows women being in each other’s lives in such a complex, passionate
relationship and cannot wait to see what more the writers have to offer us!
