Relationships and Once Upon a Time

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!