The series Once Upon a Time takes a twist on the typical Disney version of fairytales that we all have come to know and love. Fairytales, in themselves, follow a very modern and predictable script. When you watch a Disney fairy tale, you are certain of a few things: 1) there will be a love story with a happy ending, 2) an evil queen/sorcerer or bad force is going to challenge the couple, and 3) in the end, good overcomes evil. These main points are never skipped or altered much in the typical modern Disney fairytale. ABC’s Once Upon a Time takes the ideal, modern world of fairytales and rips it apart throwing the characters into a turmoil-filled postmodern world.
Without getting into too many complex details of the show, the premise pits good vs. evil against each other in multiple Disney and Grimm fairytales. The main characters are Snow White and Prince Charming against the Evil Queen. In attempts to ruin their happy ending, the Evil Queen placed a curse on the Snow and Charming’s land. The curse erased everyone’s memory and placed them into a horrible, dark and miserable place: current day USA in a little town called Storybrooke. The curse wears off throughout an eventful and exciting season (which I will not completely spoil) and the characters are left trapped in a confusing new land.
According to the postmodern perspective, the postmodern world: explodes notions of dualism, leaves individual identity unclear, and the world is unstable. The show Once Upon a Time exemplifies these core principles. The notion of dualism typical in the modern fairytale world does not exist in the postmodern Storybrooke. No individual is solely good or evil; there is a lot of grey area. The Evil Queen(Regina) has an adopted son and you see that she has some good in her heart. At the same time, she will kill and do whatever evil tasks necessary to get what she wants. Individual identity for all characters is extremely unclear in this series. In modern fairy tales, everyone has a specific and simple role to play. In Once Upon a Time, characters were cursed and sent to a new land, forcing them to adopt new identities. Their names changed, jobs changed and they no longer knew any of their family. Once awoken from the curse, though aware of their true selves, their identities are constantly shifting. There are magical battles and duels going on (good vs. whoever decides to be evil at the moment) and yet individuals still have to assume their other roles: librarian, waitress, teacher etc. There is constant dissonance between the identity of their true selves and their cursed selves. Finally, the world is extremely chaotic and unstable. Compared to the happiness and joy of their old kingdom, Storybrooke is ridden with turmoil. Since the curse has lifted, there are only a few individuals who have access to magic and wreak havoc on the town. Regina(Evil Queen) and Mr. Gold(Rumplestilskin) both have access to magic in Storybrooke and use it to get what they want. Even more troubling, the town is at risk of being discovered by those not from the old land. A tourist has visited the town and witnessed magic being done, and now their entire world is at risk of being exposed. Between magic being in the wrong hands and the risk for being discovered by outsiders, Storybrooke is a rather dangerous and chaotic town to be living in.
Fairytales can be considered a modern theory based society; there is a specific order, reason and certainty to the way things are. Good always wins out over evil, the guy always gets the girl and there is always a lesson embedded in the happily ever after ending. In ABC’s Once Upon a Time, the modern world of fairytales is turned on its head as the characters are placed in a present day, postmodern society. The dualistic battle between good and evil is muddled as characters are constantly switching sides. Characters struggle with personal identity crisis over who they are in the postmodern Storybrooke society versus who they are based on the modern society. With magic in the hands of unpredictable characters and the fear of being caught by outsiders, Storybrooke is a chaotic mess of a town. In sum, twisting the typical fairytale and Disney classics into an unpredictable postmodernist mess sheds a new light on iconic characters and makes for a fascinating television series.
Featherstone, Mike. 1991. “Modern and Post-Modern”. Pp. 424-433 in Social Theory: Roots and Branches, edited by Peter Kivisto. Los Angeles: Roxbury Publishing.
Without getting into too many complex details of the show, the premise pits good vs. evil against each other in multiple Disney and Grimm fairytales. The main characters are Snow White and Prince Charming against the Evil Queen. In attempts to ruin their happy ending, the Evil Queen placed a curse on the Snow and Charming’s land. The curse erased everyone’s memory and placed them into a horrible, dark and miserable place: current day USA in a little town called Storybrooke. The curse wears off throughout an eventful and exciting season (which I will not completely spoil) and the characters are left trapped in a confusing new land.
According to the postmodern perspective, the postmodern world: explodes notions of dualism, leaves individual identity unclear, and the world is unstable. The show Once Upon a Time exemplifies these core principles. The notion of dualism typical in the modern fairytale world does not exist in the postmodern Storybrooke. No individual is solely good or evil; there is a lot of grey area. The Evil Queen(Regina) has an adopted son and you see that she has some good in her heart. At the same time, she will kill and do whatever evil tasks necessary to get what she wants. Individual identity for all characters is extremely unclear in this series. In modern fairy tales, everyone has a specific and simple role to play. In Once Upon a Time, characters were cursed and sent to a new land, forcing them to adopt new identities. Their names changed, jobs changed and they no longer knew any of their family. Once awoken from the curse, though aware of their true selves, their identities are constantly shifting. There are magical battles and duels going on (good vs. whoever decides to be evil at the moment) and yet individuals still have to assume their other roles: librarian, waitress, teacher etc. There is constant dissonance between the identity of their true selves and their cursed selves. Finally, the world is extremely chaotic and unstable. Compared to the happiness and joy of their old kingdom, Storybrooke is ridden with turmoil. Since the curse has lifted, there are only a few individuals who have access to magic and wreak havoc on the town. Regina(Evil Queen) and Mr. Gold(Rumplestilskin) both have access to magic in Storybrooke and use it to get what they want. Even more troubling, the town is at risk of being discovered by those not from the old land. A tourist has visited the town and witnessed magic being done, and now their entire world is at risk of being exposed. Between magic being in the wrong hands and the risk for being discovered by outsiders, Storybrooke is a rather dangerous and chaotic town to be living in.
Fairytales can be considered a modern theory based society; there is a specific order, reason and certainty to the way things are. Good always wins out over evil, the guy always gets the girl and there is always a lesson embedded in the happily ever after ending. In ABC’s Once Upon a Time, the modern world of fairytales is turned on its head as the characters are placed in a present day, postmodern society. The dualistic battle between good and evil is muddled as characters are constantly switching sides. Characters struggle with personal identity crisis over who they are in the postmodern Storybrooke society versus who they are based on the modern society. With magic in the hands of unpredictable characters and the fear of being caught by outsiders, Storybrooke is a chaotic mess of a town. In sum, twisting the typical fairytale and Disney classics into an unpredictable postmodernist mess sheds a new light on iconic characters and makes for a fascinating television series.
Featherstone, Mike. 1991. “Modern and Post-Modern”. Pp. 424-433 in Social Theory: Roots and Branches, edited by Peter Kivisto. Los Angeles: Roxbury Publishing.