Once Upon a Time and the Power of Narrative
The moral case for re-imagining the idea of powerful narratives for generations.
Fairy tales are powerful stories.
Most people grow up with some kind of fairy tale in their childhood which they admire. They see themselves in these stories and want to be a part of that world in some way. It's the reason why people continue to tell them over the years down through the generations. What they do is inspire us in some way, even if we don't necessarily know it. The most obvious way is how it creates the idea of a love story and how to fall in love, since so many of them have as a central aspect to them, a love story of some kind.
Whether it's Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty or Snow White, they keep getting repeated in various forms over the years. Yet every time it gets repeated, it gets re-imagined or reinterpreted in order to fit in with the time it's being released in. As this happens, we see the narrative evolve and change in so many interesting ways. Some of them become part of the story going forward, others get dropped in the next version either because they either didn't become popular or they don't work within the next version of the story.
This happens because people change over time. Those who live today are different and are living in different circumstances of previous generations. What remains the same however is the fact that it inspires people to see these stories play out. It gives people something to hope for. A thing to strive for that helps people through their more difficult moments. One of the biggest problems with these stories though is how they end up being so simple. The simplistic narratives of good versus evil and saving the damsel in distress have been one of the most consistent problems with these narratives.
Once Upon a Time is an attempt to address this problem within the context of these stories. To make them more complicated and nuanced then they have been in the past. By blending various fairy tales together, the story allows for more details to be revealed. More ideas to be explored in a deep in meaningful way. Perhaps one of the best examples of this is in the story of Snow White and Prince Charming.
Rather than the simple narrative of the Prince rescuing a helpless Snow, they end up saving each other. Back and forth they go rescuing one another from being injured or killed by some evil force. Creating a longer running story in which the two lovers fated to be together in which you see their relationship grow and evolve over time into something real and long lasting. And they're able to do this with so many other fairy tales as well. Giving them a power they've never had before while still retaining the magical wonder that inspires people to care about these stories in the first place.
Even the villains get their due, when the reasons for doing what they do are more understandable then a simple revenge plot. Regina the Evil Queen and Rumpelstiltskin come to mind in this regard. They allow you to be swept away in the beauty of the narrative on display.
Make yourself feel like a kid again and get swept away with Once Upon a Time.
It’s currently available on Disney+ and Amazon.