Rose Perkins: Once Upon a Time (Topic of my Own Choosing)

     One of my favorite shows right now is Once Upon a Time, a show that combines many of the fairy tales and Disney characters we all know and creates a new story with them all. Basically, a curse befalls the fairy tale characters and transports them to a town in the real world, where they do not remember who or what they are and time does not move. However, Snow White's daughter, Emma, is prophesized to be the savior. The show has seven seasons, though I have only watched two and a half thus far. The curse has been broken but the characters are still stranded in the real world. While watching an episode last night, I realized there are several points and ideas that relate to class. Including interior and exterior journeys and the second self. 

    Firstly, this show has many plot points each episode. It is a very fast paced show, and it manages to focus on each individual character. Being fairy tale characters, there are many physical journeys that manifest as exterior, including battling monsters, attempting to get back to the fairy tale world, and handling many evil beings. However, each character has their own interior journey as well, mainly focusing on their experiences with not knowing who they are and then suddenly regaining those memories. However, Emma likely has the most transformative journey. Learning that the reason she was abandoned as a child was because she was sent away by her fairy tale parents so she could save them from a curse was not an easy realization. Then, she has to go on the journey of discovering who she is as an individual while also meeting her family and breaking a curse. Her entire life is uprooted. Snow White also went through a challenging inner journey. She has had to figure out her emotions towards her husband and also to Emma, her daughter who is now the same age. She also has to navigate a complicated relationship with the evil queen, struggling with her good nature and the desire to kill individuals who harm her family. 

    Next, I noticed that the idea of a second self shows up in a very unique way in the show. Unlike the second self images we read about in our book, such as Patroclus being Achilles' second self, the show does not involve the second self image manifesting as a separate character. Instead, the second self image is created for each of the characters when their memories and fairy tale lives are wiped, and instead they are given new ordinary life memories in the real world. This, I feel, showcases a second self. In this case, it is the persona that exists if the characters were to live a normal life rather than being fairy tale characters. Some personality traits are the same, but not all. It is very interesting imagery when looking at it from the perspective of this class. Furthermore, when the curse is broken and the original memories return, the ordinary memories do not go away. Now, the characters are struggling with two different sets of memories being within their mind. This presents as a shock for many, and many struggle to handle the confusion and challenges of having both. Eventually, most characters begin to reconcile and come to terms with both sets of memories and figure out how to live their most fulfilling life with combining both memories. This represents the reconciling and acceptance of the second self, just as many heroes do in the myths we read about. It just occurs in a different way than we are used to seeing, but I believe it works the same way. The characters can now live their most authentic lives.  

    Overall, I had not noticed these parallels before, but now upon discussing them, they have become increasingly obvious to me. Both the interior and exterior journeys and the second self imagery relate greatly to the topics we have discussed in class this semester. 

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