Today's Post is About Regina Mills
Dec. 5th, 2013 05:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
netgirl_y2k...and the possibility of redemption.
The first thing to say about Regina Mills is that I love her. When I was listing my favourite character archetypes the other day, I listed emotionally immature women, villains who change and grow without ever repenting, and queens. Had, during OUaT's development, someone from ABC called me and asked if I was primarily attracted to brunettes and whether I found lip scars sexy, I would have replied yes to both and they would have been able to say: boy, do we have a character for you!
That said, I do take issue with the section of her fans who are determined to insist that she can do no wrong, and that Snow was the one at fault. Snow has her flaws, to be sure, but nothing she has done can come close to Regina holding a decades long blood-feud against a child, and devoting years of her life to destroying that same child as a young woman. And surely, surely, the most interesting thing about Regina is that she is a tall, exquisitely dressed child, with enough magic to compel people to go along with her childish whims, and who is finally, finally being forced to grow up.
Seriously, watch the episode about Regina's first week in Storybrooke, where she tries to kidnap the boy Owen in one of the finest displays of emotional retardation and need for instant gratification that has ever been seen outside of a nursery school, where she goes and stamps her foot at Mr. Gold because the curse isn't making her happy. Watch the episode where she changes her appearance and spends some time in the woods with Snow White, where she completely fails to understand why the people she's ruling over as the Evil Queen don't love her. She casts the curse to get a do-over because she doesn't like the way her life's turned out, when post-curse her attempts to get Henry back, firstly by eschewing magic to win him back and secondly by siding with Cora to steal him back fail, she almost destroys Stroybooke trying to get another do-over.
So, Regina is four years old. And she wants what any child wants; family, love, acceptance. And because she's an incredibly powerful child she tries to force people to love her. And because she has a screwed up history with love - Cora, who couldn't love her; Daniel, who did and died for it; Snow, who wanted her love and which Regina was unable or unwilling to give - she either lashes out, or holds people too close, and drives them away.
But she's doing better. And in season 3, she's doing better all the time. I'm thinking particularly of the references to Henry as our son. Regina's maternal love for Henry was never in doubt to me, and was always the thing that made me think redemption was possible for her, but it always had this possessive, smothering quality. I think that earlier in the show Regina would have insisted on going off to save Henry herself (her son) even if it wasn't the best way. Now she's willing to work with Emma and the Charmings, and when she gets frustrated with their lack of progress she goes to find Rumple, and then brings him back to the group. Because it's okay (it's good, even) that other people love Henry and that he loves them, she knows now that it doesn't take anything away from her.
Regina's level self-awareness (which started somewhere in the negative-numbers) is also improving all the time, think of the scene by the tree where Regina enumerates some of her crimes: devastating the enchanted forest, torture, murder; I forget if she mentioned kidnapping, but oh boy, yes. Acknowledging that she's not the wronged party is a huge step, and one that a lot of villains, especially ones that we're meant to see as tragic or sympathetic, never get to.
So, yes, I think Regina is belatedly growing up and doing better all the time, and I think it's excellent and fascinating, and I hope the show keeps it up; along with her prickly friendship with Tinkerbell, and newfound ability to see Emma as anything other than the competition. Whether that qualifies as redemption--
The Evil Queen's crimes in the Enchanted Forest are legion; and until recently Regina's weren't much better (framing Mary Margaret for murder, the abduction of Kathryn Nolan) but one of the things I really like about morality in OUaT is that redemption is always possible; there are points (Snow White after Regina's massacre of an entire village, lots of fans after her rape of Graham) where people can quite rightly decide that they can't forgive you, and that they aren't willing to be in your life while you get the many, many hours of therapy you need to sort your shit out.
But no one is irredeemable, not even the Evil Queen.
The first thing to say about Regina Mills is that I love her. When I was listing my favourite character archetypes the other day, I listed emotionally immature women, villains who change and grow without ever repenting, and queens. Had, during OUaT's development, someone from ABC called me and asked if I was primarily attracted to brunettes and whether I found lip scars sexy, I would have replied yes to both and they would have been able to say: boy, do we have a character for you!
That said, I do take issue with the section of her fans who are determined to insist that she can do no wrong, and that Snow was the one at fault. Snow has her flaws, to be sure, but nothing she has done can come close to Regina holding a decades long blood-feud against a child, and devoting years of her life to destroying that same child as a young woman. And surely, surely, the most interesting thing about Regina is that she is a tall, exquisitely dressed child, with enough magic to compel people to go along with her childish whims, and who is finally, finally being forced to grow up.
Seriously, watch the episode about Regina's first week in Storybrooke, where she tries to kidnap the boy Owen in one of the finest displays of emotional retardation and need for instant gratification that has ever been seen outside of a nursery school, where she goes and stamps her foot at Mr. Gold because the curse isn't making her happy. Watch the episode where she changes her appearance and spends some time in the woods with Snow White, where she completely fails to understand why the people she's ruling over as the Evil Queen don't love her. She casts the curse to get a do-over because she doesn't like the way her life's turned out, when post-curse her attempts to get Henry back, firstly by eschewing magic to win him back and secondly by siding with Cora to steal him back fail, she almost destroys Stroybooke trying to get another do-over.
So, Regina is four years old. And she wants what any child wants; family, love, acceptance. And because she's an incredibly powerful child she tries to force people to love her. And because she has a screwed up history with love - Cora, who couldn't love her; Daniel, who did and died for it; Snow, who wanted her love and which Regina was unable or unwilling to give - she either lashes out, or holds people too close, and drives them away.
But she's doing better. And in season 3, she's doing better all the time. I'm thinking particularly of the references to Henry as our son. Regina's maternal love for Henry was never in doubt to me, and was always the thing that made me think redemption was possible for her, but it always had this possessive, smothering quality. I think that earlier in the show Regina would have insisted on going off to save Henry herself (her son) even if it wasn't the best way. Now she's willing to work with Emma and the Charmings, and when she gets frustrated with their lack of progress she goes to find Rumple, and then brings him back to the group. Because it's okay (it's good, even) that other people love Henry and that he loves them, she knows now that it doesn't take anything away from her.
Regina's level self-awareness (which started somewhere in the negative-numbers) is also improving all the time, think of the scene by the tree where Regina enumerates some of her crimes: devastating the enchanted forest, torture, murder; I forget if she mentioned kidnapping, but oh boy, yes. Acknowledging that she's not the wronged party is a huge step, and one that a lot of villains, especially ones that we're meant to see as tragic or sympathetic, never get to.
So, yes, I think Regina is belatedly growing up and doing better all the time, and I think it's excellent and fascinating, and I hope the show keeps it up; along with her prickly friendship with Tinkerbell, and newfound ability to see Emma as anything other than the competition. Whether that qualifies as redemption--
The Evil Queen's crimes in the Enchanted Forest are legion; and until recently Regina's weren't much better (framing Mary Margaret for murder, the abduction of Kathryn Nolan) but one of the things I really like about morality in OUaT is that redemption is always possible; there are points (Snow White after Regina's massacre of an entire village, lots of fans after her rape of Graham) where people can quite rightly decide that they can't forgive you, and that they aren't willing to be in your life while you get the many, many hours of therapy you need to sort your shit out.
But no one is irredeemable, not even the Evil Queen.