Once Upon A Time

Maybe you've heard about it, maybe not. If now, I highly recommend you go and look it up. Right now. Seriously, stop reading this, look it up, and then come back. In fact, watch all 3 seasons and then come back. It's great.

Ok fine, I know. That would take almost 3 straight days. All you really need to know (i guess) is that Once Upon A Time is a magical show, where "all your favorite fairy tale characters come to life, and are living in the real world". Snow White, the Evil Queen, Robin Hood, Prince Charming, Little Red Riding Hood, Belle. They are all there (here?), re-imagined in a way that doesn't fundamentally change who they are, but just expands upon and tweaks their stories a little. In an almost-semi-believable way.

And I am hooked.

I started watching with friend, then the semester got really busy and I had to put it away for a while. When I finally came back, it was like a book I couldn't put down. I marathoned episodes. When I got done watching it all (only after I finished though, mostly to avoid spoilers), I began to look up pictures and videos and interviews and clips, etc. In short, I became obsessed.

To those who know me, it is no secret that I love stories, especially those that are well told. And recently, I've started loving TV series' that tell a continuous story (rather than something like Big Bang Theory (which I still like), where the episodes can be watched individually and randomly without the audience being completely confused). I entered Storybrooke in much the same way I once entered Narnia or Middle Earth or Hogwarts, with no intention of coming back, at least just yet. A part of me will always live there now, I think, just I have never truly come home from through that wardrobe.

Because to me, it is more than just a show. It provides so much more than simple entertainment, as all good stories do. I think part of the reason I love Once Upon A Time so much is that I have never wanted to stop believing in the fairy tales I grew up with, and now I have a whole new ‘adult’ way to do it, complete with relate-able real life struggles, real life consequences, a new kind of magic, and character development. It’s so much more personal and real than the disney/grimm ones ever were, but without them I never would have love it so much. It ties together my past and my present, and maybe even my future, teaching me to have hope for days to come.

There is so much more I could say about this, and probably will in the future. But to anyone who is wary of OUAT, or confused as to why people like it so much, perhaps this will show you a little insight into why it is such a powerful, magical show.

(partial posted on my tumblr)