Once Upon a Blog

Once Upon a Time is a drama series on ABC about fairy tale characters that are sent to the “real world” (Storybrooke, Maine), because of a curse cast by the Evil Queen. The characters lost their memories because of the curse, so they live each day not knowing who they really are; until “the savior” comes to Storybrooke and changes everything. 

As the seasons progress, the viewer is introduced to numerous fairy tale characters they had always heard of but this series changes the story lines. Every episode reveals the mystery behind each character by showing flashbacks of their life years ago in the “Enchanted Forest”. Each of these fairy tale characters are connected in some way, and the old bedtime stories you heard as a kid, aren’t as they seemed to be. 

The backstory behind each of these characters is what ties each season together. During an interview with NPR in 2011, the Executive Producer Edward Kitsis said "You know, the Evil Queen can't just be evil because she's evil, she was made evil. In fact, she's more tortured and sad than she is just evil.” This quote explains more than just the background behind Regina, the Evil Queen, it explains how each character has a reason for the way they act. In relation to people today, the way someone lives each day and how they act doesn’t happen overnight. There is more to a person than what meets the eye and that is why fans have such a connection to these characters and to the show itself. As the countdown beings for the fourth season, premiering on Sunday Sept. 28, fans are starting to go crazy on social media, along with the actors/actresses promoting the series.

Critics are saying that although Once Upon a Time is based on fairy tale characters it is not age appropriate for young children because of violence and minor sex scenes. However they mention the show being unique because of the way the stories are blended together creating a population of previously unrelated fair tale characters. According to Common Sense Media, “this well crafted tale has multi-generational appeal, but its adult themes are best reserved for teens.”

The website, Rotten Tomatoes, reports that 78% of critics gave the first season a positive review. The critics say that the show is “charming and fanatical, Once Upon a Time is tonally uneven but derives strength from an outstanding cast and handsome visuals.” As far as criticizing season four, critics say that “the addition of a Frozen subplot feels like a marketing angle.” Will the Once Upon a Time fans react differently to this season because of that reason or will they continue their phenomena for the series as the did for the previous three seasons?

There are many fan based websites such as Once Upon a Fans and Storybrooke.net. The fans on these websites and many others just like it, call themselves Oncers. On the Once Upon a Fans page, Oncers are able to create their own online profile to connect with other Oncers and share photos and videos. This profile can remain anonymous and as it seems, many fans take advantage of this and have user names reflecting the characters in the show. Anyone can contribute to these websites which allows the fans to communicate easily and express their thoughts and ideas freely. This creates a community between fans and makes them feel a sense of belonging.

Fans of Once Upon a Time are all over twitter as well. The shows confirmed Twitter page has over 798K followers. Fans are using the hashtags #onceuponatime and then #onceisfrozen while talking about Season 4. They are tweeting about waiting for the new season, short clips/photos of the previous seasons and tweeting fan artwork. The fans, creators and actors are all on the same level of communication. Jennifer Morrison who plays Emma Swan, is just one example of the actors connecting with fans. She replies back to fans and retweet fan art for others to see almost every day. The excitement of the fans when they receive a response is indescribable. 

The participatory culture around Once Upon a Time goes beyond websites and social media. These Oncers are taking it a step further by attending events such as Comic-Con and Dragon Con. Comic-con is a large comic book and popular arts convention. Dragon Con is similar to Comic-con only with a fancier explanation. According to their website, Dragon Con is “largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction & fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the universe”. At these conventions, these super fans dress up as their favorite character and meet the rest of the fan community to bring these virtual connections to life. On top of building relationships with each other, Oncers were able to meet some actors and actresses from the Once Upon a Time cast. Their appearances at these conventions involved autograph signings and interviews.

Facebook

Comic-Con 1,021,107 likes

Dragon Con 112,890 likes

Twitter

Comic-Con- 545K Followers

Dragon Con- 37.7K Followers

Instagram

Comic-Con- 43K Followers

Dragon Con- Non-Existent

It was interesting to see the online communities focused around the series, as well learning about these conventions and seeing how so many fans were attracted to this type of culture. When dealing with virtual communities it is easy to see the negative effects; the chance of people being so comfortable living from behind a computer screen that they aren’t getting the chance to build real relationships and talk face-to-face. However in communities such as this one, these fans are able to meet face-to-face at a convention and still feel the sense of belonging because they share a common interest. 

Often times, the media portrays women as pretty, emotional, and sensitive. These stereotypes have been around for years, defining society’s view on femininity. Sex is biological but gender and how a woman or man is perceived through the eyes of society is molded by popular culture. Gender representation in the media is important to examine because our society is focused around what is presented to us. Women’s role in society has evolved over the years however the stereotypes presented through the media remains. ABC’s television series, Once Upon a Time,  demonstrates an example of a counter-stereotype for women portrayed through the media. The series challenges the old fashion views of women in both fairytales and society. It creates characters that push the boundaries and presents a new example of representation of women in the 21st century.

Think back to the fairytales you heard over and over again as a kid. The princess was the focus, but she was always saved by her prince. In many fairytales, the princess was weak, waiting for a prince, wanting beauty and riches. Take Cinderella for example, she is sad and emotional, cleaning the house, and in an instant she becomes beautiful and Prince Charming turns her life around. Now think of Sleeping Beauty and Snow White; both cursed and saved by a Prince. These stories represent women as weak and vulnerable and present the assumption that women need a man to succeed in life.

The television series, Once Upon a Time, portrays just the opposite. For a show that is based around fairytales, it is not your typical damsel in distress storyline. Many of the female characters have a much different role than the typical casting for women. Once Upon a Time shows another side of each fairytale, and this time women hold the power. In this series, Snow White is more than just a princess who eats a poisonous apple. She is a courageous, skilled adventurer, who can shoot a bow and arrow and actually, she was known as a thief for some time. Snow White has a daughter in the series, Emma Swan, the savior. The character of Emma Swan is not the typical role in television played by a female. Emma was an orphan raised in the foster care system. Once Emma was out of the foster care system she started breaking and entering and got in trouble with the police for stealing. She became pregnant at the age of 18 and gave her child up for adoption. Upon moving to Storybrooke, she became a bail bondsman, and carries her gun everywhere she goes. She is strong, smart and not very emotional, unlike the typical stereotype given to women.

Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA conducted research on the relationships between diversity and the Hollywood entertainment industry. The study tested the inclusion of diverse groups, the underrepresented groups, implications of diverse industry access and media images for society as a whole. This included minorities of race and gender. The result of this research found that  “the dominant agencies, important gatekeepers for the film and television production process, tended to load their talent rosters with white male directors, show creators, writers, and leads, largely to the exclusion of minority and female talent.” (Hunt, Ramon, Price, Allen, Fuentes & Winder, 2014, p. 28) Considering that this research was done in 2014, we can assume that women are still being discriminated in the film industry when being hired for both leading roles and behind the camera positions. If the majority of the Hollywood entertainment industry is discriminating women in the hiring process, then most women in the media are going to be underrepresented as well because there are not enough women to make a difference in the industry. If the majority of our society’s media is coming from the Hollywood entertainment industry, then the stereotypes of women in the media are going to be consistent to the way they always have been. Once Upon a Time is one of the outliers in television, expanding counter-stereotypes of women and how they are perceived through media. The writers, directors and creators of Once Upon a Time mimic the Ralph J. Bunche Center research. Both of the series’ creators are men and almost all of the writers and directors are male as well. Based on this information, the portrayal of women in the series is surprising along with the series having strong female leads.

Once Upon a Time should’t be classified as feminist show; however, the series does have many other characters, including Snow and Emma, with feminist tendencies. The male characters in the show are strong, confident and adventurous which in theory, fits the male stereotype. Once Upon a Time balances these stereotypes of men and women, so that men do not have a hierarchy over women in any battle. For women, this balance is appreciated, especially from a feminist standpoint, but some men may not be so pleased with this view. Men feel emasculated when a women could potentially have power over them. For example, Don Nilsen and Alan Nilsen believe that “when control is taken away from a man he is said to be emasculated” (as cited in Erlendson, 2011, p. 4). Assuming this statement is true, if men do not have dominant roles in a series it decreases their interest in the show. The trend that is reoccurring across popular culture is that the gender of the main character decides the audience. If the plot of a series is based around a women, the assumption is that men should not be interested.

Once Upon a Time’s protagonist is female, however the series is not about flowers, love and candy. So what prevents the male audience from watching. According to an article by S.E Smith on Global Comment, stereotypically, men are interested in violence and action. Based on the plot of Once Upon a Time, you would assume the audience would consist of more men when that is not the case. The title of the show however is deceiving. Men do not want to watch, or admit to watching a television series about fairytales and princesses. Knowing this information, the producers of Once Upon a Time targeted women viewers. Which could potentially be the exact reason why females have such strong roles in the series. This could be a disadvantage for Once Upon a Time because it eliminates a large audience and potential profit. Even though the series presents male and females as equal, the perception of a man may be different.

The underlying messages and ideologies about gender in Once Upon a Time challenge those seen in other popular shows on television. According to Holtzman and Sharpe (2014) “Gender ideology in entertainment media is hegemony---that is socialization without the use of force—at its subtle best. TV entertainment executives, directors, producers, and advertisers do not participate in hegemony because they are evil. They participate in perpetuating stereotypical images of women and men because those images, and the products and program they help to sell, generate profits and because profit-driven capital expansion is the world in which they live quite comfortably and from which they derive tremendous benefits.” (Holtzman & Sharpe, 2014, p.111)  If what Holtzman and Sharpe wrote is summarizing the general media, then Once Upon a Time is set apart from this idea. This series pushes the envelope to create a different atmosphere for women in television. According to them this could have potentially effected the show’s profits. The series however is on it’s 4th season and is expecting even higher profits after their collaboration with Disney’s Frozen.

The counter-stereotypes present in Once Upon a Time can potentially raise awareness of viewers while consuming other media. Holtzman and Sharpe (2014) also mention that people are often so aware of being amused by popular media that they are less likely to be aware of the stereotypes portraying masculinity and femininity, defining what it means to be a “real” man or a “real” woman. (Holtzman & Sharpe, 2014, p.111) Once Upon a Time viewers may notice the differences in the way women and men are portrayed in comparison to other forms of media. Which could potentially challenge other television shows and the descriptions of women characters.

The gender representation in this series breaks the boundaries set by the general media. Once Upon a Time contributes to feminist activism, focusing on women’s independence, power and intelligence. Connecting this back to the original fairytales, the stories are quite different. If the writers were to incorporate the character traits of the princesses in the old stories, the ratings would not be as high. The shows individuality comes from the creativity and development of characters that challenges the status quo. 

Fans of ABC’s television series, Once Upon a Time, have created an online community between themselves and the actors in the series. This community consists of fan websites, blogs, Twitter pages and more. The actors from the series are able to communicate back with the fans and create relationships between each other. This involvement of the fans relates to the theories of wishful identification and character identification. When the fans identify themselves with the character and/or actor in real life, it leads them to create para-social relationships. The fans of Once Upon a Time are known as Oncers, this term is used for people who are ultimately obsessed with the series. After examining the posts and content within these online communities, it is clear that a fan’s involvement with the shows extends beyond the moment of viewing, and identification has become a phenomenon within the group.

Wishful Identification is often defined as the desire to be like or become like the character in a series. Hoffner & Buchanan (2005) found that “Bandura (1986, 2001) contended that the modeling process goes far beyond simple imitation of behavior, to include the changing of attitudes, values, aspirations, and other characteristics to match those of a model.” Studies have also found that physical appearance was related to wishful identification, especially for girls. Once Upon a Time fan, @Ouatkillianswan, tweeted on 11/14/14 to Jennifer Morrison, who plays Emms Swan, “YOU ARE MY IDOL JEN”. Jennifer Morrison is physically attractive and the female fan expressed her desire to be like her through Twitter. When looking at the actions and involvement of fans in this way, the desire to be like the character provides motivation for the fan to model the behaviors, attitudes and emotions of the actress, which is consistent to the social cognitive theory. The fans of Once Upon a Time show admirable qualities to the celebrities through social media and blogs.

Character identification occurs when the audience members/fans have a sense of shared likeness with and understanding of a media figure. (Schuh, J., 2010) Often times the fan is able to connect with the character through similarities, for example gender, race, or personality characteristics. Schuh (2010) discusses how audiences relate to television characters by relating their involvement to the definition of identification from Schramm, Lyle, and Parker (1961), “the experience of being able to put oneself so deeply into a television character – feel oneself to be so like the character – that one can feel the same emotions and experience the same events as the character is supposed to be feeling and experiencing”. Once Upon a Time fans exhibit this type of identification while watching the show. For example Once Upon a Time fan, @sunchick116 tweeted on 11/16/14, “@Jared_Gilmore Emma’s making me sad. It’s like how I feel when people don’t wanna be around me. :( #OUAT”. This tweet was a reply back to actor, Jared Gilmore, who plays the character of Henry in the series, when he asked the fans what they were thinking about that night’s episode. Hoffner & Buchanan (2005) refer to this type of identification as “the process by which an individual puts him or herself in the place of a character and vicariously participates in the character’s experiences during a program.” @sunchicck116 was invested with the emotions of the character during the show that they felt the emotions of the character and went further to relating it to their own experiences in real life. Fans take their emotions a step further by interacting with the celebrities on social media which creates an intense para-social relationship.

Para-social relationships form when the fan knows a lot about the celebrity but the knowledge is not reciprocated. For Oncers, these relationships are normal and they share their admiration for the characters amongst each other in fans groups creating a phenomenon. Schuh (2010) defines para-social interactions as “the way an audience “knows” a media figure “in somewhat the same way they know their chosen friends: through direct observation and interpretation of his appearance, his gestures and voice, his conversation and conduct in a variety of situations”. Long-term identification with a media character is when the audience member takes the relationship beyond viewing by bringing it into the media world. (Hoffner, C., & Buchanan, M. 2005)  Oncers demonstrate this social interaction each day by responding and tweeting to the actors and actresses in the series. Some fans take it so far to express their emotions through fan art and long paragraphs about how the actor effected them. For example, @pxrrillasbitch tweeted to Lana Parrilla who plays the Evil Queen, saying “you’re my everything! I love you” followed by a pic stitch with a letter she wrote for the actress. The letter basically expresses her love for the actress and how when the actress smiles, she smiles. It is clear that this Oncer has an intense para-social relationship with actress, Lana Parrilla and identifies herself with the character during and after the show.

In today’s society it is easy for fans to escalate their admiration for a celebrity and form strong para-social relationships. These para-social relationships for some fans relate to wishful or character identification. Character identification is present for many of the fans because the majority of them are female. As previously noted, women have strong leading roles in Once Upon a Time and challenge the stereotypes in the media. The fans support and show their passion for the series by attending events, and being present on social media and fan-based websites.

Hunt D., Ramon A., Price Z., Allen A., Collins J., Fuentes M., & Winder T. (2014). 2014 Hollywood diversity report: Making sense of the disconnect. 1-28. Retrieved from http://www.bunchecenter.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/2014-Hollywood-Diversity-Report-2-12-14.pdf

Vest, D. (1992). Prime-time pilots: A content analysis of changes in gender representation. Journal Of Broadcasting And Electronic Media, 36(1), 25-43.

Lauzen, M. M., & Deiss, D. (2009). Breaking the fourth wall and sex role stereotypes: An examination of the 2006-2007 prime-time season. Sex Roles, 60(5/6), 379-386.

Morreale, J. (1998). Xena: Warrior princess as feminist camp. Journal Of Popular Culture, 32(2), 79.

Ellis, D. G., & Armstrong, G. (1989). Class, gender, and code on prime-time television. Communication Quarterly, 37(3), 157-169.

Holtzman, L., & Sharpe, L. (2014). Media messages: What film, television, and popular music teach us about race, class, gender, and sexual orientation (2nd ed., p. 111). NY: M.E. Sharpe.

Erlendson, J. (2011). Demeaning males across media: Three recurring themes. California Polytechnic State University.1-26.

About the show. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://abc.go.com/shows/once-upon-a-time/about-the-show

Ula, N. (n.d.). Fairy-tale adaptations: It's ever after, all right. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/2011/10/20/141522257/fairy-tale-adaptations-its-ever-after-all-right

'Once Upon a Time' star Ginnifer Goodwin on snow's latest quest. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/once-upon-a-time-star-ginnifer-goodwin-on-snows-latest-quest-20130928

Schuh, J. (2010). The effects of involvement with celebrities: examining similarity identification, wishful identification, and parasocial interaction in a celebrity effects model. Conference Papers -- International Communication Association, 1.

Hoffner, C., & Buchanan, M. (2005). Young adults' wishful identification with television characters: The role of perceived similarity and character attributes. Media Psychology, 7(4), 325-351. doi:10.1207/S1532785XMEP0704_2

Hasson, G. (n.d.). Gamasutra: Guy Hasson's blog - story design tips: Identifying with characters. Retrieved from http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/GuyHasson/20111207/90754/Story_Design_Tips_Identifying_with_Characters.php

Green, S. (2012, February 14). Fairy tales and gender stereotypes.Retrieved October 22, 2014, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/samara-green/fairy-tales-and-gender-st_b_1273872.html

MediaSmarts. (n.d.). Retrieved October 24, 2014, from http://mediasmarts.ca/backgrounder/little-princesses-and-fairy-tale-stereotypes

Gender stereotypes in media: Once Upon a Time. (n.d.). Retrieved October 24, 2014, from http://mediastereotype.blogspot.com/2013/03/once-upon-time.html

Once Upon a (feminist) Time. (n.d.). Retrieved October 22, 2014, from http://community.feministing.com/2012/01/19/once-upon-a-feminist-time/

Gendering fairy tales Grimm and Once Upon a Time. (n.d.). Retrieved October 22, 2014, from gendering-fairy-tales-grimm-and-once-upon-a-time

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1843230/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ql_1

https://twitter.com/jenmorrisonlive

https://twitter.com/LanaParrilla

http://www.onceuponafans.com

http://storybrooke.net

https://twitter.com/ouatkillianswan

https://twitter.com/sunchick116

https://twitter.com/pxrrillasbitch

https://twitter.com/jared_gilmore