I think EAH missed a trick by not dissecting modern misinterpretations of specific fairytales more. I know they did the general ‘Girl Power, Damsel in Distress’ thing, and there’s the whole arc about how horrifying Sleeping Beauty’s curse really is.
But I was thinking about The Ugly Ducking today, and remembered how it’s so misunderstood.
The Ugly Duckling becoming a swan isn’t telling the message of ‘It’s okay if you’re ugly as long as one day you’ll become beautiful, and only then will the bullying you faced be wrong’.
That story is about not trying to force yourself into a community that will only accept you if you force yourself into matching them. Instead, leave and find where you fit in all on your own. Because beauty doesn’t always look like one thing; you can look wildly different from everyone around you, and that doesn’t make you ugly.
With multiple characters whose self-worth hinges on being ‘perfect’ (Apple, Daring) or who try to force themselves into something they’re not (Cerise, Blondie and Ashlynn being commoners in the Royal cliche, literally every Rebel) it could’ve been an interesting character to explore.