I admit, I have been trying not to get sucked into total couch potato-dom during this season of unemployment. I'm trying to write, to get out of the house, to clean (ha, ha!), to lose some weight (only 1200 calories a day? Are you KIDDING?) to spend some time with family...
...but, you know, things happen. I ended up watching the entire first season of Once Upon a Time in about three days. I even had Ross watching with me near the end, after I carefully laid out the plot for him. (I guess I did an okay job; he followed pretty well.)
I have always loved to see fairy tales reworked - I like the idea of exploring the "after happily ever after" as much as I love the simple joy of the happy endings themselves. So many of the stories that we hold dear - Cinderella, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast - are only a few of many, many versions that have been handed down through centuries of retellings, both written and oral. As a storyteller myself, secretly love the idea that, perhaps, one night, while a particular proto-feminist bard was regaling his listeners with the tale of Little Red Riding Hood, he decides that it wasn't the Huntsman who killed the wolf, but a brave Red herself! Perhaps a mother telling the story of Cinderella to her children and remembering her own abusive childhood, added the characters of the two wicked stepsisters as a final act of judgment on her own family. Therefore, I have really enjoyed the modern twist on fairy tales that the ABC series is producing.
I was brushing my teeth the other day and I got to thinking about the plot - a young boy is the only believer in an ancient curse that affects his entire town - and it really hit home. Because he's right.
It's all true.
Why have these sorts of stories captured our imaginations for hundreds of years? Why do our hearts break when love seems forever lost? Why do we rage when the villain - the witch, the demon, the troll - deceives the hero? Why do our spirits soar when the prince victoriously kills the dragon?
Because the story being told is our story.
We are the helpless, trapped children of the King - all of us. We have been tricked by the wicked, bloodthirsty enemy who has disguised himself as something utterly harmless. Our rights and privileges and inheritance have been stolen from us through deceit. Love and hope are lost to us - but for the King's Son, who has come to save us. His presence forces the enemy to reveal his true form - and the battle begins. Blood is spilt, and a price is paid. Our freedom is won through sacrifice. We are reinstated as princes and princesses, and our Father the King forgives us for trusting the one who would destroy us.
All art is inspired, whether by God, man, or the devil. I truly think that God inspired the threads of these stories as they were woven into and through countless cultures and languages with but one theme: good will win. The enemy will be found out and destroyed, and the prince will reign triumphant over his beloved kingdom.
Happily ever after. Forever.
Love this post!
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