"NO CRITICISM OF EMMA SWAN ALLOWED"
What is it about the Emma Swan character that raises the ire of so many fans whenever any of her actions are criticized? Is she some kind of sacred cow of the "ONCE UPON A TIME" fandom?
I do not regard Emma as some kind of monster. I never have. But I do get tired of fandom stomping down on anyone who dares to criticize her character or any of her actions. Some have claimed that my criticisms are a result of my dislike of Emma. Well, I am going to protest against that accusation. When the series first began in the fall of 2011, Emma was one of my favorite characters on the show. I spent most of that season cheering for her victory against Big Bad Regina Mills aka the Evil Queen. I felt especially thrilled when she finally restored everyone's memories of their Enchanted Forest personas when she broke the curse cast by Regina. So . . . what happened? How did I come to this point where I find myself criticizing Emma so much? More importantly, why are so many fans intolerant of the idea of her being criticized in the first place?
I feel it began in Season Two, when Emma and her mother, Snow White, found themselves conveyed to a post-curse Enchanted Forest. They spent most of that season's early episodes trying to find a way to return to Storybrooke, Maine with the help of two new acquaintances - Mulan and Princess Aurora aka Sleeping Beauty. When they finally stumbled across a means - namely a magical compass that could guide them to a portal, it just went sour. There was an incident between Snow White and Mulan in the episode, (2.08) "Into the Deep" in which the latter had stolen the compass in order to exchange it with Regina's mother, the more evil Cora Mills aka the Queen of Hearts, for the kidnapped Aurora's life. However, Snow and Emma managed to catch up with Mulan. And Snow started to murder Mulan. I had posted a complaint about what happened. How did many fans respond? They claimed that Snow was about to kill Mulan, while in the midst of a fight. In reality, the fight had ended with Snow the victor. After Mulan confessed that she wanted the compass to save Aurora, Snow started to kill her anyway by shoving an arrow toward her face. Emma . . . did nothing to stop her mother. Instead, she stood there and watched. It was Aurora (freed by Killian Jones aka Captain Hook) who actually saved Mulan. Every time . . . every time I bring this up, people sweep Emma and Snow’s actions under the rug by insulting Mulan or pretending that no such thing happened.
On several occasions since Season Two, I have brought up the subject of Emma's possession of a stolen car . . . namely the yellow Volkswagen that she drives. The Season Two episode, (2.06) "Tallahassee" revealed that her former lover, Neal Cassidy aka Baefire, had originally stolen the yellow Volkswagen. Then Emma, who was in her late teens at the time, tried to steal the car from him, before he stopped her. Following her arrest for the theft of watches that he had stolen, Neal had changed the car’s registration in order to reflect Emma as the vehicle’s legal owner. And instead of doing the right thing and turning it in to the police, Emma took possession of a vehicle that she knows was stolen and kept it for over a decade. Even after she managed to become a successful bails bondsman. Whenever I brought up this matter, other fans would sweep Emma’s misdeed under the rug and use her sentimentality over her past relationship with Neal as an excuse for her maintaining possession of a stolen vehicle.
From the moment she had decided to remain in Storybrooke in the series' premiere, Emma has been breaking the law regarding the close adoption she had agreed to when she gave up her birth son, Henry Mills. When Emma learned that Regina, who was Henry's adopted mother, had used a file about her criminal background to divide her and Henry, she used a chainsaw to destroy one of Regina's apple trees … on her personal property. When I first saw the Season One episode, (1.02) "The Thing You Love Most", I cheered. What can I say? I was pretty stupid back then. After some thought, my feelings over the incident has changed. For reasons that now baffles me, the series' creators Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz had allowed Emma to get away with this criminal act by having Sheriff Graham Humbert convince Regina not to press charges. I could not fucking believe it when I last saw this episode. Why was it so important that Emma avoid paying the price for trespassing and damage to private property? Come to think of it . . . why was just as it was important that she did not pay the price for possession of stolen property? Why was Snow White allowed to avoid any consequences for the attempt on Mulan's life? Why was Emma allowed to avoid any consequences for being an accessory to her mother's attempted murder? Why are the crimes of Regina, Rumpelstiltskin aka Mr. Gold and Killian constantly discussed and criticized by fans . . . and not those crimes and mistakes committed by Emma and/or her parents?
Speaking of Emma Swan and the law … why on earth is this woman the Sheriff of Storybrooke? Since when is experience as a bail bondsman qualifies someone for law enforcement? Mind you, none of the other characters - Graham or Sidney Glass - were not qualified. But neither was Emma. To make matters worse, she has developed a bad habit of abusing her position. At the end of the Season Two episode, (2.11) "The Outsider", Killian shot Belle in an attempt to move her across the town’s limit and have her lose her memories. Why? He wanted revenge against Belle’s future husband, Rumpelstiltskin, for the loss of his hand and the murder of his former lover, Rumpelstiltskin’s wife Milah. For his actions, Killian got hit by a car. I had no problems with that. He deserved to pay the consequences of his act. In the following episode, (2.12) "In the Name of the Brother", Emma questioned Killian for the whereabouts of his companion at the time, Cora Mills. When Killian responded with a snarky and flirtatious remark, Emma applied pressure to his wound, causing him pain. This little act was supposed to be a joke. All I can say is . . . what the fuck? Were Kitsis and Horowitz advocating police brutality? Apparently so, for in the Season Four episode, (4.04) "The Apprentice", Emma had interrupted her date with Killian, to arrest Will Scarlet, after she spotted inside the restaurant where they were dining. She and her father, David aka Prince Charming had been looking for Will since they spotted him going through Robin Hood's belongings and breaking into the town’s ice cream shop in the previous episode. And how did Emma treat him? She fed him a half-eaten Pop Tart and kept him jailed longer than necessary, because he had interrupted her date. This was the showrunners’ idea of law enforcement? The audience was supposed to view such abuse of position as a joke? In the wake of national scandals regarding the abuse of law enforcers, I found it difficult to be amused.
The incident that "broke the camel’s back occurred in the Season Three finale, (3.22) "There’s No Place Like Home". In this episode, Emma and Killian accidentally got caught into a vortex that sent them back into time. During their little time traveling sojourn, Emma accidentally prevented Snow and David's first meeting. So, she and Killian set out to clean up the mess created by her. In doing so, Emma ended up captured by Regina and tossed into a dungeon that included an imprisoned Maid Marian, wife to Robin Hood, whom Regina was dating in the present time Storybrooke. As everyone knows, when Killian sprung Emma from the dungeon, the latter decided to rescue Marian as well . . . despite the fact that the latter was killed years before Robin Hood ever met Regina. In other words, Emma changed the past. To make matters worse, she revealed Neal's fate to his father, Rumpelstiltskin. In order to prevent the latter from being tempted to change the time and save Neal, Emma convinced him to drink a memory wiping potion.
Just think about that . . . shall we? Are we to assume that it was okay for Emma to play "savior" by saving a woman who had died in the past and changing the timeline in the process? Yet, it was not okay for Rumpelstiltskin to be tempted to change the time in order to save Neal? The hypocrisy of Emma’s actions still astounds me to this day. When I had posted an earlier article about this, I predicted that Regina would eventually forgive Emma within a few episodes of Season Four. And I was right. Emma felt remorse for ruining Regina’s romance with Robin. But she remained convinced that she had the right to change the timeline in order to save Marian. And within five episodes, Regina forgave Emma for her "mistake" in (4.05) "Breaking Glass".
I felt disgusted beyond belief. More importantly, I felt angry. And when I posted my feelings about Emma’s actions, I ended up banned from a "ONCE UPON A TIME" Live Journal blog. I posted this article on Tumblr and received a good deal of personal insults for my troubles. When I complained about Emma’s actions and expressed hope that she would see the errors of her actions on the show’s Fanforum thread, I received a warning from the moderator that I was guilty of baiting. I am curious. If I continue to complain about Emma's inability to see the wrong of her actions … especially her time changing stunt in ""There’s No Place Like Home", will I ended up being banned from more message boards and sites?
When the idea of SwanQueen first appeared in late Season One/early Season Two of the series, I saw some merit in the idea, even if I could not care less whether Emma and Regina ended up with each other or other partners. Now . . . I would rather blind myself than watch the two of them become a couple. I have a problem with them being friendly, due to the show’s current inability to allow Emma to see the errors of her ways. Such a relationship now strikes me as uneven. As long as Regina continues to be judged for her past actions, while Emma gets a free ride or excuses for hers, I could never support such a relationship. Hell, I could barely give a rat’s ass about Emma’s relationship with Killian. I am not one of those who believe that their relationship supports "rape culture", due to Killian’s past sexual innuendos to Emma. But I cannot support a relationship when the abusive actions of one them - namely Emma’s physical abuse of Killian in mid-Season Two and her treatment of the imprisoned Will Scarlet - are treated like jokes.
This is my plea to Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis. Do something about Emma Swan. Please. I am sick and tired of you giving Emma an excuse for many of her questionable actions. If you are capable of allowing characters like Regina Mills, Rumpelstiltskin, Killian Jones and even Snow White (for the murder of Cora) facing their mistakes and crimes, why can you not do the same for Emma? Why allow her to break the law regarding her son's adoption terms, destroy private property, possess a stolen vehicle, be an accessory to attempted murder, engage in police brutality and do something incredibly stupid like change the timeline . . . and NOT have her face the consequences of her actions? Because I am fast losing all respect for Emma. And I am getting sick and tired of being punished for criticizing her behavior.
Below is a list of my top five (5) favorite episodes from Season One (1994) of "BABYLON 5". Created by J. Michael Straczynski, the series starred Michael O'Hare, Claudia Christian, Jerry Doyle and Mira Furlan: TOP FIVE FAVORITE EPISODES OF "BABYLON 5": SEASON ONE (1994) "SIGNS AND PORTENTS"
1. (1.13) "Signs and Portents" - In this episode, a Centauri noble comes to Babylon 5 to transport an important Centauri relic in Londo's possession back to the homeworld. And a mysterious man named Mr. Morden visits all the alien ambassadors in order to ask them an unusual question.
2. (1.08) "And the Sky Full of Stars" - Commander Sinclair is kidnapped and interrogated by two war veterans determined to prove that he had betrayed Earth at the Battle of the Line, during the Earth-Minbari War.
3. (1.20) "Babylon Squared" - The previous Babylon station, Babylon 4, reappears at the same place it had disappeared four years earlier. Sinclair and Garabaldi lead an evacuation team for the station's crew. The story concludes in Season Three. Meanwhile, Ambassador Delenn is summoned by Minbar's Grey Council and is asked to become the new leader.
4. (1.22) "Chrysalis" - In the season finale, Delenn commences upon a physical transformation, Ambassador Londo Mollari receives an offer from Mr. Morden to deal with a problem regarding the Narns, and Garabaldi uncovers a deadly conspiracy against the President of Earth Alliance.
5. (1.12) "By Any Means Necessary" - Following a fatal accident in the station's docking bay, an increasingly exhausted Sinclair is forced to deal with a potential labor uprising. And Ambassador G'Kar has to get a replacement G'Quan-Eth plant for an important religious ceremony.
"I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU" (1951) Review
I have seen my share of time travel movies and television programs over the years. But I do not believe that I have never seen one as ethereal as the 1951 movie called "I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU".
A second adaptation of John L. Balderston's 1927 play, which was an adaptation of Henry James' incomplete novel, "The Sense of the Past"; "I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU" told the story of an American nuclear physicist named Dr. Peter Standish, who is transported to London of the late 18th century. The story begins when a co-worker of Peter's with the British nuclear program, Dr. Roger Forsyth, expresses concern about the former's lack of social life. As the two become friends, Peter reveals that he had inherited an old house located at London's Berkeley Square by a distant relative. He also also reveals that he was a descendant of an American Tory who had immigrated to Britain after the Revolutionary War to marry a cousin named Kate Pettigrew. Not long after this revelation, a thunderstorm sends Peter back to 1784, where he takes the place of his late 18th century ancestor, the other Peter Standish.
However, once 20th century Peter settles into his new life, he is struck by a series of surprises. One, he finds himself slowly falling in love with his fiancée's younger sister, Helen Pettigrew. Peter discovers that Georgian era London is not the paradise he had assumed it to be for years. He also realizes that his occasional lapses of judgment, in which he uses modern day language and revealing information he could not have known if he had actually grown up in the 18th century. Peter's occasional lapses and his feelings for Helen lead to growing antagonism toward him from not only his fiancée Kate, but also from Mr. Throstle, the man to whom Helen had been promised; leading to potential disaster for him.
I am usually a big fan of time travel movies. But if I must be honest, my reason for watching "I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU" stemmed from sheer curiosity and nothing else. I never really thought I would be impressed by this movie. And I was . . . much to my surprise. Mind you, the film's method of time travel - a bolt of lightning - struck me as unrealistic, even from a fictional point of view. There was no machine or vehicle like a Delorean to channel the energy from that bolt of lightning. Instead, the Peter Standish was struck by lightning and transported some 160 years back to the past. That he survived being struck is a miracle.
Nevertheless, I still enjoyed "I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU" very much. At its heart, the movie featured two genres - time traveling and romance. And both seemed to intertwine perfectly, thanks to director Roy Ward Baker, who directed the 1958 classic, "A NIGHT TO REMEMBER". There have been time travel movies in which the protagonists are slightly taken aback by the "primative" conditions of the time period in which they end up. But I found Peter Standing's reaction to the reality of 18th century London rather enjoyable on a perverse level. I found it satisfying to watch him come to the realization that 1784 London was not the social paradise that he had assumed it was. "I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU" is also one of the rare works of fiction that pointed out the lack of decent hygiene that permeated Western society before the 20th century. Between Peter's disgust at London society's array of body odors and their bafflement at his habit of a daily bath, I was nearly rolling on the floor with laughter. But more importantly, "I'LL NEVER FORGET" is a poignant love story between Peter and Helen. What made it very satisfying for me is that Helen was the only one who seemed to have a bead on Peter's personality. More importantly, she seemed to be interested in Peter's comments about the future, instead of repelled by them.
But what really made the romance between Peter Standing and Helen Pettigrew worked were the performances of the two leads, Tyrone Power and Ann Blyth. Thanks to their intelligent and subtle performances, they made Peter and Helen's love story believable. I was surprised that Michael Rennie had such a small screen presence in the movie, considering that he had received third billing. Nevertheless, I thought he gave a pretty good performance as Peter's 20th century friend and colleague, Dr. Roger Forsyth. Another performance that caught my attention came from Dennis Price, who gave a very entertaining performance as Helen and Kate's brother, a dye-in-the-wool late 18th century cad, Tom Pettigrew. Kathleen Byron gave an energetic and brief performance as Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire. The movie also featured solid performances from Beatrice Campbell, Raymond Huntley and Irene Browne, who not only portrayed the Pettigrew matriarch in this film, but also in the 1933 version, "BERKELEY SQUARE".
Although I found the mode of time travel rather implausible - being struck by lightning, I must admit that I enjoyed "I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU". In fact, I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. And I have to thank Ranald MacDougall's adaptation of John L. Balderston's play, intelligent performances from a cast led by Tyrone Power and Ann Blyth, and more importantly, intelligent and subtle direction from Roy Ward Baker.
This article was written after the Season Three finale of "ONCE UPON A TIME" aired in May 2014:"THE PROBLEMS OF A SAVIOR COMPLEX"The Season Three finale of ABC's "ONCE UPON A TIME" ended on a curious note. The finale consisted of two episodes - (3.21) "Snow Drift" and (3.22) "There's No Place Like Home" - in which two of the series' protagonists, Emma Swan and Killian Jones aka Captain Hook, found themselves transported back in time and to the Enchanted Forest due to circumstances beyond their control. Let me make this brief. The main villain of Season Three's second half turned out to be Regina Mills' older half-sister Zelena, who was also known as the Wicked Witch of the West from "The Wizard of Oz". Due to Zelena's jealousy of her younger half-sister's privileged life, which included being raised by their mother Cora Mills aka the Queen of Hearts, she wanted to go back in time and erase Regina from existence. Although Zelena managed to set up a portal to convey her back in time, Regina managed to defeat her. Unfortunately . . . an angry Rumpelstiltskin ended up murdering an incarcerated Zelena for the death of his son, Neal Cassidy aka Baefire. Zelena's spirit ended up re-opening the time travel portal. And both Emma and Hook got sucked into the portal and into the past.During the pair's adventures in the Enchanted Forest of the past, Emma nearly ruined the first meeting between her parents - Snow White and David, Prince Charming. She and Hook, with Rumpelstiltskin's help, set out to repair the timeline and ensure that her parents will not only meet, but fall in love. Their efforts to do so led to Emma's capture during the wedding party of Charming and Princess Abigail by Regina, also known as the Evil Queen. Inside the Queen's jail cell, Emma met a woman who had been incarcerated for helping Snow White flee Regina's wrath. With her and the woman set to be executed the following morning, Emma managed to break out of the cell. Hook, who had earlier warned Emma about changing the timeline, reacted with slight dismay when he discovered that she helped the woman escape. And yet . . . when Emma wanted to bring the woman with her and Hook to Storybrooke, Hook agreed to help her, arguing that the woman's family thought she was dead and they need to continue to believe it. The woman refused to go with Emma and Hook to Storybrooke, so the former knocked her unconscious and with Hook's help, brought her with them. As it turned out, the woman proved to be Maid Marian, Robin Hood's wife. And Marian's presence in Storybrooke brought an end to Robin's newly found romance with Regina Mills.Judging from Regina's angry reaction to Emma and Hook's actions, many fans reacted in different ways to this new twist in the story arc between the two women. Many fans continue to assume that Regina will fall back on her old evil ways and seek revenge against Emma for ruining her romance with Robin. Some believe she will be tempted, but continue her redemption arc and eventually forgive Emma. What is interesting about all of this is that most of the fans seemed to be interested in how Regina will react to the loss of Robin in the upcoming fourth season. Only a few fans have even bothered to criticize Emma and Hook for their actions. Yet, despite these criticisms, other fans came to Emma's defense by stating that she was right to save Marian from being executed by Regina. I am tempted to discuss this situation from Regina and Robin's point of view. But right now, I am more interested in what led Emma to change the timeline in the first place.I can image the response to the last sentence in the previous paragraph. What led Emma to change the timeline? To save Marion's life, that's why! Emma Swan is supposed to be "the Savior". As fan as the series and many of the fans are concerned, this is what she is supposed to do. I wish I could agree with that sentiment. I really do. But considering her actions in "There's No Place Like Home", I wish it were not so. Emma became labeled as "the Savior" back in Season One, when it was revealed that she was the person destined to break the curse that found many of the Enchanted Forest's inhabitants in "the Land Without Magic" - namely Storybrooke, Maine - thanks to Rumpelstiltskin's creation of it and Regina's willingness to cast it. After spending nearly a season refusing to believe in the curse, let alone the idea that the town's inhabitants came from a fairy tale world, Emma finally broke the curse with a "true love" kiss to her son Henry, who was trapped in a sleeping curse. And the only reason Emma found herself in this role as everyone's "savior" was because Rumpelstiltskin manipulated events so they would lead to this moment. And why? Because he wanted to find his son Baefire, whom he discovered had ended up in our world. Now, if the only reason Emma had been set up as "the savior" who break that first curse . . . why did everyone else continued to regard her as "the savior" after she broke it? Why did she, for that matter?One would think I am accusing Emma Swan of developing a bad ego trip. And you know what? They would be right. I am well aware of the fact that Emma reacted with a great reluctance and wariness to the idea of her being "the savior". I am also aware of the fact that she was willing to flee Storybrooke (with Henry) in the Season One episodes, (1.20) "The Stranger" and (1.21) "An Apple Red as Blood" because she could not face the responsibility of being responsible for the lives of Storybrooke's citizens. But once she broke the curse in (1.22) "A Land Without Magic", Emma ended up embracing her "savior" role with a vengeance . . . despite her continued wariness. This was especially apparent in three episodes from Season Two and Three. After she, Snow White, Mulan and Aurora ended up captured by Cora and Hook in Season Two's (2.09) "The Queen of Hearts" in the present day Enchanted Forest, the following exchange occurred between the four women:(Emma is futilely banging the door of the cell with her sword, while the rest of them watch.)
Snow White: We aren’t going to break it down, Emma. It was enchanted to hold Rumpelstiltskin. We don’t have a chance.
Aurora: This is my fault.
Mulan: No, it’s mine. Cora stole your heart because I failed to protect you.
Emma: That’s very sweet, but I believe it’s my fault. I’m the saviour, and I’m not doing much saving, am I?When I first saw this episode during the fall of 2012, I thought nothing of Emma's words. But when I recently viewed the episode from my copy of the series' Season Two DVD box set, her comment stunned me. I could not believe what I had just heard. For the second time, Emma expressed her deep-seated view to her mother Snow White that she would always be destined to be "the savior" in the Season Three episode, (3.11) "Going Home". In this episode, Rumpelstiltskin had defeated his father Malcolm aka Peter Pan and Regina had to permanently destroy the curse by ripping the scroll that contain the words to it. Because Henry was born in "the Land Without Magic" and Emma managed to avoid the first curse, they were able to avoid being sent back to the Enchanted Forest. Before Regina destroy the scroll, both Regina and Snow White hinted that since Emma was "the savior", she was supposed to remain behind and take Henry away. Emma responded to Snow White with the following words:"I'm the savior, right? I'm supposed to bring back all the happy endings."Dear God. Emma's belief in her role as "the savior" truly reached egotistical heights in her conversation with Hook in"Snow Drift" in which both discussed Emma's plans to return to New York with Henry:Hook: Don't listen to me, listen to your son. (He takes the storybook from his satchel and hands it to Emma.) He thought this might remind you of what you're leaving behind--your family.
Emma: Henry is my family and I am taking him where he is safe.
Hook: No, Swan. The safety-first nonsense is just that. You defeated the bloody Wicked Witch. You defeated Pan. You broke the curse. And you keep running. What are you looking for?What I found amazing about Hook's words is that he had credited the defeats of Peter Pan and Zelena to Emma. Apparently, he had forgotten that Regina was the one who saved Henry's heart from Pan back in Neverland. Hook had forgotten that Rumpelstiltskin was the one who ultimately defeated Pan . . . and that Regina was the one who defeated Zelena. The only thing Hook got right was the fact that Emma had broken the curse. Some fans claim that Hook was merely trying to bolster Emma's self esteem. Emma's self esteem was not on Hook's mind. Emma's reluctance to live in Storybrooke with her parents WAS the topic between them. Hook merely slipped in Pan and Zelena's defeats into the conversation. And what I found even more amazing . . . and scary is that Emma never bothered to correct him. By this time, Emma had incorporated the idea of her being "the savior" so much that she ended up wallowing in illusions over who had really defeated the Big Bads of Season Three.As for the situation with Maid Marian . . . I can only shake my head in disbelief. I realize that many fans believe that Emma should have chosen saving a woman's life over maintaining the timeline. I did not last fall and my feelings have remained the same. Throughout most of "Snow Drift", Hook had warned Emma about changing the timeline . . . for any reason. This reminds me of an episode from the 1998-2006 supernatural series, "CHARMED". In the latter's Season One episode called (1.17) "That '70s Episode", the Halliwell sisters traveled back in time to 1975 in order to prevent their late mother from being coerced into making a pact with a warlock - a pact that might have deadly circumstances for them. The youngest sister (at the time) Phoebe Halliwell gave into temptation and left a warning to her mother on how the latter would die nearly three years later. Realizing that she would end up changing the timeline, Phoebe tore up the letter before she and her sisters returned to 1999. As much as Phoebe wanted to save her mother, she realized that maintaining the timeline was the right thing to do . . . even if it meant her mother's early death.Despite the constant warnings from Hook about changing the timeline, Emma ignored him and saved Maid Marian from the cell. While I might admire her willingness to save someone, I wish she had realized that one cannot save everyone all of the time. And sometimes, it is not a good idea. But in her arrogance and misplaced belief that she had to saveeveryone, Emma decided to change the timeline. To make matters worse, she forced Marian to accompany her and Hook back to Storybrooke, despite the fact that Marian wanted to remain in the Enchanted Forest and find her family. And Hook's argument that Robin and the others probably thought she was dead did not sit well with me. Emma had already screwed up the timeline by saving Marian. I did not see how dragging the latter back to Storybrooke was going to help the matter. As it turned out, it did not. The Season Four premiere, (4.01) "A Tale of Two Sisters" featured Emma wracked with guilt for ruining Regina's newly formed romance with Robin. It was nice to see that Emma felt some guilt over wrecking havoc on the private lives of Regina, Robin and Marian. But her response to Regina made me realize that she has yet to understand the real problem behind her actions in "There's No Place Like Home":"Henry brought me to Storybrooke to bring back the happy endings. My job is not done until I do that for everyone, including you."Despite her feelings of guilt, Emma still believes that her role as "the Savior" will give Regina her happy ending and solve everyone's problems. She never considered the possibility that her belief that she always has to be "the Savior" had led her to upset the timeline and cause a great deal of personal trouble for Regina, Robin and Marian. She has not changed one bit. After what I saw in both "There's No Place Like Home" and "A Tale of Two Sisters", I have come to the conclusion that Emma has absorbed the idea of being "the Savior" to such a degree that she has become illusional. Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis, have also become illusional in this belief that Emma is always supposed to be "the Savior". Unless they have plans for Emma to develop some kind of mental conflict over her role as "the Savior" later in the series, I suspect that Horowitz and Kitsis will never allow Emma to really face the consequences of her action inThere's No Place Like Home", aside from a few angry rants from Regina and encounters with the latest character in the series, Queen Elsa of "FROZEN". And just as I had predicted, Regina's anger merely lasted a few episodes before she eventually forgave Emma in (4.05) "Breaking Glass". I had complained in an earlier article that when it comes to Emma and her family, Horowitz and Kitsis have a bad habit of not allowing them to consider or face the consequences of their actions . . . with the exception of Snow White, who had committed murder. And the consequences she had faced proved to be mild and rather brief.I must admit that I am getting weary of Emma constantly being labeled as "the Savior". This is a label that should have been dropped after she broke the original curse in "A Land Without Magic". The only reason she was fixed with "the savior" role in the first place was because Rumpelstiltskin had arranged for her to be the one to break that curse. The longer this series continues to label Emma as "the Savior", the more I will become convinced that she has developed serious complex issues over this role.
"THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM" (2008) ReviewSet in present time South Boston and Ancient China, "THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM" is a martial-arts/fantasy film that was directed by Rob Minkoff. The movie also co-starred two of the most famous names in the martial-arts genre – Jackie Chan and Jet Li. The movie is basically about a South Boston teenage fan of Hong Kong kung fu films, who is transported back in time to Ancient China via a magical staff. There, he must undertake a quest to free the fabled warrior Sun Wukong aka "The Monkey King".In a nutshell, "THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM" is an entertaining action film with strong fantasy and comedy elements. Our two martial arts stars portray Lu Yan – the Drunken Immortal (Jackie Chan) and The Silent Monk (Jet Li), who help Boston teenager Jason Williams (Michael Angarano) free Sun Wukong (also Jet Li) from the clutches of an evil immortal called the Jade Warlord (Collin Chou). "THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM" is not perfect. To be frank, I only two complaints about the movie. One, the editing by Eric Strand seemed rather choppy. There were moments when the movie lacked a smooth segue from one scene to another. And two, I found the backstory for Jason’s character rather clichéd. It seemed straight out of the rulebook for typical teen angst films that started with 1979’s "MY BODYGUARD". You know what I am referring to - shy geeky adolescent who is terrorized by the local bully, has profound experiences before successfully confronting bully in the last reel. Come to think of it, I saw something similar in the fantasy-comedy, "STARDUST".Despite the above-mentioned flaws, "THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM" is an entertaining movie. Jackie Chan and Jet Li proved that despite their different styles and approaches to the martial arts genre, they could generate screen chemistry together. Michael Angarano is perfectly disarming and funny as the Boston teen who finds himself in an unfamiliar world. Portraying his potential love interest is Liu Yi Fei as Golden Sparrow, a young female orphan who seeks vengeance against the main villain. Speaking of villains, both Collin Chou (the Jade Warlord) and Li Bingbing (Ni-Chang, the White-Haired Assassin) provided a solid villainous challenge to the four heroes.On the surface, "THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM" provides solid entertainment and martial arts action. However, I must commend on two matters. One, I really enjoyed the superb fight sequence between the two martial arts stars – Chan and Li. Whatever expectation I had about their fight, the two stars and fight choreographer Yuen Woo-ping more than fulfilled it. I have not enjoyed such a fight scene since Jet Li’s fight with Donnie Yen in "HERO" or the two Michelle Yeoh/Zhang Yi fight sequences in "CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON". I would also like to point out the film’s cinematography shot by Peter Pau. The various landscapes of Ancient China, whether the characters are in the tropics, the forests, the desert or in the mountain regions, are exquisite.In short, "THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM" is an entertaining film filled with solid action, drama, comedy, and great cinematography. As long as you are not expecting another "CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON" or "HOUSE OF THE FLYING DAGGERS", you will not be disappointed.
