 The Power Of Red A Look at Color on Once Upon A Time by Zachery Van Norman - @thezachvan The color red has long been meaningful in fairy tales and medieval literature. Many of the stories we see each week feature characters for which red is an integral component, like Snow White and Red Riding Hood. The creators of Once Upon A Time are clearly aware of the symbolism of the color red in fairy tales and are using it to their full advantage with each episode. In fact, it begins with the very first moments of the show, and immediately becomes a crucial piece to understanding the scope and direction of the overall story. The color red has a different meaning for each character, but it unites them in a way that symbolizes what the show is all about. CHARMING We join the tale of OUAT to see a man riding a horse on a road that crosses a lake. This is Prince Charming, splendored in a red coat and cloak as he rides his steed to save his princess. Arriving in the forest too late to prevent her death, the broken prince bends to her lips to bid her goodbye. But no, she is not dead! True love's kiss breaks the curse upon her, and the prince smiles in triumph as he holds his lady love and repeats their vow to each other. I Will Always Find You 
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 Three: The Family of the Fairest of Them All and Her Charming
by Teresa Martin--@Teresa__Martin October 14, 2012 It has been a little less than a year since I first saw Prince Charming in the most-awesome-prince-clothes ever, galloping on a brilliant horse to wake his true love, drop that dreamy single tear, and declare “I will always find you,” making my heart melt (and maybe Google the actor’s name, pledging to name my first-born after him, and perhaps buy a shot-glass with his silhouette on it). After that amazing first impression, I have since seen Charming fight off evil guards while holding a baby*sigh,* watched that single tear slide down his cheek numerous times *double sigh,* travelled with him as he went to hell and back with Snow, and proposed to her by a scenic lake *swoon.* This central couple, affectionately shipped as “Snowing,” also suffered a curse, and, as Mary Margaret, poor Snow had her heart torn in two, trampled on, and tossed into the trash (symbolically happily, unlike other unfortunate residents of Storybrooke). Yet she earned her happy ending at the end of Season One, embraced by her groom, as a spinning camera showed the completion of their story arc *squee!* Now I’m with my weekly Once Upon A Time viewing group, with a laptop to monitor the tweets, and checking on the Once Upon a Fan website, whose staff I joined as a writer, inspired by Once Upon A Time to delve back into non-fiction after a ten-year break. Next to me lies a half-finished Baby Emma Blanket, but I eventually give all attention to the screen as I follow the S2x3 adventures of Lancelot with Snow and Charming. I watch as Snow travels to meet Charming’s mother just in time to see her pierced by an arrow—goodness these writers sure are hard on their characters-- and seek magic waters to cure her. Ruth, Charming’s mother, drinks, but is not cured. What’s up with that? Ruth then expresses regrets that she will not see Snow and Charming’s wedding. Snow assures her that she will. What? Snow asks if Lancelot can perform the wedding. What? Next thing I know The Fairest of Them All is getting married under a perfect arch that must have been tucked away somewhere with a magical “instant-wedding-canopy” spell, and a chalice representing the Holy Grail is presented. This leads to the perplexing mystery of what else Lancelot has in his Knights of the Round Table Kit.  The Marriage Of The Fairest Of Them All And Her Charming by Teresa Martin (@Teresa__Martin) November 2011.
I start On-Demand because I missed the first two episodes and want to catch up. As the show begins, a prince, in the most awesome prince-clothes ever, rides up to a glass coffin and kisses his bride—dead to all appearances, but wearing what looks like her wedding dress. A blast of air like a nuclear explosion bursts throughout the land when he kisses her. She gasps and opens her eyes. The Prince touches her face, and declares with conviction, “I will always find you.” Then the scene dissolves into a glorious wedding. These lovers, Snow White and Prince Charming, are dressed in their wedding clothes. He looks into her eyes and says, “I do.” The show hasn’t even been on for five minutes and I am already sighing, thinking about how all is well in the world. Marriage, after all, is the artistic symbol for eternal happiness and peace. This is confirmed by the joy of the wedding guests who clap enthusiastically. They are married! Time for the Happily Ever After. The newly-married pair leans in to seal the marriage with a kiss--the replacement for a consummation scene in family shows--when the momentum is halted. An evil queen interrupts and declares before the astonished congregation that she will take their happiness away, not caring who she hurts. The Prince throws a sword at her, but she disappears into black smoke. Then I am transported unceremoniously into a story about a sad woman in modern times who is alone on her birthday. Someone knocks. The melancholy woman opens the door and a boy announces that he is her son. Interesting. Commercial Break. I pause. Not bad. Decent show. I get up to refill my drink, but something is just not right. It’s not the boy who is out alone at night. Not the lonely blond woman. What is it? I thought for a moment, and then abruptly realize it is the marriage scene. Was it the evil Queen? No, it was not her interruption. I'd seen that in more than one fairy tale. I take more ice out of the freezer, refill my soda, and then I get it. The indelible nuptial kiss between Prince Charming and Snow White never happened. Welcome to Season One of Once Upon A Time. |
