Date: 7th April 2021
I've been reflecting on things. Mainly Villains (the Disney sort of course!) and how they are perceived by the world. I've often villainised myself and I know if I was a Disney character, you can bet I would be a villain! Villains are always the outcasts, the unloved, the misunderstood, misrepresented people. After all, you don’t see the likes of Snow White or Sleeping Beauty being put through trauma, hunted down, they are innocent. But do we ever ask ourselves why we assume the worst of people so fast?
Others might look at Maleficent and see her as a twisted, hurt, revengeful, evil winged human. I look at her and see someone who’s been broken, hurt and let down time and time again. Someone who let her emotions get the better of her, lashed out and as time went on, learned to heal herself through love and self acceptance. Others might see her as unforgivable, malicious even but I see her as human, as someone who made mistakes, who wallowed in her grief and anger long enough to take power in her emotions and take control of her situation. She learns that her anger isn’t a bad thing, but something she needs to consider and not act on immediately.
Then there’s Regina Mills AKA The Evil Queen from the TV show Once Upon A Time. Someone we all immediately are led to believe is entirely evil and has no reason to be so angry at this beautiful Snow White character, let alone the entire fairytale world, to cast a curse and doom them all to never be happy. I see so much of myself in her, she’s trusted all the wrong people, let them manipulate her into believing power is in revenge and self hatred. She had a mother who she has a rocky relationship with at the best of times and a father she loves so much she believes it's a weakness. She’s put up so many walls to protect herself from others and to an extent herself. She lashes out at others when they break her and the only control she can ever get, is by fear, so of course she would go down that path if being nice only ever got her hurt! She’s lost everyone she ever cared about, her first love being ripped from her too soon, her father being hurt by her, her mother (finally) being pushed away by Regina. She’s scared to be weak, scared to love, scared to trust herself, scared to trust others with her heart but as time goes on, we see her learn to do everything she is scared of. Her son Henry guides her, going from hating her, to being one of the first people to really accept her. She lets her unconditional love for him, change her and she opens herself up to rejection and hurt by being honest. She’s not perfect, far from it but she’s one of the most human and understandable characters from the entire show. She’s deep, emotional, conflicted and wants so badly to be forgiven, loved and accepted by those she loves, she several times, willingly sacrifices herself for the town, only for someone else to step in and save her. She tries to kill herself as a young adult too, trapped in a world and place she hates, she jumps from a tower but lives to tell the tale. Even when she’s older, she has some pretty dark times, from loosing her son during season 2( to Emma Swan), to having her heart broken several times, she often seems on the verge of caving in and giving up but she holds her head up, finds strength inside herself and carries on fighting. She goes from being led by anger, to being led by hope and self love and there’s something truly beautiful in that long, painful story to self acceptance and love.
Maybe one day I will learn to control my emotions, to trust myself and those around me and to find my wings and learn to fly. But until that day comes, I’ll continue to seek refuge in fairy tales and the human, misunderstood characters I so often see myself in.
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