Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-11058666-20141228031222/@comment-26033121-20150319022757

Eskaver wrote: Gheather14 wrote: LOL! I love Once Upon a Time, but it is a soap opera in many ways. I still think that they will get back together, eventually. I want Rumbelle back together, but it really irritates me how the creators are basically destroying the admirable moral and independent qualities of Belle this season by setting her up with Will Scarlet. It's completely ooc for her. She's still married to Rumple, has admitted to never being able to get over him, and is just stringing Will along as her rebound when she doesn't completely seem to return the same feelings with her whole heart. That's not fair to Rumple's or Will's feelings at all. In fact, it's downright inconsiderate. Since when has she ever been a character to need a man to become strong? Don't get me wrong, Rumple does deserve it for manipulating Belle, but I still feel bad for him. Plus, Belle's gradually becoming an unlikeable character this half of season 5. I hope they fix it soon. What! I like Belle. Belle is ultra-naïve, nerdy, easily manipulated, and stubbornly seeing the good in people, ignoring the bad parts most of the time. I think it's their "feminist" (lol, sometimes they claim to be "girl-power") protocol of sticking every available female with a man in order to grow as a character. It's like their is no character growth outside relationships. Emma is tied to Hook (or at least he follows her everywhere) even though she seemed the more independent type. Regina has Robin...I mean her happy ending to worry about. So, Belle is no exception. She needs to show her remorse and regret by bonding with another man in another relationship. Will was just lucky he was free!

Exactly, it seems like very few of the female characters, besides Regina and Emma (kind of) seem to grow as people outside of romance. It drives me insane. A woman doesn't need romance in her life to thrive and grow.