Board Thread:Character Discussion/@comment-28162607-20180101191335/@comment-28162607-20180113145751

DracoWombat wrote: Aine1989 wrote: Here is the thing about Regina's redemption and the victim blaming (this is kind of a conversation moved from another thread). In 3x18, Snow says that "Well we would have found something to argue about, I mean I was such a brat". Snow puts the blame on herself for Regina's abuse, because she was bratty. In the same episode we see her apologise to Regina for killing Cora in defense of her family but Regina does not apologise for killing Leopold for no reason other than to continue her abuse campaign of Snow. And in 3x22 past!Snow says she did ruin Regina's life and the narrative never contradicts her. Then later in season 4 Snow says "You knew how shallow and selfish I could be as a child. You are not all evil and I am not all good."

This is the issue with Regina's redemption (and subsequently, why I worry that they could do this in season 7 with Gothel or Drizella), the writers equate Snow being a bratty but still kind child with Regina being a mass murderer and say that Snow deserved it.

There is more victim blaming surrounding Regina (mainly with regard to Emma) but this is the majority of it.

The line in 3x18 is said in a joking context. Taking anything that's said in a playful manner at face value and seriousness is just looking for reasons to be angry. The show clearly considers actions to be more relevant than words; in the writers' perspective, the fact that they didn't write an unnecessary apology scene means a lot less than the fact that within the narrative Regina has worked with them countless times to defeat other villains even with little to gain.

And Snow did ruin Regina's life, at least in the perspective of an immature Regina who's still emotionally incapable of standing up to Cora's psychological abuse. Snow contributed to Daniel's death. This set Regina in the path to become the EQ. It's not something Snow can be held against since she was barely more than a child, but it's something that objectively happened, albeit indirectly.

And Regina isn't all evil and Snow isn't all good. That's not how morality works and not even OUaT is shallow enough to work with that kind of perception of ethics (Unless you're a comic relief character like Cruella). Regina was capable of passing acts of goodness even at the height of her tenure as the Evil Queen. Snow was clearly willing to commit to unorthodox methods to get what she wants. She lived as a bandit and was willing to kill. She can be emotionally manipulative and commit unspeakable acts such as kidnapping a child for the sake of her family. Snow's darkness is what makes her interesting and my favorite character in the show.

I'm not going to argue against the fact that Regina's redemption arc was handled poorly in many, many instances, but claiming there's been any sort of constant victim-blaming on the part of the show is just bad faith. I know that no one is entreily good or evil. But the show tried to equate Snow being a bratty 10 year old with Regina being a mass murderer and tyrant. Maybe if they had used some of Snow's darkness to compare her to Regina then I could at least get partially on board even if I still disagreed with the overall point.

And Snow did not ruin Regina's life. Cora did, and to an extent, she kind of ruined her own life.

There are several examples of victim blaming in this show I could rattle off.