Once Upon A Time.
At the end of a six-season run with a well-established finale, on the brink of a new curse to reset season 7, we meet as viewers, as scholars, as audience members and fairy tale enthusiasts, to discuss this show’s past, present, and future.
Is Once Upon A Time a high-profile breakthrough for the widespread audience appeal of fairy tales for all ages, moving them out of the realm of children’s media?
Is it a harebrained concept that uses the loosest definition of “fairy tale,” (if they constrain themselves to any definition at all) that we have ever seen?
Is it functioning as a soap opera with fairy tale elements?
Is it wasting a perfect opportunity to end its run at season six with a heavily implied ‘Happily Ever After’?
Is it resetting with a universe expansion and new set of characters that will breathe new life into the concept while also keeping close to the heart of why audience members fell in love with this show in the first place?
Or is this reset a last-ditch attempt to retain viewers for one more season, even without several beloved main cast members?
These are all questions posed by both our team members and our attendees at our Screening Event for the Once Upon a Time season seven premiere.
After an introduction of the team and the season six conclusion, as well as distribution of snacks (including plenty of M&Ms), we began the screening.
We had a mixture of attendees to this event: those who were watching this premiere as a continuation of season six, viewers who had dropped out of watching OUAT a few seasons ago or otherwise weren’t caught up, and those who had only a passing knowledge of the characters and concept of OUAT.
Stopping for commercial breaks, we cycled through discussion questions thoughtfully prepared by Erica as well as reactions, interpretations, and questions posed by those of us watching the premiere for the first time. With a quick concluding presentation on ending and finale conventions on television as well as a plug from Preston about the academic and critical study of television as an artistic form, everyone went on their way, hopefully with increased engagement and interest in the intersection between fairy tales and television.
We had so much fun at this event and are looking forward to future events and projects with our New & Improved Visualizing Wonder Database! If you would like to keep up with us please join our Facebook group and keep checking the blog.