THIS is the influence Regina has on Emma which is not merely a representation but the epitome of what victim blaming IS:
Emma has come to be thankful for Regina’s abuse of herself and her family because she feels like she would not have been complete without said abuse.
Regina robbing Emma and her parents of agency is now justified because if it had not happened Emma would have never learned to exercise said agency. And the version of her that was NOT affected by the misery inflicted by Regina would have “sucked” because she would not have known what to do with the free will and healthy&positive childhood and youth she would have had.
Emma does not know her own mind, her own heart and her own personality - said personality has been entirely shaped and defined by Regina, Regina’s choices and the latter’s abuse. Emma does not get to have choices because she would not have been able to figure out what to do with them. She needed her life decided for HER because it is the ONLY way she would not have grown up to be a pitiful incompetent damsel.
Emma the self reliant, courageous, self asserted woman, a “tough lass” Killian has elaborately called her because of her personal, independently mastered qualities, Emma who “can do it” if she stops pretending to be someone she isn’t, Emma who is “too strong” to let the Evil Queen destroy her efforts is someone who, because of Regina’s abuse, has come to credit Regina for her own individuality.
Because Emma no longer believes she has built herself and her own character. Emma now believes her character was forcibly built by Regina whilst she had no say and no agency on the matter.
“It has to be her choice” - that’s no longer the notion the writers celebrate.
“The pain is what makes me - me” - THIS is the notion the narrative celebrates and it’s the notion Regina’s relationship with Emma represents.
It is no longer about “punching back and proving them wrong”, it is not about Emma being a strong, resilient woman in SPITE of the pain she went through because of Regina.
Per the current narrative Emma is a product of Regina’s abuse and she is the way she is BECAUSE of said abuse. This is the message and the conclusion the show draws. This is what SEASONS of Emma’s story have been about (or, more accurately, what her story has been reduced to).
And you cannot possibly tell me it’s not the most gratuitous character assassination to ever happen.
germansingergirl
dailybridgerton
jbbartram-illu
titsay
baratheonpilled
vaporwave
