Karyn Little

Examining show elements such as the continuously growing cast, numerous lands/worlds, and the dual timelines, discuss the arguments for whether the television show has presented a storyline that is too confusing to follow, or if the show continues to show the creativity of the show runners.

One of my favourite shows. Up to the last season, the show was absolutely marvellous. The plot was complicated but quite understandable. In the current season, although I haven't watched the last few episodes, things seem a bit pushed, meaning they are making stories where non exists. I should probably hold my judgment till the end, although I read a spoiler which has not made many happy about the season finale. – Nilab Ferozan 9 years ago
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I find this show really interesting as it often subverts fairy tale stories and pushes the envelope a bit while at other times it is extremely cliche, making safe choices. – mindthegap 9 years ago
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I think the show is very interesting, but sometimes hard to follow - which I don't mind cause it makes me pay more attention to the show while its on cause I want to figure everything out. – RegalScarlet 9 years ago
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While Once Upon A Time does seem to maintain a understandable plot, I would say this is because they temporarily drop elements of their universe in the favour of keeping the plot simple. During the Underworld plot of the most recent season, the audience only received a few glimpses of what was happening in Storybrooke. That kind of closing off makes their huge universe seem narrow at times. – Lbrook4 9 years ago
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Happy to be the voice of dissent: I was absolutely on board for season 1, and then felt that the series went to garbage. They didn't abide by the rules of their own universe. The fan service outweighed the quality of both the writing and the plot. I felt repeatedly like the characters brought in were an effort in publicity to capitalize on fan craze rather than thought out or complex. – Piper CJ 9 years ago
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I definitely agree with Piper. I started watching OUAT when it first aired, however many years ago. I loved it until it got to the Frozen arc. Yes, I'm sick of Frozen, but I stomached it enough to continue. I think, for me, I just became so annoyed with how drawn-out the series became. Again, like Piper said, the show broke its own rules and sort of just made things up for the heck of it. It became what Lost became in its last few seasons. I haven't watched it since the Frozen arc, so I don't know where the writers have taken it since then, or where they intend to take it, or if they have any inkling of ending the show soon. – Christina Legler 9 years ago
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Nice and catcy title – Jenniferroberts 8 years ago
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I appreciate this show, but I lost interest after season 1. I know many do not feel the same way but it just was exploring too many avenues at one time. Now, I enjoy complicated, intricate dynamics in shows and cinema as I like to stay entertained, but something was lacking. From what I'm hearing from previously die hard Once Upon A Time fans, the show has definitely taken a leap in the wrong direction. – danielle577 8 years ago
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I stopped watching Once Upon a Time midway through season 5. Some of the plot lines began feeling repetitive, and I started to wonder if the writers have any inkling of an ending in sight. – KennethC 8 years ago
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In my experience, I could only stomach through Season 1 and a couple episodes into the 2nd season. Initially, I thought the writers were upholding decent quality characters and plot premises. However, once I got to the 2nd season- the writers thought it would be a good idea to make Mulan a lesbian. I had a tug of war with myself... shouldn't I be happy that shows are not sequestering "princesses" to certain stereotypes? But, then I thought- why, of all fairytale female characters, would they designate Mulan as the lesbian? The answer is obvious, so I won't go into that. But isn't this also continuing a stereotype about lesbians and how they act? Just because Mulan is a masculinized character does not mean she automatically has to be a lesbian. You can be girly and still be a lesbian. OUAT, if you really want to break boundaries, write female characters in a way that doesn't succumb to the same, basic stereotypes. – Nbrull12 8 years ago
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Once Upon A Time was a great show for me until the middle of season 5. I think that the characters were stuck in the underworld for too long and the ending of season 5 was very anticlimactic and that's when the show started heading into a new direction. – Jai Modo 8 years ago
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I really enjoyed this show at the beginning when it was easier to understand and actually followed the stories and fairytales. But not it has become some sort of a mess. I really do think someone should explore more of this topic. – veronicamarie11 8 years ago
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I'm a big fan of OUAT, as my screen name might reveal. I love how the writers have cleverly updated fairytales--stories we all know and grew up on--since 2011. However, I can be objective enough to say some arcs work better than others. I loved the first two seasons, but the Neverland arc of season 3 was a bit stale for my taste. I also felt the show broke its own rules with the season 5 Underworld arc. Mythology is not the same as fairytale. Plus, when you start examining how people interpret the afterlife, you're bound to hit some pitfalls and lose your audience. Oh, well, at least they didn't make Hades' Underworld some kind of ultra-modern Vegas casino-type destination. They stayed true to mythology, which I can give them credit for. – RubyBelle 8 years ago
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literature

the hunger games

Write this topic

Dystopian YA: On the Rise or Facing Death

Analyse whether or not dystopian young adult novels have become essential reading or a completely redundant genre. Make sure to include examples like The Hunger Games and Divergent and discuss how they have increased the popularity of dystopian fiction for younger readers. Also evaluate newer titles and their impact on the publishing industry (whether or not they serve a purpose, are simply a cash grab, etc.).

The popularity of dystopian fiction among YA readers is often explained by it being a theme with which they can personally relate. The world is in shambles and it's up to the young protagonist (representing the future generation) to attempt to fix it. If the state of the world continues on its current trajectory - as the current presidential candidates give us much reason to suspect - the looming threats that can be seen in the novels become all too real. Though this theme feels incredibly relevant at this current historical moment, the mass sensationalism of the genre since 2008 (particularly with the publishing, film, and merchandising industries doing whatever they could to strike while the iron was hot), has very rapidly exhausted its narrative potential - evidenced by how similar the plots of Hunger Games and Divergent are, indicating a lack of original content to fill the demand. Like all fads, it isn't long until people lose interest and move on to the next one. – ProtoCanon 9 years ago
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Historically speaking, I think the rise and ultimately extreme popularity of dystopian YA novels is significant. I think it certainly says a lot about our culture. Does this automatically mean it is good literature? For most of it, probably not. Rereading the Hunger Games series will show that the quality of writing is very poor, and the characters are not compelling. I think that we tend to get sucked into these kinds of stories because of how horrifying the dystopian thing is, while we live comfortably with the knowledge that it is a highly exaggerated, excessively violent version of some of the real "dystopian" structures in our society (there are things about our world that are truly dystopian, but I don't necessarily think these are the themes and structures explored in YA novels). It doesn't matter if the book is good or not, we become fascinated because it's so sickening and yet usually unrealistic enough that we don't feel compelled to try and fix things. Years down the road, my guess is scholars will examine the eventual impact of this kind of literature, and it will be studied - but more for its value through the socio-cultural perspective than the literary one. – darapoizner 9 years ago
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It may be helpful to consider the dystopian young adult novel from this perspective: imagine an alternate reality of Harry Potter where Voldemort won and people held to a 'resistance'. We see a glimpse of this reality preceding the battle at Hogwarts, and afterwards when Voldemort appears to have defeated Harry. From this perspective the dystopian young adult novel represents the version of our realities as youth where we are not imbued with a bildungsroman-style ascension to adulthood. In other words, this genre is an inevitable continuation of children's literature. The difference between film adaptations and the novels themselves -- especially for The Hunger Games -- will likely be of more interest to future scholars (i.e. do the books matter anymore once the film adaptation has entered the collective consciousness). As for whether this means that the value is more socio-cultural than literary is an interesting predicament given that the separation of the two could likewise be up for debate. – Kira Metcalfe 8 years ago
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