In the world of books, changing the gender of the protagonist apparently changes the genre; if it’s a woman, it’s chick lit, if it’s a man, it’s literary fiction. This trend can be seen across media and pop culture, where features about women are considered for women only. No one else could possibly be interested in a story about a female character’s coming of age, for instance, so it should be shelved with other books ‘for women.’
This divide means that books with male protagonists end up on bestseller lists and are nominated for literary prizes, while books with female protagonists and similar narratives are hidden in the back of the bookstore so they don’t offend delicate eyes. Raunchy books about men are daring and bold, while raunchy books about women belong in the romance section; the same goes for narratives involving the flowering of true love, or violence, or any number of other things. For a woman to appear in a story that will be nominated for a literary prize, she usually needs to be an object, not a person.
A striking case study of the gendered gap in pop culture is airing on television right now in the form of Grimm and Once Upon A time, both of which are playing with the fairytale genre. Seeing major networks attempt to bring fantasy to the lineup is exciting, but it’s telling to compare and contrast the presentation and reception of both shows, which clearly illustrate the divide when it comes to storytelling. Same genre, similar premise, but these two shows are handled very differently.
Grimm is dark, and going for a slightly sophisticated take on fantasy; it’s fun and has comedic relief, but it’s incorporating layers of complexity, and is literally dark in the sense that the lighting and sets are extremely moody and murky. Once Upon A Time, by contrast, is a much lighter show. There’s a sweet note to it, despite the fact that it deals with many of the same themes, and includes some positively evil characters. The setting and staging are mostly light, and the overall result is slightly more fluffy.
The protagonists of both shows are experiencing similar trajectories. Nick (Grimm) and Emma (Once Upon A Time) are both coming to terms with the fact that things they thought were mythological, confined to books, are actually real. They’re also both tasked with saving people from threats they don’t even know about, can’t recognise, and probably couldn’t deal with if they saw them. They’re heavy with knowledge they can’t share with anyone, and occupy hero roles on both shows even as they have assistants to help them navigate the worlds they are inhabiting. The weight of the world is on their shoulders.
Yet, Grimm deals with themes like murder, kidnapping, and rape, while Once Upon A Time has ‘women’s issues’ like parenting, adoption, and romance. Emma, it is implied, must find romance for herself to feel complete, while Nick is already complete. He has a romantic partner and a solid job as a detective, unlike lowly Emma the bounty hunter. Both characters are equally resourceful, very talented when it comes to apprising situations and rooting out information, but there’s a sense that Emma is lesser, primarily because she’s a girl.
Even their helpers and catalysts speak to the divide in the presentation of the two shows. Sophisticated Grimm has a recovering Big Bad Wolf, who is a comic character in some senses but also a reminder of the show’s darkness and what is constantly lurking around the corner. Sweet Once Upon A Time has a little boy looking for his mother. The archenemy in Once Upon A Time is, of course, an evil adoptive mother, while in Grimm, it’s a rotating series of big bads each week to keep the show lively.
Nick and Emma are on voyages of exploration and self-discovery. They’re learning that there’s an entire world within the world they already knew, one where monsters roam and things are not what they seem, and where fairytales come to life, sometimes with terrifying consequences. One show, though, is clearly aimed at general audiences and it’s considered to be of interest to viewers of all genders, while Once Upon A Time is clearly aiming for the female demographic, or what the network thinks ‘the female demographic’ might be.
The very Hulu ads on the shows betray the differences between them; Once Upon A Time wants to sell me sanitary napkins and lunchables for my children, while Grimm admits that luxury cars are pretty nice and men like tools (women, of course, do not like tools, but on the off chance that women are watching the show, they might want to be alerted that they should buy some tools for the men in their lives). Once again, the male voyage of discovery is for all audiences; it’s the literary fiction, the tour de force, the New York Times bestseller, while the female voyage of discovery is the mass paperback romance novel in the supermarket checkstand, ‘chick lit,’ romance, primary of interest to women readers.
After all, who would want to watch a story about a girl saving the world and learning more about herself in the process? Only other girls, naturally.
You know, personal opinion, but the funny thing is that Grimm is a poorer show than OUAT. I mean, in writing quality, etc.
That’s odd. By that logic, as a guy I should be more interested in Grimm than Once Upon a Time; but on the contrary, I find Grimm and its protagonist to be quite boring, whereas Once Upon a Time is just all-around better. Emma is a fantastic heroine and one who would certainly give Nick a run for his money.
While Nick is on a “voyage of self-discovery,” he’s already portrayed as being complete or consummate. It’s unrealistic, even in a show about updated fairy tales.
Emma, by comparison, is more believable. She has made what some (including herself, at times) consider mistakes, but she doesn’t run from them. Instead she owns up to them. She doesn’t let herself be defined by what she’s done, but by what she continues to do. She’s just stronger than Nick, if you ask me.
(Also re: supporting cast, consider what channels both shows air on. ABC is owned by Disney, so it’s no surprise that the cast of OUAT pulls largely from the Disney versions of fairy tales, whereas Grimm is at liberty to do more. I don’t doubt that ABC might be trying to push the show towards women, but that at least could explain why the supporting cast feels so “sweet.”)
Actually, OUAT has gotten increasingly adult and violent, so I’m not sure all the issues are “Romance” issues. What irks me about Grimm is that it not only portrays women as victims, caretakers, and villainesses, with NO positive strong, smart women taking charge, but it also completely erases these figures from the original fairy tales. In “Hansel and Gretel,” it is Gretel’s smart, quick thinking that saves the day when she pushes the witch into the oven. And in Bluebeard, it’s his courageous wife who looks in the chamber and gets help, along with her sister. Grimm rewrites these tales to make the women and girls helpless victims. Bluebeard’s wives are drugged and caged; Gretel lies sedated on an operating table while Burckhardt throws the “witch” doctor into the fire.
At this point, I much prefer watching Once’s take on fairy tales. There, you have a Snow White who dresses like a boy, hunts on her own and has more courage than prince charming, and there you have a kick-ass female bounty hunter whose destiny is to save fairy-tale land (a tamer version of Buffy, I guess).