Weight of the Crown

As you can probably tell, I'm really passionate about the show Once Upon A Time, especially the character Regina. Despite her very nasty habit of ripping people's hearts from their chest, I like her character. Regina is a very misguided character who is the product of being raised by her very manipulative and twisted mother Cora. Tonight's episode "The Queen is Dead" proves this. Cora orchestrated the death of Snow White's mother and Regina's rescue of Snow White. What makes me so upset is that Regina is blinded to her mother's evil intentions toward everyone, including Regina herself and Henry.  I really don't like how the writers of Once Upon A Time, at the beginning of the second season, attempted to show Regina's potential to become a good person but destroyed that chance by having her character blindly follow her mother, even though she had suspicions of her mother’s intentions when they were reunited. With Cora framing her daughter for the murder of Dr. Hopper and then using Regina’s need for maternal love, Regina has not been given a decent chance to prove her worth. I’ve noticed throughout the history of the show the common theme that female rulers are unable to hold their position of power. Snow White's mother lost her position of power when she was murdered by Cora. Regina only gained power when her heart was corrupted by evil and she was only queen because her mother manipulated Regina's life in order to gain power. Snow White was not able to rule because her evil stepmother prevented her reign. So far, there hasn't been an example of a queen who has gained power without succumbing to evil or being murdered by evil individuals. I almost feel like the show is trying to imply that women cannot rule because they are either two vulnerable to evil's temptation or they are too weak to protect themselves from evil people.