I enjoy Fables, I enjoy it a lot. I know it is not the most popular of books on the board, but it is one of my favorite pulls, and the lending of the Fables books to my friends have hooked at least three or four people and dragged them further into comics. I'm at work, but I will try to reconstruct from memory some scenes as best I can.
The individual Fables express politics that are contrary to my own. When the good Doc suggests that Snow White abort her children, she reacts with complete revulsion. She follows this with something to the effect of, "I am not one of those weak mundy women who will toss away any problem." I find this view completely bonkers personally.
The Fables, even the ones who look human, are not human. The best way to think of them is as Kirby's Inhumans. A cloistered secret society, obsessed with their own protection and secrecy, obsessed with eugenics, and highly militaristic. And they have been here since before the creation of the United States.
Before I move on, Goldilocks is portrayed as batshit, but that is separate from her bestiality. I think few if any of the Fables actually care that she is sleeping with Boo Bear, and Papa Bear seems proud. And it should be noted that Snow White is a beastialist. After all, Bigby is not the least bit human, as he points out in Fables 50. He is half wolf and half magical creature on par with djinns. There is no human ancestry in him, and the closest he gets to being human is that he can assume the form of one through shapeshifting. After all, Reynard thinks he has a chance with Snow after hearing rumors of her and Bigby, with no thought of any cross-species taboos. Snow does rebuff his advances, but that has more to do with Reynard being a self-absorbed twit (albeit a funny one).
But back to the Farm and the revolt. A great deal of Fables cannot pass as human. And a society as obsessed with secrecy as the Fables created rules that would prevent their discovery, the Fabletown Compact. All the Fables agreed to it, and must abide by it. Also part of the compact is that Bigby cannot step foot on the Farm, which is why he could not see his cubs. I must stress that I am not defending these beliefs, merely trying to explain them in the context of the series.
As for forcing the non-human Fables into a ghetto, that is part of the discussion of Animal Farm which continues into the story. It is generally presented as an unfortunate circumstance, but necessary to keep the secrecy and ensure the survival of all the Fables. Transforming the non-human Fables or providing them with glamours so that they could leave the farm was actually one of the planks that Prince Charming ran on, and the one which netted him the win as mayor. What he didn't realize is that it was not possible to create that many spells to perform the deed. Something about the spell-load or something. So these Fables are stuck on the Farm. Again, I point to the Inhumans, and the differences between the royal family and the rest of Atillan. Or more importantly, the Alpha Primitives. The difference is that the Farm Fables are not forced into labor, they work in a form of capitalistic society to provide for themselves (as far as I understand it).
One must also realize that outside of the Fabletown society, these are separate characters who hail from a proto-medieval society, full of many prejudices. Plus, there might be some of the residual character-archetype magic that forces its way into their personalities (though if so, that would be a stupid idea). When the Arabian Fables showed up, they came from a medieval Baghdad, and many of their actions, thoughts, and personalities are shaped by this. There is change, witness Sinbad's actions. But even so, the Fables are Inhumans engaged in an eternal war. It doesn't make their actions right, but it might explain it.
As for the "Go go Israel" stuff, I dunno. I would expect Bigby to express views related to that. For one, he fought in both World Wars and presumedly witnessed first-hand some Holocaust stuff, probably making him more pro-Zionist. And while you can debate whether or not there are parallels between Fabletown and Israel, that is how Bigby wants to argue it. |
