Character Rant: Regina Mills/The Evil Queen

I was watching the "Regina's Nightmare" scene from the second-to-last episode and read through the comments (silly of me, I know). So I said that they were just as evil as her if they didn't believe in forgiveness. Then someone responded to me that "she is an evil murderer, who's hurt and attempted to kill the majority of them, this is about defeating evil, not siding with it". Despite the fact that I never said I sided with Regina, the other person got two thumbs up and I got none, though one person did say I was right.
Such is the way of Youtube.
There are two camps when it comes to the main antagonist; those who love her and those who hate her. No middle ground. Those who love her point out how messed up her past is and how much she loves Henry; those who hate her point out everyone she's killed/tried to hurt and claim that she doesn't love Henry. As I've stated before, I come from the camp of loving Regina, because I love me a good villain and good heroes are even more rare.
I do admit most of this is because of Lana Parrilla; every single dang scene she brings her A game. Her facial expressions are beyond compare, and she switches from evil to human flawlessly. Here is a picture from ABC's website of her listening to her iPod to get into character. Now THAT'S an actress.

Though you gotta wonder what kind of Evil Queen playlist she's got...
But back to the character herself... She's interesting. I've always thought that she loved Henry ever since the pilot, even if she's probably the worst parent in the world. She's too busy running Storybrooke and keeping anyone from wondering "hey, none of us ever age or remember past a few years ago, what's up with that?". But even terrible parents can genuinely love their kids, and I think this is the case. Even though she's been broken, I think she still has the ability to love.
Regina's had a rough go, as one look at Cora can show. And sometimes it's hard to rationalize that Snow White was just a kid trying to make her happy, because the girl was at the age WHERE SHE SHOULD KNOW HOW TO KEEP A FRIGGIN' SECRET! Forced into a loveless marriage after her power-hungry mother murders her true love, everyone in love with the girl who stole her happiness... Yeah, I can see where Regina might be cranky. I'm not sure where she learned how to screw her lovers over, but everything evil else came from Cora.
Life sucked in Fairytale Land, so why not kill her father (who obviously did nothing to save her from marrying a guy she didn't know) and make a curse so she can have a do-over in another world? Sounds like perfect logic for a self-obsessed woman like Regina.
Am I saying this woman's perfect? Heck no. Am I even saying she's rational and sane? Hell no. Do I think she deserves to be tortured to death slowly and painfully? No. The ends do not justify the means; anyone who would do the same thing as her are just as evil. Besides, this isn't real life; we can afford to have a villain of this caliber, and without an antagonist that's a little off her rocker there'll be nothing interesting to watch.
I don't approve of her methods. Snow White and Mary Margaret both beg to know what they've done to make her so angry. Regina takes an aloof attitude, gets all mysterious, and drops vague "oh you know" like statements. Come on; if she hasn't gotten it by now she's not going to. Just tell her. Though I do appreciate that the Evil Queen finally took her to Daniel's tomb, and Snow White's all like "...the frick? He's dead".
Pretty much Snow White's entire argument is based on her ignorance, so that makes her side less interesting.
As for the "reason she hates Snow White"...I don't think we're quite done yet. Yes, this is cotton-pickin' awful already, but I feel more is on the way. For awhile I've thought that Snow White's Evil Queen has been based in part on "Snow White: A Tale of Terror", especially with the scene where all attention is focused on Snow White while the stepmother stands off to one side, ignored. In that movie (go watch it now it's awesome), the stepmother keeps trying with Snow White, but Snow White is bitter towards her, still remembering her own mother. The final straw is when the stepmother, heavily pregnant, shows off her singing during a feast, all of the audience focused on her. The audience turns when Snow White enters, looking like her mother in her gown. Her father dances with her and the stepmother is haunted, either by the fact he'll always love Snow more than her or how it looks so much like he's dancing with his dead wife. The stepmother loses the baby and blames Snow White.
A miscarriage might be a little heavy for an ABC family show, but it would explain her obsessiveness with Henry. It would add a very thick layer onto the hate cake of Snow White/Mary Margaret. But perhaps her obsession with Henry is due to the fact that he represents her fresh start and happy ending. I'm still holding to my miscarriage idea.
Regina's also interesting because there is precious little she won't do. She killed her own father, locked away her closest companion in the real world's true love in a basement, seduced in order to use the genie/Graham, backstab someone over fine print (Jefferson) etc. When you have a villain without limits, then they are unpredictable. She acts mostly on her emotions, striking out like a cobra trapped in a corner. She's desperate, pretty much, which makes her tragic and interesting at the same time.
As for the whole "showdown of Rumple and Evil Queen" that's bound to happen next season... My money's on Rumple, but I'm positive Regina's got a trick or two up her sleeve so she isn't completely pwned.