It seems a million years ago, when She-Ra and the Princesses of the Power began, but no. ^_^
Through 5 seasons on Netflix, we’ve watch Adora and her friends form an alliance with the other Princesses of Etheria to combat the evil Horde, which sounds exactly like what one might have expected of a series called She-Ra and the Princesses of Power…but there was so much more than that baked into the story.
Teamwork and Leadership. Obviously, we expect that from a kid’s cartoon, even now…maybe especially now, after decades of anime that focuses on the power of many over one. This cartoon delves into how hard it is to keep a team working, how a good team leader really needs to understand the skills their team members bring to the plate and find a way to utilize them. Hordak isn’t actually a bad leader…especially Hordak Prime, who fully understood that the way to build a team is to make people feel included.
Trauma. That Hordak’s rule was not so much a team as a cult made it pretty clear that there is a fine line for cults of personality/celebrity, and it takes some strength to break free. For my money, Wrong Hordak (along with Peridot and Lapis) is some of the best writing in the last few years – not everyone joins the resistance for the right reasons and even if they do, they sometimes need to work through a lot for a long time. Trauma is real and healing is ongoing. You just know Wrong Hordak will wake up screaming some nights and Catra will have a hard time every once in a while. Mara’s story is a story of trauma. Bereavement is a repeated theme which makes a lot of sense for a series centered around a war.
Betrayal. Scorpia’s whole story is one of betrayal. Her grandfather capitulated to the Horde, and betrayed their family. Catra treated Scorpia with contempt and left her behind. Entrapta was betrayed – she thought – by the Princesses, and she betrayed Wrong Hordak. Adora was betrayed by Lighthope, Glimmer felt jealousy and betrayed by Bow…. and Bow was unable to address his fear of betraying his fathers. And so on.
Representation. I commented on Twitter that, in the post She-Ra and Steven Universe world (for which I still owe you a wrap up review,) all children’s cartoons are going to have to just be amazing. Never again can a network argue with a straight face that representation “doesn’t sell.”Along with racial diversity in characters, there was age, and sexuality and gender diversity, varying body types and sizes. Which is not to say it was perfect. Upon reflection, we can’t think of a disabled character in She-Ra. (Yes, I know that other cartoons have some…I’m reviewing this cartoon right now. If I’ve forgotten someone in this cartoon, please do jump in. I’ll be glad to be wrong. ^_^)
In terms of queer representation, the creative team pulled out the stops. Netossa and Spinerella are already an established couple when we meet them and they are really cute about it. Bow’s dads are a dignified middl-aged couple, as well. Double Trouble is notably non-binary, voiced by non-binary voice actor Jacob Tobia. And of course, there’s Catra and Adora’s 5-season long gavotte around their feelings.
And in all this, characters deal with many other emotional states, both positive and negative. When I wrote my initial review, I found some of the Princesses annoying…as we were lead to. As their stories unfolded, their characters filled out and developed into some great characters. Some of these story lines work well, others are occasionally facile, but generally it had some remarkable scenes. Excellent characters who were complex and nuanced, rather than bad OR good. Overall a very good series.
My only – really only – complaint about the series is the shadows that were drawn across their faces. It often looked as if they were wearing a mask. It reminded me very much of the band of light in the characters’ hair in Vision of Escaflowne, which I also found horribly distracting. I shouldn’t be seeing one artistic quirk constantly in every scene to the point of not being able to not notice it.
Ratings:
Art – 7 That face thing is a point off
Story – 8 Twisty and good, avoiding childish morality
Characters – 9 Full developed, often funny
Service – 1 I mean, everyone looks good dressed up, but that dress on Scorpia and the untied tie on Catra were on point. ^_^
LGBTQ – “perfect world” 10, in which people just are and that’s not the issue ever
Overall – 9
I do wish, though, that there had been a post-series Princess Prom episode. ^_^
I hadn’t wanted to watch this for a long time, with a “I’m glad it exists but it’s definitely not aimed at me” kind of feeling about it. But finally when season 5 was released I read enough buzz from writers I like and some interviews with the creator that made me think “maybe it’s worth a shot.”
I’m two seasons in now and, so far, I’m still sticking with my original opinion. Don’t get me wrong, I for sure see all the positive things it’s doing for a kids show, many of which you describe in your review. But despite its many bits of anime-inspired window dressing, it still does many of the things I find so intolerable about Western animation:
1. The ENDLESS mugging and silly jokes. Almost no one is capable of being serious for more than a second or two. It takes most of the tension out of any scenes of conflict or buildup.
2. The weird juxtaposition that these are all shown as young teenagers, but they supposedly have the roles of adults (military ranks and responsibilities, in some cases political power) and yet they all talk and act like small children.
3. The GI Joe Memorial “Violence With No Consequences” award. I get it – it’s a show aimed at little kids, and I don’t want or expect it to turn into FotNS or something. But they are a rebellion fighting a global conquering force in battles where the only things that ever get damaged are machinery and architecture. Bow shoots arrows that do everything but pierce, She-Ra swings a sword that doesn’t cut, and they studiously avoid the words “die” or “kill.” No one ever gets hurt, they just get thrown around a bit. Shows like BSSM do a much better job of balancing the age of the audience, the powers that the protagonists are given (a vague magic attack can be as damaging or not as the creator decides – a sword is a sword and it does what it does), and the potential results of violence (characters can get hurt and die.)
These are all some of the same things that prevented me from enjoying Avatar (and, to a lesser extent, Korra) as much as others. Anime just seems to do a better job of grounding the characters in realistic behavior based on their age and the story situation, outside of stuff that’s obviously infantilizing fetish bullshit. That said, I don’t expect that all entertainment is for me or should include something for me. I think it’s perfectly possible this show is exactly what small children would enjoy and need and that’s great. And maybe in the next three seasons the show will “grow up with” its audience and introduce more complexities to its characters and world (it sounds like that may be the case from your review).
(At least it’s better than the original cartoon, although that’s a very low bar. I don’t remember the show at all, but I couldn’t even make it through the intro song when I looked it up recently ><; I do, however, remember playing with my sister's She-Ra toys way more than my He-Man stuff. Even as a child I guess I liked stories centered around women more. Plus the castle and the outfits were way cooler.)
It’s definitely “for kids” and the violence is bloodless, but there are definitely consequences.
I found most of the Princesses very annoying and childish until Season 4…which, as they are young, is consistent. Much as Usagi should never have been Sailor Moon. She’s a whiner and a crybaby. Nonetheless, she and we grow into it. ^_^
Oh, I had the same thoughts about western animation after developing a strong anime passion. As far as I understand this, Japanese teenage animation perceives children as adults with certain limits of acceptable, while the western one looks at you as a teacher at a child. Therefore, I can enjoy Sailor Moon even in 2020, without paying attention to the fact that I am not a girl and have not been a teenager for a long time, while Avatar or She-Ra directly tell me “you are an adult who watches a children’s show.”
Not to mention the modern obsessive desire of many Western cartoons to be anime-ish, often right down to frank copying of cult shows and characters.
I know I’ve seen disabled characters in cartoons but it was more indictative of an earlier era. I’m pretty sure Extreme Ghostbusters had a series regular in a wheelchair, for instance.
I was asking about this cartoon specifically, but I agree. There was a time when cartoons were pitched with a kid who used a wheelchair, like the “Saban Sailor Moon.”
‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ also had a wheelchair-bound kid.
As for other representations, it was interesting for me to find out that Entrapta is actually supposed to be autistic–I would’ve otherwise assumed she was just another eccentric technician in a kids’ animated series.
Yes, that is true but, as I said, I was specifically asking if I had missed a disabled character in this cartoon. Clearly I have to rewrite this sentence as no one seems to have understood. ^_^
I picked up on the cues that Entrapta might be intended as autistic, but I was kind of hoping it wasn’t true. It’s disappointing to me, as someone on the spectrum, because she has the unfortunate character trait (which is widely stereotyped about autistic people) that we lack empathy, sympathy, or emotion. Entrapta does many things for the often repeated reason of “science” with absolutely no regard or consideration for the potentially harmful or fatal impact of her choices. However, while autistic people often have difficulty naming/identifying emotions in others (“cognitive empathy”), the latest research shows they may actually feel and respond to others emotional states more intensely than neurotypical people (“affective empathy”). It’s just not true that autistic people are cold-hearted logic robots or supervillains in waiting and so I’m sorry to see Entrapta put in that box. I otherwise kind of like her character but it really pains me every time she does something that will so clearly enable destruction and harm as if these are things she can’t comprehend (by implication, due to her autism).
I’ll agree with this. I also wondered whether that was the intention. There were a few qualities that were implied for various characters rather than plainly stated, because this isn’t our world and something like “ethnicity” wouldn’t make sense. My brain identified Frosta as Asian and, yes, Entrapta as possibly autistic, but yes to everything you say about that.
Physical disabilities definitely seem to drop down to the bottom of the representation pile in media, generally. Yes, ATLA did better than usual, with Toph and the Earth Kingdom kid who used a wheelchair, but when you realize that we can actually ID two people in a series of dozens, maybe we’re still not getting representation to be representative.
I think that many modern authors see such people somewhere at the level of representation of sexual minorities in the 90s. In the sense that they are not perceived negatively, but the creators aren’t sure that they will not make the appeal of the work too small or will be “comfortable” to the mainstream audience.
For example, author of Koe no Katachi once said that people sent her angry letters, accusing her of allegedly anti-Japanese slander, because she just portrayed discrimination and bullying against deaf people. It reminds me of times when films like Brokeback Mountain inevitably caused scandals, as it made even many gay-friendly people feel embarrassed.
AHHHHHHH!!!!! I know this comment will probably never be seen, buried on an older post now, but I had to come back and talk about the end now that I’ve just finished season 5.
*spoiler alert*
Sooo… it’s like, beyond obvious that the scene of Catra reaching Adora in her vision at the Heart of Etheria was a near shot-for-shot homage to the end of the Utena TV series, right?! Catra above, leaning in from an open door into a pitch black void, the light behind her blaring white, reaching desperately toward Adora. Adora below, in tears, hesitantly reaching out her hand, then stretching with greater desperation until their hands clasp…
I am not sure if it’s supposed to be complete fanservice or if we can read more into it than that. On the surface of it, it seems like a role-reversal. Adora/She-Ra is the sword-wielding hero in the military uniform with the prince/savior complex that we would naturally correlate to Utena. Catra is a less-clear Anthy, but does share a kind of Machiavellian spirit with her, along with plenty of psychological wounding. On the other hand, Adora is the one with the weight of a birthright destiny on her shoulders, the one who over and over again sacrifices herself, alone, sometimes out of necessity but sometimes not, to save the ones she loves. The last two episodes lean heavily into the rending pain of that martyrdom which does make her an Anthy-like figure as well, with Catra as the Utena who sees all of her flaws and loves her anyway and just wants her to see another possible path.
I don’t think it entirely works as a metaphor for the show’s themes, especially since the writing was pretty scattershot on many of them and overall it’s a less mature and focused work than Utena. But damn if I didn’t cheer when I recognized what they were doing! And I’m with you, making the vision of Adora, Catra, Glimmer, and Bow as adults attending Scorpia’s party would make a fantastic mini-movie one-shot special!
You are not alone in seeing that as an Utena reference. I have to say, I think Utena has got to be studied as massively influential series given it’s impact on both Steven Universe and She-Ra.
I would love for there to be more scholarship around Utena. Honestly there have already been so many brilliant analyses of the layers in the show, I sometimes wonder if the creative team was really able to plan out all of the seeming references, allusions, callbacks, symbols, and parallel intertwining narratives, as a small upstart animation studio on the notoriously brutal time crunch of making anime, and how much of it was an absurd amount of fortunate happenstance. But there has definitely been less done on the ways Utena has influenced other creators and popped up even in other media.
I think the Be-Papas team drew on both generally known and personally relevant references, so any one person might not be able to articulate them all (and Ikuhara wasn’t able or willing to articulate them at all.)
I believe the scholarship will come as time moves along. SU and She-Ra are both relatively new, so any scholarship on them in fan studies and media studies will be beginning as people start now to write about them.
After seeing news articles about Catradora becoming canon and seeing some enticing fanart pop up, I finally relented and gave the series a chance.
I just finished the 5 seasons (in about three sittings) and I really can’t express how much I would have loved this show and how much it would have meant to me if I had had the chance of watching it as a child.
First, because Catradora is having an effect on me even as an adult (“Hey Adora” is one of the hottest sentences I’ve ever heard, kudos to the voice actress), so I’m pretty sure it’d have blown my little budding lesbian brain. What I like most about them is 1) the crazy amount of attention paid to their relationship in the show and 2) how unhealthy their relationship seems until they actually get back together and then Adora grounds Catra, helping her open up and deal with her rage and insecurities, while Catra grounds Adora, helping her realize that she is more than just She-Ra and that she has a right to fight for her own happiness as well.
Then, because the diversity in this series is awesome (for instance, not being super slim does not prevent Glimmer and Spinerella from kicking as much butt if not more than everyone else).
Finally, because the lessons given in this series are really, really good. The writers have done a good job of avoiding the classic toxic morals of children tales…
Like, adults are not all evil or useless… but neither are they always right.
Or the “power of friendship” requires a lot more work than just shouting some cheesy nonsense.
I especially commend the writers for staying mostly clear of Manichaeism (well, I’d argue the only exception is Horde Prime himself) in a setting featuring a faction called the _Evil_ Horde.
Anyway, I just really felt like saying that I wish She-Ra and the Princesses of Power had been available at least 20 years ago (I’m 34)… and Catradora is amazing.
I grew up with entertainment for children that often didn’t even have children in it, much less non-white children or queer representation, so I find myself more thrilled for kids now than regretful that it wasn’t around for me.
I think about how much has changed and the hugest change I can express is that 37 years ago, when my wife and I started dating, we never once, not for a second considered that we’d ever be able to marry. It was just so far out of the realm of possibility. Now young people ar angry that they aren’t getting more rights and more equality and I am absolutely delighted. ^_^
Be angry and get that shit done. Make more cool stuff for children so they want even more. Please.
I feel more hopeful and amazed than regretful, thankfully.
I don’t resent the creators of old for not having been able to bend the norms of their time… it’s not like producers would have let them, anyway.
So, yeah, I watch Korra and the new She-Ra and I think “Amazing how far we have come since I was a kid…”
I am certain that if I had watched shows like these two when I was younger, it would have had a HUGE impact on my self-esteem and self-acceptance.
I’m hoping that many kids today and tomorrow will watch them (and future amazing shows, of course) and benefit from the experience.
Yes, exactly!