Reflection and Analysis

Fate: Winx (6/16/2021)

So, I've not seen Fate: The Winx Saga yet and I don't know if I will yet as there are a ton of other shows on Netflix I want to either check out or catch up on.

However, someone really needs to say this, and reading an article on The Harvard Crimson by Millie Mae Healy called "'Fate: The Winx Saga' Doesn't Know Why Anyone Liked 'Winx Club'" and I find myself asking the question.

Which English version of Winx club are you comparing Fate: The Winx Saga to? Are you guys comparing it to the 4Kids version where Bloom is actually respectful of her parents and her friends, at least until 4Kids gave up on censoring the less savory aspects of Blooms character as well as Mary Sue traits, or are you thinking of the version where Bloom acts like a self-centered brat simply because her adoptive parents can't afford to send her on a summer trip with her friends and Mitzi, the girl who is a clear cut bully in the 4Kids version now comes across as the ex-friend Bloom ditched for her super cool Faerie when she transferred to Gardenia.

I mean, please for goodness sakes make it clear which version you're comparing it to rather than just referring to the 2004 air date over in France like this article does, because calling the saying the show "either doesn't know or doesn't care what friendship is" is actually very much in line with the show as it is in the original language let alone the second dubbing.

Yeah, I get the fact 4Kids is guilty of censoring a lot of shows, Winx Club included, but what many fans of Winx don't realize – and I suspect they've not gone back and watched the new dubbing and simply know it as the non-censored one is that while in many cases the censorship 4Kids did was often detrimental, in the case of the Winx Club – well, it's why we actually liked the show and the characters, because Bloom is most definitely not a likable character.

"Bloom is selfish and actively dislike other human beings (or wingless faeries, apparently)" is actually in character for her, but basically what I see is everyone shitting on Netflix for staying true to the original simply because GASP – it doesn't match the version they remember, aka, the 4Kids version. Her being an absolute Mary Sue, or as this writer puts it, "the Burned Ones are purposefully impossible to kill – so of course Bloom manages it on her first try," Is yet again canon fact.

Actually, this supposed addition to canon, "if any parent is mentioned, they're abusive, dead, or simply untrustworthy, and the teachers are equally unrealiable." Yeah – that's canon as well, so is a lot of things including the sexual references, but then, people remember the censored version and forgot that in all versions there was a lot of pop culture references.

On a more serious note, I do wish to discuss the subject of

Racially Diverse Casting

Truth of the matter is, I'm not surprised. And no, it's got nothing to do with Nickalodeon or Viacom, but the studio which produced Winx Club.

Truth is, I think the only reason we have Aisha in there is because of the whole Black Lives movement and everyone is token wielding, but in the Winx Club canon I remember is that if the character wasn't Bloom and the character wasn't Stella, you could expect said character to be jilted narratively because there is a certain bias against ethnic minorities and smart girls. However, fat white girls are okay because – gasp, its okay to make fun of the fat white girl and Bloom and Stella were the leader of their clique and allowed to decide what is in or not.

Actually, I don't know if there really is fat shaming going on, but I've heard there is, yet if there is, I'm not surprised just like I'm not surprised that Stella and Bloom are the main focus. I'm not surprised Techna and Flora got cut, surprised Aisha made it in and as for Musa...

I'm not sure on that one as it might be a bit unfair given the fact the actress might be Eurasian and if she is, she shouldn't have to out herself just to play an Asian role, yet that is one of my major issues regarding the whole anti-Racebending movement is that those of mixed-ethnicity are sidelined unless they're the ethnic ideal, but I'm far more concerned with the fact Musa isn't with Riven and that her powers are mind based rather than music based, because...

Well, you know, Bloom's got to have the best singing ability, something revealed later on in the series and Musa having the power of music kind of negates that and...

So, even she's gotten sidelined even if she has her own storyline, though Riven and her not dating right away does fit with what happened in the original canon.

Of course, me not being surprised means I support their decision – goodness knows I think a lot of fans could write a better version. It's just it's hard to feel disappointed when I expected the disappointment to have happened in the first place, and I'd love to see more diversity in the cast, but I don't trust the original studio – again, not Netflix, not Nickelodeon and not Viacom, to do so. Of course, Netflix can aprpoach the studio and say, hey, this is the feedback we got from fans and if they have budget control they may actually be able to do something.

Of course, there's no telling what kind of mess there is on the production side of things.

Which...

Yeah, still debating whether to check Fate out or not.