Reflection and Analysis

Charmed - Misandry Isn't Feminism

How bad can the new Charmed series which released in 2018 be? Well, I decided to check out how bad the series is for myself since the first season is up on Netflix, and yes – it is bad.

Of course, like many other series there are people who talk about examining the show as if it was its own thing – as in a work which is original fiction rather than work which is derivative of another existing work. My policy on this is – if you want to create original fiction go and create original fiction. If you want to create fanfic – derivative fiction not created by the original creators of the work – then treat it as such but expect to be compared to the original.

After all, none the original staff was brought back to work on this project. Of course, none of the original staff owns the copyright so what is canon in this franchise? We could view this rendition of Charmed as an AU or alternative reality where the rules are different, yet we can't ignore the fact even in an alternative reality the work needs to stick to some ground rules. Dick Grayson for example is someone who seeks out justice and not revenge, but is far more pacifistic than Batman to the point Superman points out Grayson trusting you is a major deal.

In other words, while this series can create some of its own canon at the root it needs to keep it's – well roots. There's not much fanfic written for the series, which isn't surprising given the fact WB wanted attempted cashing in on the popularity of Charmed which – while the fandom doesn't have the number of fanfics written for it like other series do – is still a rather large fandom being that not all the fans read and write fanfic for it, yet the reboot's failed to garner anywhere near the attention the original did. Of course, what do the positive reviews on IMDB say? I'm talking about the 10 out of 10 reviews. Here are some quotes.

rfjdonahue – " ... I'll be the first to admit the show has some pacing issues, " and "with the advancements in technology the sfx are really good."

I'm not sure why the review is getting a ten out of ten if there were pacing issues, but the special effects actually weren't that great. Specifically, one of the things I plan on talking about is how having advanced technology to do special effects doesn't mean you'll get good special effects, but I'm actually of the belief in some cases going old school on the special effects has a better effect. The advanced technology should only be used where something can't be done without said technology.

marksmith-99156 – "This is a new take on charmed, doesn't have anything to do with the original which means that you get a different version of 4 sister who are charmed one who are supposed to save the world from evil." Also, they claim "you should judge by how you feel about it and now what other reviewers say on here."

Keep in mind this is from a reviewer who says "Prue was killed in season 2" yet tries playing up the fact they're a fan of the original series. One of the things I've always wondered about those who claim we shouldn't judge a reboot, or any other derivative work based off the original series is how well they remember the original series. If they don't remember the original series well, they can't judge the new series based on that criteria so are they expecting everyone else to as well?

More importantly, if it doesn't have anything to do with the original series than how does this have anything to do with the original series? That's pretty much saying the work is Charmed in name only which is a legit complaint regarding the show.

dap_125 – "The ladies are strong, powerful modern women."

Here is another thing I am going to focus on, particularly how these characters are stereotypes.

And finally....

tanyamhenriques – "I ADORED the terribleness of the original series. The campiness and the bad scripts made my day whenever I caught an episode. – This. This is everything it COULD have been and more. This is fifteen years of social evolution woven into some really fun plots, deep relationships, and an actually very good show. – It's NOT the same, and folks should stop expecting that out of remakes. They should know that time moves on, and so should our shows."