The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is Turning Diversity Into A Cheap Plot Device
It seems like every other week someone is announcing another female-led TV show. Great, right? I used to think so, at least. Unfortunately, the quality of these dime-a-dozen programs has officially burned me, once and for all. The newest culprit is Netflix’s The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, based on a graphic novel of the same name. I’ll admit, I am unfamiliar with the source material so I cannot speak to its adaptation. Rather, I can speak (/rant) about the fact that this show is undeservedly being lauded as a diverse celebration of girl-power when it is simply an attempt to monetize an otherwise noble and necessary movement towards more diverse representation in media.
With witchcraft being a major force in the series, it has the framework to be a perfect vehicle to exemplify the struggle of marginalized identities. But the result lacks the finesse that its backdrop is so perfectly inclined to handle. Witches in life and fiction have always been an allegory for the struggle of the other. Even the Salem Witch Trials, which are referenced multiple times throughout the show, stemmed from a Barbados-born slave named Tituba being unjustly accused. Witchcraft is an inherently feminist issue that inextricably linked with America’s intensely troubling racial history. Yet this show has turned them into a bizarre satanic stereotype with a healthy dose of white-savior complex on top of that.
Don’t get me wrong, I grew up on a healthy diet of The Powerpuff Girls, Moesha, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer; I love powerful, magical, and fun-loving ladies. Before I actually watched it, I was so excited for this new take on a favorite throw-back. Better yet, the previews gave me some hope that it would be a genuinely diverse cast to bring it into the modern age. But once again I was let down, and after only a few episodes my disappointment was solidified.
Yes, the show has a uniquely diverse cast, featuring multiple people of color, a nonbinary character, and even some queer representation. However, they are used in the narrative in ways that feel forced, like they are simply items being checked off a to-do list. It is as though every single episode is more focused on carefully balancing feminism, toxic masculinity, healthy masculinity, diversity, advocating for bullies, gender norms, LGBTQ+ issues, race, etc. than the actual elements of story. Furthermore, rather than giving its marginalized characters the narrative space to be in charge, for once, it lets all the dramatic power rest on Sabrina’s dainty, white shoulders.
The witch in question is surrounded by a diverse cast of both friends and frenemies. There’s Ambrose, Sabrina’s pansexual warlock cousin, Roz Walker, a staunchly feminist woman of color and Sabrina’s close friend, Susie, nonbinary and another good friend of Sabrina, and Prudence Night, Sabrina’s foil and the leader of the Weird Sisters. And they are all wonderfully interesting characters, but the show instead chooses to focus on Sabrina’s uncanny ability to come to the rescue. The first few episodes are motivated by Sabrina’s heroic quest to protect Susie from their recurring bullies, starting the Women’s Intersectional Cultural and Creative Association (WICCA) as a safe space for them, and eventually scaring the literal pants off said bullies. Sabrina to the rescue! Then, when Roz clashes with the administration over her reading The Bluest Eye for a class project, Sabrina starts the official WICCA book club. And of course, their first book is The Bluest Eye.
The show sets up all these fascinating characters with compelling problems, but instead focuses on Sabrina’s struggle over whether to sign her life over to Satan whilst simultaneously saving her friends at every turn. I get it; that is a pretty big decision to serve Satan or not, but for a show that is clearly trying to cash in on how “intersectional” it is, the straight, white, cisgendered Sabrina is a poor heroine. Susie, Roz, Ambrose, and Prudence all get their five minutes of focus, but the narrative almost immediately draws it back to how Sabrina fits into their problems and how she’s the one to solve them. I’ve seen article after article praising this show for its diversity, but they all neglect to address the narrative failings behind that representation. Simply sticking people in the background like obstacles for Sabrina to overcome doesn’t make this show worthy of such commendations.
I will say, it’s not all bad. I take issue with the way this show handles its diverse background cast but, hey, at least they’re there. Sometimes we have to take whatever small victories we can get, even though we should always push for something better. Hopefully, the fact that Netflix even dared to include them, however mismanaged, is a sign that our culture is becoming more comfortable with representing these identities.
At the end of the day, despite its (however meager) attempt at diversity, this pretty package simply does not deliver. TV can and should do better; there are plenty of examples of intersectional shows that deserve the same spotlight that Sabrina has. Instead, we’re spoon fed more white feminist victories in another predictable teen melodrama.
