This Nickelodeon cartoon turned live-action teen-fairy drama has got lots of people’s attention. Fate: The Winx Saga was in the top spot at Netflix for a while, dethroning the Bridgerton juggernaut. But what do Latinas think? Turns out, our reactions are mixed – we’re disappointed that Flora’s character (originally inspired by JLo) got whitewashed, appreciate the show’s “serious Harry Potter vibes,” and have some concerns about how the whole thing holds together. Let’s dive in.
Fate: The Winx Saga Season 1 Advanced Review: “Discover Your Fate”
For our friends at Fangirlish, Raquel Morales advises viewers to “take the show as something new, though. Because it is based on the cartoons of our childhood – but it also follows its own path. And that path can be beautiful if we are only open to exploring it.” She notes the show is “all about… doing what you think is best – even if it’s wrong or hard” even if the show itself didn’t quite manage to do that when it “fails a bit in showing the diversity of our society.” Read her full review.
Netflix’s Fate: The Winx Saga Erases a Latinx Character, and We’re Not Having It
Meanwhile, The Mary Sue’s newest staffer Lyra Hale is, well, not having it. She notes the unbearable whiteness of it all and even a betrayal of its female audience, writing “Winx Club was vibrant, colorful, and unapologetically girly. Stripping that away and replacing it with an edgy vibe is not the way to go.” In the end, Hale calls to industry to do better – “Hollywood, next time you think Latinx erasure is a good idea, take a look around. Ask yourself and others if your writers’ room is diverse, if you’re erasing someone else’s story, and if you’re the right one to tell this story in the first place.” Read her full commentary.
I Finished Fate: The Winx Saga & I Still Have A Million Questions
Refinery29’s Ariana Romero has questions, lots of questions. She writes, “At the center [of the show] is the mysterious origin of Winx heroine Bloom (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’s Abigail Cowen), a teen girl who believed she was a normal human up until three weeks prior to the events of the show… Fans likely believe they’re in for a season of reveals about Bloom’s true lineage and the identity of her parents. This is not what happens. Instead… Bloom’s parentage remains wholly unexplored.” Read her full coverage.
20 Best Quotes from Fate: The Winx Saga on Netflix
In her round-up of show quotes, Tania Lamb of Lola Lambchops summarizes the Fate: The Winx Saga as “fairies [attending] a magical boarding school… where they must learn to master their magical powers [and] avoid being killed by monsters and all that other teen drama.” In her guide for parents, she calls it like it is, writing, “If your kids like shows with pretty people and magic, then they’ll probably enjoy The Winx Saga. Some parts are YA cheesiness, but usually that’s what the younger crowd likes. The fairy storyline is interesting and a change from Wizards vs. Muggles.”
Fate: The Winx Saga Is Missing That Spark
For her fabulous YouTube channel, Kristen Maldonado found the show lacking on the storytelling front, saying “I felt like the pacing of this show was really weird, especially with both how they developed the magic and the friendships. For instance, you know there’ll be an episode where Bloom is struggling with her magic and then the next episode, all of a sudden she’s mastered it. It just felt like there wasn’t enough building up of the characters and their powers for that to make sense.” And that’s before we get t the representation issues! Watch her full review.
All the Major Differences Between The Winx Club and Fate: The Winx Saga
And over at Seventeen, Tamara Fuentes has written ten pieces to date about the show, finding the good wherever she can. Comparing Netflix’s latest installment with its source material, reveals its flaws as Fuentes calls out “the whitewashing an existing character,” how “gender no longer matters when it comes to whether you’re a fairy or specialist,” and the lack of “fairy transformations.” Read her full coverage.
