Alright y'all, welcome back to another rant about something I don't approve of. Today, I'll be talking about the Winx Club's new live-action show and how Netflix really enflamed all of the fans of the original show.
When we all heard about the reboot, a ton of us knew, deep in our hearts, that something like this was going to happen. You know, the whitewashing of the cast, the drab and gloomy feel of the show.
What I loved the most about Winx was the bright colors, the diverse cast, and the complex (for a kids show) story plots. Without further ado, here are the things that Netflix could have changed but chose not to because this is literally just a money grab and they don't care about what the actual fans of the show want.
Cast:
Park Min Young as Musa
I think we can all agree that they cast Musa crappily. I mean, the girl they cast is 1/4th Singaporean. One. Fourth. They easily could have cast an Asian actress. Asian actors and actresses usually are unable to get jobs in Hollywood unless it is specifically stated in the role that the character is Asian, which is a whole other argument.
I mean, c'mon Netflix! Musa was the fairy that I loved the most as a kid. I looked up to her because she was Asian and I'm Asian, and you took that away from me. Netflix has robbed us of what made the Winx unique- their diversity.
Becky G as Flora
I know she isn't an actress, she's a singer, but at least give us some Latina representation! Flora was based on JLo, and, of course, she's too old to act as Flora now, but I think there are many latina actresses they could've hired to keep Flora instead of replacing her with 'Terra.'
It's cool that they made Terra plus-sized to show young girls that the beauty standard doesn't just revolve around being skinny, but SHE IS WHITE. The creators of Winx Club clearly stated that Flora is latina.
Precious Mustapha as Aisha
I'm not going to lie, I think they cast Aisha perfectly. Precious is beautiful and she fits the image of how I imagined Aisha. I do have one complaint, and that's her clothes. To be fair, I hate all of their outfits in the trailer. From my memory of Aisha, she was more of a tomboy and her outfits reminded me of beach athleisure. I hope that she gets those really laid-back outfits like her original one.
Also, the 'token minority' shit is disgusting. She should not be the only colored person in the cast, period.
Hannah van der Westhuysen as Stella
I also have no complaints about Stella. The actress who Netflix cast to play Stella is absolutely gorgeous.
Rowan Blanchard as Techna
I was very irked that Netflix decided that Techna wasn't important enough to include in the show. Techna was a great faerie and I want her to have a role in the show. There is some speculation that they removed Techna from the script because her fae powers didn't fit the 'dark feel' of the show, but imagine a punk Techna! Like, she could be a real bad b**** in the show if they cast her!
Katherine McNamara as Bloom
Is there anyone more perfect than Katherine McNamara? As it is, Bloom is cast pretty well, but I've always imagined Katherine as Bloom since seeing her in Shadowhunters. She's a really good actress and I think she could make the role of Bloom shine.
I guess we'll see how Abigail Cowen stacks up, but I have a better role for her in the show *gives smirk*
The Weird Sisters as the Trix
I've also heard that instead of the Trix, Darcy, Icy, and Stormy, they're going to have only one antagonist named Beatrix. *blinks a few times*
That's the laziest af naming I have ever seen! I hate it! The Trix witches are literally so iconic, why get rid of them? I mean, I can understand having too many characters in the show, but the Trix are everything. I could cast y'all the Trix right now, the Weird Sisters.
Can anyone think of a better trio to play as the Trix? For Pete's sake, you cast freaking Dorcas from the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina as Bloom. What about Katherine McNamara? She's only two years older than Abigail Cowen.
I think she's acting in a show called The Stand right now, and maybe that's why they couldn't cast her, but I can only imagine Katherine as Bloom.
Setting:
When I expected the show to be a live-action reboot, I wanted this:
Not this:
What the hell is this. Not even a question, just a statement. It's drab and dreary and not at all what I wanted to remember the Winx Club as. They are faeries, not vampires!
Brian Young, the creator of the Vampire Diaries, supposedly had a big say in the creation of the show, and I'm not surprised. From the one-minute, fifteen-second trailer I've seen, this whole show looks as if a bunch of middle-aged men are trying to recreate every other show about magic for money.
Because that's all this show is. A money grab. Right now, our country (the US) is going through something of a recession because of the pandemic, and they are trying to profit off of a Winx reboot because they think it's guaranteed money in their pocket.
It's almost like they're trying to do what Disney did with the Tinkerbell franchise. Tinkerbell was released during 2008 when the economy was in the slumps, and no one thought that the movie would do well. After all, it was released just for DVD.
Turns out, people usually tend to stay home during an economic crisis, and what's better than staying at home, doing nothing? Staying at home and watching a DVD.
For the next consecutive years, Disney went on to make a ton more Tinkerbell movies, but as soon as the economy began getting better, they cut the movies. There's also the fact that Disney found out how to make more money by doing basically nothing *ahem, live-action remakes, ahem.*
Netflix is applying the same principle. Hey, these teens are dumb and bored at home. Why don't we remake their favorite childhood TV show? And boy, do they know how we love our nostalgia. Perhaps, just a little too much.
See, we all have such fond memories of the colorful show about faeries that it's hard to imagine Winx as dark and gritty. That's why we all hated the outfits, the setting, and just about everything. Our nostalgia is too powerful for any of us to truly enjoy the show.
Netflix set us up to enter into watching the show, thinking that it is a recreation of the Winx Club. What they should have done was set it up in a different part of the Winx world and made the characters completely new. We wouldn't have gotten our hopes up and we certainly wouldn't feel as enflamed about the casting as we do now.
Alright, well that's all I have for you guys. Note that these are my opinions and I will delete any rude comments. Rant over and peace out.