Text by ALLEGRA WEST
Art by SAMANTHA HO
Whitewashed Winx Club
NETFLIX CHANGES SHOW FOR THE WORSE
W
ITH LONG RED HAIR and bright blue eyes, characters. protagonist Bloom steps into the lush greenery The whitewashing of these characters deprived the show of of Alfea College for her first day, and is met one of its most attractive and defining qualities. with a crowd of fairies roaming the campus. A The only racial ethnicity Netflix preserved was Aisha’s — a towering gated wall encompasses ornate buildings and hides remnant of the diverse cast that once was. the castle and its fairies inside. Even from afar, it’s clear the When creating the cast, Netflix also stripped the story of a characters at Alfea aren’t representative of the female role model in science and math by exdiverse cast that I was expecting for this new The whitewashing cluding Techna from the list of characters. rendition of one of my favorite old shows. Without her technological powers, it of these characters feels like Netflix is pushing away the The popular original deprived the show idea of girls in math and science, The original “Winx Club” is an Italwhich is discouraging for ian animated series created by Iginio Straffi of one of its most many young girls and fans in 2004, following six teenage fairies trying attractive and dewho loved and related to to save the universe from the Trix, a trio of that character. witches who want to conquer the magical di- fining qualities. With this, and mension. the recent increase The animation quickly gained traction of minority during its first season, becoming one of the highest-rated shows representation in entertainon Italian television. The vibrant and sparkly clothing made ment, Netflix seems to be the show attractive for its main demographic of young girls, moving backward with their but a key element of its success was its diverse cast featuring decisions for “Winx Club.” c h a r a c - ters of East Asian, Hispanic, and African descent. Being Asian myself, I found comfort in how “Winx Club” improvements the character Musa looked like me. While I loved the original While other shows typically stuck animation, it was by no means non-white characters to the sidelines perfect. The lack of body of the story, “Winx Club” includ- positivity was one flaw, ed characters of color which prompted Netflix to as part of the main six, create Terra, who deals with making it one of only a issues like social anxiety and body few shows with a central confidence. I’m glad that the producers added character I could relate to. a more relatable character that normalizes conversations around these topics. Netflix’s mistake Netflix also created a darker appearance When I heard that Net- for the show, which harshly contrasts the flix was creating a live-action sparkly and bright colors of the original. Al“Winx Club,” I couldn’t wait though the darker theme is different, it fits for the release date; I well with the story because of the fighting had high hopes for and the many villains that the fairies have to the adaptation of deal with. my beloved series. Despite these positive elements, whiteBut when “Fate: The washing the characters and taking out a feWinx Saga” premiered in male STEM role model feels like a step in the late January, I was shocked to see wrong direction. I urge Netflix to cast more that the producers had recast Musa and diverse main characters in their second season Flora — who were East Asian and Hispanic, to revive the attractive and unique aspects of respectively, in the animated show — as white the original “Winx Club.” v
