flitting around

like, there’s so much criticism surrounding fictional girls’ physical appearances in general, from the clothes they wear to their bodies themselves. there’s always talk about how cartoons aimed at girls have girl characters that are “impossibly thin” or something like that. i almost feel as though there’s this unspoken agreement that, in every review of a cartoon made for girls, the reviewer needs to mention the girls’ bodies and how they could potentially impart insecurities onto impressionable viewers etc etc.

and just from everything i had heard, everything i already knew prior about it, i knew it wouldn’t be a good adaptation. everything about it completely misses the mark on what makes the original show so special. but i DID try and go into the show with an open mind about whether it would be at least decent as its own standalone thing.

no. my conclusion is that it is not a good show, even if you try and treat it as something completely divorced from Winx Club. i know taste in shows is subjective, but i truly feel that this show is objectively not good.

the plot is incredibly unstructured and disjointed and the winx’s friendship as a full group was not developed with care, so them being buddy-buddy at the end feels very much forced. and not only did the whitewashing already doom it, the writing really is overrun by racism, homophobia, and fatphobia. 

(in a strangely cheery voice) Anon! Thank you for the wonderful question.

Here are several reasons why:

judging from what she listed in her appearance, she’s maybe white and Middle Eastern. 

in any case, i don’t think there’s much to gain in discussing her racial and ethnic background. i doubt we will ever get any clarifying answers about it, and honestly even if we did and it turned out she is 1/4 Asian, it would not make the situation any better to me.

Musa was very clearly coded as East Asian, both in her appearance and in her home planet (and even then i wouldn’t say Rainbow’s representation in that regard was perfect... far from it. but the coding is pretty undeniable.) even if Elisha Applebaum is in fact 1/4 Asian, it doesn’t change the fact that they would have casted an extremely white-passing actress to play Musa, completely diluting her background, all while still being able to say “hey but her actress is 1/4 Asian! we did our due diligence in the casting!” which is, of course, total nonsense.

winx and trix themed userboxes for anyone who wants to express their extreme distaste for the live-action adaptation

feel free to use these however you want! no need to credit me, but i’d be very appreciative if you did :}

click here for userboxes of Roxy, Mirta, Diaspro, and Valtor

i know it’s tempting to get on Netflix and witness for yourself the atrocities everyone else is talking about online, but if we want to make a statement about how we won’t tolerate whitewashing, then we need to let this flop.

reiterating: let Fate flop!

there’s already so many viewers who have openly said that they don’t care about the whitewashing from day one. they’re watching Fate on Netflix because they don’t care. meanwhile, there’s viewers who have openly denounced the whitewashing and have declared that they don’t approve of it-- but they’re watching Fate on Netflix to hatewatch.

it’s unfortunate, but the reality is, your hatewatching is putting money in Netflix’s pockets. your hatewatching is telling Netflix that there’s demand for a second season. even if your intentions aren’t to do that, that’s what your actions are doing.

i have to stress that this goes so much deeper than Fate. that’s why it’s so important to let Fate flop. Rainbow whitewashed Aisha in World of Winx, then in season 8. they whitewashed Flora in World of Winx, then in season 8. there’s so much official art out there of these two looking completely white.

now, in a live-action, they’ve completely whitewashed Flora, replacing her with a white actress. and they completely whitewashed Musa as well. Aisha is a token Black character.

it’s time to make clear to Rainbow that we won’t be supporting or tolerating their blatant whitewashing and disrespect towards the poc members of their audience.

not a creature was sleeping, they were all up to nag

but the writers ignored them, all snug in their beds

not a single smart thought to fill their dumb heads.

the cast-list was stocked up with unaskedfor whites

in hopes to drive viewership up to new heights

but the fandom was wise to that racist bullshit

and lit up the net in a well-deserved fit.

but netflix and straffi and brian slept on

unaware, and not caring, how their show had gone wrong

and not giving a crap about latines or asians

as long fat stacks of cash were still paid them.

meanwhile i at my keyboard and others on theirs

were huddled together in masses or pairs

and whispered sarcastically into the night

ohno he handsome