When it comes to the ’80s/’90s cartoons that my generation grew up with, there’s a lot of room for improvement. Many of the shows Gen-X/Millennials grew up with were nothing more than toy commercials thinly disguised as male power fantasies.
Some shows, like He-Man and The Masters of the Universe, didn’t bother with the disguise. Don’t get me wrong, it was still a male power fantasy, but the show made no bones about being a platform for Mattel to hawk its cheap plastic figurines.
She-Ra, a spinoff of He-Man, was no different, which is why the Netflix reboot was such a breath of fresh air.
The creator, Nate Stevenson, took the original, which was ostensibly an attempt to get girls to buy action figures, and turned it into an empowering adventure tale aimed at all genders and ages.
The new She-Ra isn’t concerned with anything more than crafting a good story, and at that, it excels.
