rambled analysis of She-Ra
hi! to start things off this will be a long ass post. I'll put a summary here and put a read more button after so you can choose to go with my madness! sounds good? lets go! (note for spoilers so if you haven't seen the show and want to, don't read this) Post is mainly about Catra's 'redemption' my bad lmao.
welcome to my hell. to clarify this is about the 2018 reboot. not the original one. i don't intend to focus on one specific topic and more so the overall story/themes and how i view them now. when i first watched She-Ra (back when there was only 1 season). i was 13 i think. i didn't really notice a lot of the more subtle themes and mostly just watched and enjoyed it. when season 5 aired i was 16/17. but i still didn't really form any strong opinions. im now 22 and i have a lot of strong opinions. that to say, this will not be a unbiased analysis. i think some things were handled well and some really fucking weren't. now into the actual story, and my main point of conflict. Catra's redemption was poorly done. i think the redemption itself would have been fine if it happened before the portal. but it didn't. and i think after season 3's climax she lost her ability to be easily forgiven. the portal was a major turning point for a lot of characters and the story. and i think the route they ended up taking did a disservice to a lot of characters. because the climax of season 3 was essentially setting up Adora to be done with Catra right? so in theory season 5 shouldn't have happened? cause season 4 just showed Catra getting worse and worse. and before i get people coming after me with 'but catra has issues' yes she does. she was heavily mistreated and i absolutely understand where her behavior comes from. however. being hurt does not justify you hurting someone else. that said, i also think glimmer got off a little easy after season 4. but she also had major revelations and tried to set it right in the end. we see her show remorse and try to make up to the people she personally hurt. we see 1 major act from Catra and after she's kinda just forgiven? there were no major talks about how she would/could make up for all her crimes. both personal and to Etheria itself. these are kinda my major point of conflict now. and i disagree with how these points were handled. maybe its foolish for me to post this about this years later. and i do want to say. i still very much like the show. i think the first 3 seasons are my favorite and i love the setting and everything about the planet. season 4 is also pretty damn cool even if i didnt agree with everything. i don't want this to be seen as me hating on something cause i don't hate it at all. but i wanted to write this more so for myself. ALSO THEY ABSOLUTELY SHOULD FIND A WAY TO RESCUE ANGELLA POST CANON I SWEAR.
and if you find yourself wondering: okay fine what would you propose they change? i think a nice turning point would be end of season 1 or princess prom. or anywhere in season 1 actually. hell for a while i thought the crimson waste would be a turning point. or post season 3 and 4 we get to see people holding Catra actually accountable? and see her propose a way to make up for her wrongdoings? idk im just spitballing. that's really it haha, feel free to lemme know what you think. bye!
