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She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is a paradigmatic example of everything that is wrong with contemporary cartoons in the post-Adventure Time, post-Steven Universe era.
Much like Steven Universe, to which this show is clearly indebted, She-Ra is one of a new sub-genre of ironic action-comedies that strives to integrate both extensive world-building, innumerable pop-culture references, and oddball slice-of-life interactions.
It fails on every level.
Action is stilted and animation uninspired, not necessarily because of its poor quality, but because of a lack of innovation or imagination. Action sequences lack interesting direction, failing to take advantage of any of the potential strengths of animation as a medium that allows for elaborate or unusual camera angles or maneuvers. Given the simplicity of the animation style, the failure to leverage those strengths becomes all the more unfortunate.
Yet the greater flaw in the series as an action cartoon is its insistence on undercutting its tone. Tension cannot be allowed to develop for more than a few moments before an ironic reference or out-of-place joke must be inserted, deflating it entirely.
This problem is only exacerbated by the representation of the show's villains. The Horde is ill-defined in its scope and abilities, failing to present any kind of visceral threat, even at moments when they should appear terrifying, because the series refuses to establish them as such, favoring comedy instead. For example, early on in the first episode, Horde cadets are put through a final examination that will determine their future, yet the protagonist, Alura, warms up while brushing her teeth and firing "finger-guns" at her reflection. Then, during the test itself, a combat simulation, one cadet is felled by a robot, and the other students have time to stand over him and mock their "bruh." Are these middle-school children playing laser tag, brainwashed child soldiers, or trained combatants, ready to take leadership positions in an empire's army? The former, apparently, and no action from this point can seem truly meaningful when the series' villains have already been framed as clownish and nonthreatening and the characters fail to behave like believable human beings. If they cannot be bothered to really care about their situation why should we? It's as if the series, in striving to merge comedy and action, is too afraid to ever take itself seriously.
That might not be a problem in itself were the series not actively trying to be, at least in part, an action cartoon and if its comedy was actually at all amusing. Hyper-exaggerated reactions, prat-falls and clumsiness that makes little sense, pop-culture references and allusions, and Joss Whedon inspired quipping all fall flat. When Adora, the Force Commander trained from infancy to lead Horde soldiers flails about, tripping over her own feet, unable to swing a sword properly, we are meant to laugh, but all that one can feel is confusion at her ineptitude. The same character drooling over a horse while uttering in reverence that "it's majestic," slow-motion glamour shots of the animal tossing its hair, hazy pink love filter firmly in place over the screen, inspires a sense of awkward discomfort, rather than the slightest amusement.
Meaningful character development or even basic consistency is likewise sacrificed at the alter of ineffectual humour. In the drive to subvert tension in order to create juxtapositions in tone that are meant to be funny, the series prevents characters from displaying unique voices and identities beyond the most simplistic of traits, or grounding those traits rationally. Bow likes to party, and that's essentially it beyond the ironic offbeat comments that he and every other character tosses out as if they shared a single consciousness; Adora has an inexplicable moral code and suffers through only superficial "inner" conflict over her choices that, even when it is explored, fails in any way to live up to its potential. And squandering potential is one of the greatest sins that a writer can commit.
World-building is clearly intended to construct a grandiose backstory to the universe, but the series cannot be bothered to provide a clear picture of that world as it exists now, instead compartmentalizing it into a series of incongruous areas that do not seem to connect. The scope and nature of the main antagonists, the Horde, remains painfully ill-defined, and thus it is impossible to get a sense of scale or standing in this world. Physically and conceptually, there is no connective tissue or meat to fill out the vast swaths of empty space that exist between each of the locals and factions in the series. The narrative of the "First Ones" is handled inorganically, and is largely generic (The inclusion of "Precursors" is stale and tired, even when it does not seem to have be little more than an amalgam of Steven Universe and Halo's respective versions of the trope, as it does here.).
There are positives, however few, to this series. The voice actors are competent, and do as well as one might hope given the material with which they have to work. As I said, potential abounds in the characters of Catra and, to some extent, Adora, who could have meaningful and gripping stories crafted around them. The former is actually relatable, with some comprehensible and sensible goals. Although not a quality character, as she suffers from all the flaws that plague the others in the series, Catra at least has the beginnings of depth and genuineness, as does her story and her outlook on it - enough to allow her to become a good character in the hands of a competent writer. To avoid spoilers, I will not go into specific detail regarding Catra and her development, but, even handled ineptly as she is, she stands as one of the sole even partially redeeming elements in this show and deserves.to be in a better one.
Lastly, many have defended this series by suggesting that it is "for children" and not for adults, either those who enjoyed the original series or those who had never seen it. The "for children" defense is abhorrent, as it is so often applied to series, like She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, that infantilize and talk down to children, insulting their intelligence. Even if this series was written for children - something of which I am not entirely convinced given that it seems to be targeted to a particular demographic of adults that delights in ironic faux-childishness - its ineffectual humour based on tonal incongruity, poorly animated and choreographed action, abysmal characterization, and fractured story-telling would leave most children utterly uninterested.
Simply because something is "for children" does not mean that it cannot elevate them or strive to be meaningful. Avatar: The Last Airbender was for children, as were Batman: The Animated Series and Gargoyles in their day. Quality children's entertainment asks its audience to grapple with human emotion and to think, or, at least, presents them with a sensible and gripping story - it offers them something edifying, something of value, that asks and inspires children to be in some way more than they are. There was juvenile humour in the aforementioned series, and each of them treated children as children, but they respected their audience; they treated them as smart children. I only wish that She-Ra and the Princesses of Power had striven to do the same.
score 3/10
taliksanis 15 November 2018
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw4460481/ |
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22-11-2019 10:28:38
