Sabrina Spellman is a character in Archie’s Archie series of Archie Comics. Its popularity has given rise to several versions of it, and perhaps the best known until recently was the television adaptation that was called “Sabrina, Sorceress Apprentice” (1996).
In the 1990s, Sabrina, played by Melissa Joan Hart, enjoyed great popularity, now a new version of the young witch arrives on our screens, this time with Netflix.
- In sabrina’s dark world? (2018) times have changed and the funny and innocent tone of the 1990s has faded.
- Giving way to a darker and more disturbing series.
- Sabrina Spellman (Kiernan Shipka) must choose between two paths.
- Two worlds: the mortal and the witches.
The series is full of allusions to the world of comics, popular culture and also Satanism, thus drawing a darker atmosphere, but with some retro air.
We are facing a very dark environment, with elements that remind us of the past, clothes more typical of the 60s than the current one, which makes it difficult to know when we really are.
“Sabrina’s dark world?” set aside the cheerful and innocent tone of the ’90s. It’s no longer a comedy for the whole family. Despite the magical and fantastical element of the series, there are also references to current affairs, such as bullying.
However, without a doubt, the center of the series is Sabrina and, therefore, the duality embodied by the character: half witch and half mortal.
We live in a time when there are countless television series and the way we consume them has changed a lot, we look no further series with blocked laughter, but something deeper.
At the same time, the series in question maintains the comic tone of the 90’s, but in this case, with touches of black humor, where death will make people laugh and the witches’ own religion will lead us to unthinkable situations.
One of the missing elements in this new Sabrina is Salem, a magician who had been condemned to live in the body of a cat and therefore knew how to speak, was self-centered and became a great counselor to the young witch, providing a good humorous note.
With the new adaptation, the essence of the character has been lost. It is no longer a talking cat, but a relatively common cat. Witches have a “family”, a kind of protective animal that will help them on their way, and that’s the role of the new Salem.
Sabrina’s cousin, Ambrose, is the character who will somehow replace Salem, becoming Sabrina’s new adviser. One of the innovations of the Netflix series is that it adapts perfectly to the new times, to the new needs of the public.
Far from presenting us with totally normative, archetypal and unreal characters, it proposes characters of all kinds, bringing us a little closer to reality. Sabrina is an imperfect protagonist, repeatedly mistaken and faced with many moral dilemmas.
On the other hand, two equally iconic and unforgettable characters have been preserved: Zelda and Hilda, who continue to embody the values they presented in the 90s: Hilda is the innocent and the gamer, while Zelda is the serious and responsible counterpart of the couple. .
This time, however, it expresses very conservative values and a great devotion to the Church of the Night. Despite the similarities, they no longer live in this white, cheerful house of the 1990s, but in a dark, Gothic house where they run a funeral. Home.
Is adolescence a stage full of questions, changes, uncertainties, decisions?Sabrina, like any teenager, begins to question the world around her, but also needs to fight to unite her two cultures.
Due to her dual origin as a witch and mortal, Sabrina will attend two different centers: a school and the witch academy. Because the two cultures are different, she will face very similar problems in both centres, such as harassment and exclusion of minorities.
At school we see that Sabrina’s environment is varied, her best friends are Roz, a young black woman who, like Sabrina, will face the system, and Susie, who is being harassed because she identifies as a non-binary sex.
I mean, are we dealing with a minority group that needs to find its place and deal with the problems arising from non-compliance?Standard? Social.
The characters are beautifully designed, and there is a deepening of their life and past, with Ambrose’s character, who identifies as pansexual, being a true revelation in the television universe.
Faced with the injustices and inferiority suffered by the women of the school, Sabrina founded, with her friends, an organization called WICCA (in clear reference to the pagan religion linked to witchcraft).
Through this association, women will have a meeting place, where they can read and comment on books, as well as defend themselves against injustices and face patriarchy.
This image of Sabrina as a fighting and demanding woman is also present in the magical world; at the academy, he had to face his minority status (consequence of his dual origin) and the abuse of the Strange Sisters.
Sabrina, for her part, will have to decide between abandoning her soul to Satan and belonging to the Church of the Night forever or giving up her power.
Sabrina Spellman’s new adaptation presents a metaphor for our own world, where cultural and generational clashes are responsible for triggering conflict. Although the two worlds are opposites, conflicts are the same.
In the world of witches, the high priest and Aunt Zelda embody the most archaic values of the Night Church; they never question anything and change at the slightest change.
In the mortal world, a large portion of Greendale’s inhabitants come from families who supported the witchfire. Sabrina’s friends, especially her boyfriend Harvey, have a long history of witchcraft.
However, it seems that younger characters have no prejudices and do not get carried away by sociocultural impositions, this is what we see, for example, in Sabrina’s relationship with her family and Harvey’s relationship with her father.
The new generations grew up in a different environment where values have also changed, Sabrina does not want to stop being a witch, but she does not want to stop being mortal, she will try, even if it is difficult, to reconcile. the two traditions. It’s never easy to unite two cultures, let alone adolescence.
The series presents a multitude of moral problems, Sabrina does not always do things right and, in some cases, gets carried away without thinking about the consequences, grew knowing its dual nature and does not want to give up its identity.
Why choose, why is it one thing that prevents you from being another, why not reconcile the two identities?And above all, why maintain a tradition that no longer makes sense today?
Sabrina will denounce some of the oldest traditions of the Northern Church, such as human sacrifice, proving that younger generations have grown differently and are open to change.
In short, we are faced with the reinvention of a classic character who, without losing its essence, has been able to adapt to the new demands of our contemporaneity.
“I want both freedom and power. ” -Sabrina-