Sorry
@Taake
From Variety
If she had to sum up her titular character in “
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,” star
Kiernan Shipka would describe Sabrina Spellman as a “woke witch.”
The series, which premieres Oct. 26 on
Netflix, is a reimagining of the famous teen witch’s story that has overt feminist themes. On the show, Sabrina is a half-witch half-mortal and becomes the first to question the male figures who rule the witches’ world, which leads to her reluctance to sign a pact to renounce the mortal world and embrace her magical side.
“This is totally the Sabrina for 2018, in so many ways. She’s a woke witch,” Shipka told
Variety. “Her entire grappling with signing her name away in the Book of the Beast and questioning a lot of the more patriarchal elements of what she was raised to believe and to go into. I think that in and of itself is very feminist and she’s a strong independent woman and she stands up for herself and she does what she thinks is right.”
Lachlan Watson, who portrays Sabrina’s friend Susie, said the show’s feminism takes a step further with its intersectionality, which shows that anyone can be a feminist. Susie is non-binary, like Watson themself, and their experience with bullies at Baxter High is part of their journey to embrace their authentic identity, Watson said.
“Susie provides a side of feminism that really represents that you really don’t have to be female to be a feminist. It really encompasses all minorities and all misunderstood people, or gender inequality as a whole, I think,” they said. “Throughout Susie’s sort of queer journey — specifically a bit of a genderqueer journey — which really speaks to me, it’s having that group of incredible feminists behind their back.”