The Show that Saved My Sanity During the Never-Ending Lukewarm, Viscous Dumpster Sludge that is a Perpetual 2020 Groundhog Day
Aka SHERA on Netflix
I am once again in a state of overwhelm. Between the mounting tragedies of Colombia, Palestine and the Palestinian population1, the active colonization of Puerto Rico, some family drama and some friend wildness, I think my brain can only take so much mayhem before I start pulling out my eyebrow hairs again. Me ranting about this Netflix show will not (and should not) diminish the level of action you have towards these atrocities. In fact, I hope that this rant, in some way, gets you mobilized towards justice for marginalized and attacked communities. I don’t necessarily want to distract anyone from what is happening in the world around us, but I do want to offer a quick breather. And, as I go OFF about how fantastic this show is, please remember that the level of representation offered in this show is not just for fun-times. All of these characters who represent different cultures and backgrounds serve as a reminder to all of us that all children deserve the chance to be great and wonderful and magical. Especially the ones who have survived the unsurvivable (whether that violence is at a personal level, government sanctioned violence, or anything in between).
Now. Shera.
I will give away no spoilers for those who haven’t watched it. I just need a space to share what this show has done for my mental health during these ghastly times.
The absolute purity of the characters is just so endearing and the character development is so cravable and how this show goes from tooth-achingly sweet to just so incredibly real is just….it all leaves me speechless. There are only 5 seasons in the show and I have watched it, from beginning to end, about 4 times in the past few months. A friend of mine (who I may have bullied into watching the show but is now fully enjoying the KoolAid) mentioned that the SHERA writers handled such a large cast of characters incredibly well. I didn’t notice it until she mentioned it but usually with a cast this large, something falls to absolute trash, but not with this show. Everyone has a character arc. EVERYONE. Even if you think a character is mildly irreverent, that character is going to grow by the end of the series in a way that is unique to them and I am here for it.
The normalized queerness that I have been craving is in full bloom in SHERA. There is truly only one straight man (maybe two, but the other one doesn’t show up until much later). And, even so, the one incredibly straight guy is such a himbo that you truly cannot help but adore him. Even so, the show isn’t vaguely about him. The show really does focus on it’s large cast of femme characters (most of which are LGBTQIA+) and the writers don’t make a big deal out it if. It’s not a show about the gays and their traumas about being not-straight. It’s really just a show about friendship and one character’s self destruction when they believe their trust has been betrayed. Like. The lengths that this character went through to self destruct and destroy everything in their wake because they believed they lost the only person that mattered to them is just *chef’s kiss*
Speaking of himbos. Scorpia. Scorpia is the lady himbo of my dreams. No she is not a bimbo (which some people think is the definition of a “lady himbo”). She is the most angelic creature to ever grace a screen and she honestly makes me cry because people like her really do exist and I need to meet them. That is all I will say because I don’t want my eye to sweat onto my laptop.
I won’t say with whom or how it shows up but there are multiple conversations that happen throughout this show about mother-daughter relationships. Some are good but no one is perfect so the relationship is rocky. Some are toxic and violent, and the show showcases how the children can react to these environments. Personally, I have seen a lot of “she has daddy issues” tv shows and I get it. Fatherlessness is a thing and having father issues are common things, but so are mother issues. Personally, I remember the first guy I liked who happened to have mommy issues and he was an absolute trainwreck (partially he thought he was the only one). Now that’s not the only reason that guy was a trainwreck. He also happened to be a terrible person with deeply rooted racism that popped up in microaggressions that I didn’t understand until years later but ANYWAY. Mommy problems. They talk about them in a way that I find graceful and really complex for what is supposed to be a “kid’s show.”
I have never seen He-Man. Honestly, I think that series was just a little bit before my time, but this is how I see the pitch for this show happening in a Netflix exec office:
Writer: So, we have this idea for this show
Exec: Yes?
Writer: So you know He-Man?
Exec: Yea I love He-Man!
Writer: Great! Imagine He-Man...but without of the plot…or men, in general
Exec: What?
Writer: Well like there’s a few but not really. And there are rainbows and unicorns and war and famine and enough queerness to health your gapping ancestral wounds and
Exec: I’m sorry am I having a stroke
Writer: There’s a chaos lesbian who wants the world to burn
Exec: Oh ok! Say no more! Just take my money and get out of here!
There’s so much more that I could say about this show but I won’t because I need more people to watch it and fangirl into the sunset with me. Full disclaimer: The first season is INSANELY sweet. Like there’s so much glitter and rainbows and flowers everywhere and it threw me for a while. Just power through.
Trust me.
It’s so worth it.
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Be well and keep fighting the good fight in any way you can!
-Shayna
If you want a video resource to understand more about the Israel-Palestine conflict check out Trevor Noah’s commentary from the Daily Show. I liked how he broke down the root of the problem in very simple and honest terms.