So, we’ve got some pretty big news on the second season of Fate: The Winx Saga. It’s been a while since we’ve talked about the show, so if you want to know my initial thoughts on season 1 check it out here as well as my wishlist for season 2.
A look behind the scenes was released recently of the cast and crew of Fate working on the new season. Everyone is returning, including Abigail Cowen as Bloom, Precious Mustapha as Aisha, Eliot Salt as Terra, Elisha Applebaum as Musa and so on. In addition to the returning cast, new actors are on board for the new season such as Brandon Grace as Grey and Éanna Hardwicke (Normal People) as Sebastian, but no further explanation was given on who their characters are.
But most notably we have Paulina Chávez known for her title role in the Netflix sitcom The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia who was announced to be playing Flora, one of the OG Winx girls who was taken out of the show for reasons still unknown.
Winx Club fans were up in arms about Flora’s exclusion from the show entirely and what made it worse is that it seemed she was being replaced by a new white character, Salt’s Terra. Terra is a fairy of nature just like Flora, so what was the point? I, like many, was baffled by the casting decision and a lot of choices in general for the new show.
Personally, it feels like Flora’s inclusion now is the show trying to get diversity points. They are basically saying “Hey, we’ve got another girl of color, are you happy now? Please like us!”
It feels like a slap in the face because it shows that they didn’t do the work to begin with. They got themselves into this mess; it could’ve been avoided if you had just kept Flora in originally and found a Latinx young woman to play her, like they are doing now.
Chávez is great in her role as Ashely Garcia. It’s clear that she is charismatic, charming, talented and a great pick for the role, but we can’t not talk about the elephant in the room.
The actress is clearly lighter skinned than her counterpart which is another form of erasure for Latinx people with brown or darker skin. We see this problem with Applebaum’s Musa as well, with her being very white passing and not representing Asian people who can’t hide their features to attain some level of white acceptance because of how they were born.
All that being said, I’m not surprised. Am I surprised that they put Flora in the show at all? A little, but I’m not surprised by the way she is being put in. Again, they could’ve avoided this whole situation in first place, but now they are playing catch up and it’s very insincere. I have nothing against Paulina Chávez at all because she is an actor being hired to do a job, she’s very much allowed to make her money and this may be a great opportunity for her.
But it is on the crew, the production, the casting, the writers and most importantly the show runner (I’m looking at you Brian Young) to make sure there is diversity and inclusion so that many more fans can be at least a little happy with the show.
Currently the release for season 2 of Fate: The Winx Saga is TBA.
Let me know your thoughts about this situation. Are you just happy to have Flora? Is it too late? Do you agree with me? Not agree? Let us know!