The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’s Biggest Mistake
How the show goes back on its central theme in its third season
Being a fantasy fan such as myself, I figured I’d check out a series on Netflix titled The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. After three seasons now, my quick and concise review on it is a solid 6 out of 10. I suppose I just enjoyed the show based on the genre it was in, but it was full of questionable elements nonetheless. I’m just going to point out one of them in this article, and in my opinion, it’s their biggest, based on what the writers presented as Sabrina’s basic premise.
The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is first and foremost an empowerment series for women. It doesn’t shy away from tackling themes that modern feminism has issues within today’s society. Every plot and subplot going on in Sabrina has feminist undertones, from control over bodily choice to women having the same opportunities as men.
Men especially have their roles challenged. In all three seasons, the writers spare no expense in delivering a message about toxic masculinity. Starting with the mortals, the principal of Baxter High is always seen keeping the status quo, and the jocks act like typical hyper-aggressive douchebags. Harvey is seen as weak by his father thanks to his affinity to the arts and forces Harvey to work in the mines to fix that.
On the witch side, there is no better example than the high priest of the Church of Night, Father Faustus Blackwood. This man can’t stop himself from spouting derogatory statements. He’d rather have a male heir than a female one, and despite having grown female children already, is far more proud of a recently male newborn than them. He planned to reform the Church of Night into a more archaic version of itself, subduing all the witches into subservience to their male cohorts. Just listen to his five tenants:
- The Sons of Satan are the heirs of the Earth. Take what thou wilt, as is your right, by fire, blood, or deceit.
- Mortals are the swine of the Earth. We must not lay with them.
- The Sons of Satan are the swineherds of man.
- As Lilith served Satan, so must witches serve warlocks.
- Warlocks shall claim dominion in the Church of Night just as their Father rules over Hell.
Father Blackwood is probably the epitome of what this show is trying to conquer, but ironically this character is also involved in possibly the show’s most anti-feminist moment. During season 3, the plot develops to the point where Lucifer himself is trapped within Blackwood’s body. He and Lilith have to find a way to escape his wrath, lest he kill them when he escapes. Lilith devises a plan where Blackwood impregnates Lilith with Lucifer’s seed and then puts the Mark of Cain on Blackwood in exchange. Lilith believed this would have kept them both safe and it worked.
When Lilith revealed that she was carrying his son (and note it’s the son part specifically that kept her alive), Lucifer spared her. Of course, the mark of Cain prevented death in general so Blackwood was also safe. The worst part about all of this is that it is rape and Lucifer showed no qualms with what was done to him. He did not consent to what happened, and this is just about the most anti-feminist the show could get. Let’s not forget here that feminism isn’t just about how toxic masculinity affects women but also how it affects men.
When it comes to male rape, society barely gives it a second thought, and some even assume it’s not possible because the man gets something he wants out of it. I don’t need to remind you that Lucifer did get something he wanted out of it, meaning that the rape was no longer something bad. Talk about a harmful message.
Also published on facetsoffantasy.net.
