She-Ra and the Princesses of Power showrunner Noelle Stevenson apologizes for a slavery joke she made during a livestream. Stevenson is the executive producer and creator of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, the popular Netflix reboot of the 1980's animated series. The show follows the story of Adora, a teenage warrior who can transform into the powerful She-Ra and leads a team of other magical princesses to fight against the evil Lord Hordak. The series has been praised for its progressive characters and storylines, including its LGBTQ representation when season 5 confirmed the lesbian romance between characters Adora and Catra.
However, fans were angered by a joke Stevenson made on Wednesday during a livestream with fellow She-Ra crew members. The showrunner referred to an inside joke with storyboard artist Sam Szymanski about the character Bow and her siblings with rhyming names, Whoa, Woe, Gogh, Oboe and Sow. "There's like Oboe and he plays the oboe, and then there's like Gogh, like Van Gogh, and he's missing an ear," said Stevenson. "He would just come up and he would just be like, 'Which one of Bow's brothers likes to till the fields?' And I'm like, 'Which one, Sam?' and he's like, 'Sow.' Sam was very big on puns." The remark sparked outrage among fans, who found the depiction of the Black character Sow as working in a field to be an implication of slavery, calling it racist and tasteless. The immediate backlash from fans caused Stevenson to apologize for her statement.
On Twitter, Stevenson apologized for her joke, claiming she was unaware of its racist implication. She took full responsibility for what happened and thanked fans for "making your voices heard." Stevenson also said to her white and nonblack fans that they do not need to defend her. See her full Twitter thread in the space below:
Stevenson's apology led to fans criticizing She-Ra's all-white writer's room, urging the hiring of more POC writers moving forward. Others pointed out the positive impact She-Ra has had on fans, noting the autistic representation from the character Entrapta. Since its premiere in 2018, the series has been praised for showing a positive representation of autism in media.
Stevenson's joke was surprisingly careless, especially coming from the creator of a show that famously promotes inclusivity. It's clear that She-Ra fans hold the series to a high standard, especially due to its history of trying to appeal to many different communities. It's a shame that Stevenson and the rest of the crew didn't consider how Sow would be depicted, but hopefully they will make changes to the character and be more thoughtful in how the writer's room is run in the future.
