Reimagining the Past to Construct the Future: Nostalgia and Netflix’s She-Ra

Abstract Netflix’s She-Ra (2018) is an example of how nostalgia-based children’s culture uses speculative fiction to reimagine the past while commenting on the present. The new She-Ra papers over shortcomings in the original show, rewriting adults’ memories of the character. She-Ra, and shows like it, allow adults to experience nostalgia for childhood media and toys by rewriting potentially unpleasant aspects of these thirty-year-old narratives. Though She-Ra uses characters and imagery familiar to parents, the show changes fundamental elements of the original to reflect contemporary social justice concerns, using its science-fiction elements to access political commentary including environmental degradation and coalition building. I will read the television show alongside recently released merchandise which depicts both the new and the 1985 versions of the character. Accessing the new and original versions of the character allows parents to both connect to contemporary children’s programming and reimagine their own childhoods through a contemporary social justice lens. As major producers of children’s culture such as Disney and Netflix embrace the nostalgia trend, scholars should pay careful attention to how these remakes as well as their marketing campaigns treat the source material. Even if the updated films and television shows are more self-aware, nostalgia-based marketing may allow adults to uncritically embrace and endorse the original content of works created in the 1980s that treat issues of race, gender, and sexuality in ways that are inconsistent with current cultural norms. She-Ra and the Princesses of Power argues against this embrace of nostalgic forms, even while using nostalgia to draw in a millennial audience.