I rarely post about media but this is something that many will enjoy, especially that it refers to Satanism very strongly, which is rare.
There is a new TV series on Netflix called Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, which on the first look seems to be a remake of the old TV comedy sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch. However, don’t be mislead, the new show only borrowed the main premise and characters but placed it in a very dark, horror-inspired setup. Characters aren’t the same as on the old series, they were only loosely based on it. The new show doesn’t aspire to copy the Sabrina the Teenage Witch, instead, it creates a fresh, original, artistic, dark, satanic horror that raises above the mediocre shows of today modern TV.
In Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, we get very well built, strong, interesting characters. The protagonist – Sabrina, can be very sympathetic, friendly, passionate girl who has a good heart but can be also strong, stubborn, dark person who is willing to do literally everything for those she loves. What is most impressive in the show, it goes to the next level with darkness. You will find there strong, unexpected scenes, dark humor, but also brutal violence and “evil” deeds done by protagonists of the show.
Sabrina being a half-witch has both normal human, good-hearted side, but as a witch, she has, dark, satanic side and the whole show is showing a struggle between those, the outcome is not so certain as it is usually on TV. Characters don’t shun from casting curses, being revengeful, dabbling in dark magick and more… – a daily bread for satanic Sabrina. And here we come to the main interest. Witches in the show are servants of Satan, belong to the Night Church (a coven but also a religious organization) and walk a Dark Path. Sabrina was partially raised in that culture and is about to get The Dark Baptism, where she will become a servant of Satan.
In the show, we will find many true references to Satanism. The show creators did excellent research job or simply know what they are doing ;). We find satanic symbolism like upside-down pentagram everywhere, the infamous sculpture of the Baphomet inspired statue of Satan with children, core tenets of Thelema “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law” and many more things.
satanic temple statue chilling adventures of Sabrina Credit: Netflix
There is some controversy about it and Satanic Temple wants to sue for the use of the statue, but I personally disagree, because Lucien Greaves obviously didn’t catch the meaning of the show and is afraid that Satan is portrayed there in the bad light.
Caugh…
Satan is not one-sided and saying he’s all-loving God would be just irresponsible and stupid. He HAS a dark side but that’s not the point of the show. The longer I watched the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina the more I realized the series is a very brilliant allegory of religious hypocrisy, bigotry, small-mindedness and all negative stereotypes that we can see in… Christianity. Here we have them twisted on the other side and portrayed on the example of satanic religion. The show is not focusing on showing Satan or Satanism in a bad light, it merely targeting bad religious, human behaviors and that conservative, religious approaches are flawed in the core. Christianity aims for “the good” and yet people do “the evil” things. On Sabrina series, people are aiming for “the bad” things but are also doing “good” things. The point is, the show shows the complexity of human nature and that we aren’t just good/bad and no matter of religion we often do the same mistakes. No matter how strong we would try, we will do something good or bad. In that way, Satanism isn’t unflawed I’m afraid. However, real-life Satanism is more complex and differentiated than on the show where it focuses on the more conservative side of the religion, which is being branded here. Sabrina is violating many rules of her community and doesn’t care much for religious devotion. Sounds familiar?
Followers of Satan are not inherently bad people, just as christians are not inherently good ones. Sure, Sabrina having a human side is aiming for the classical, plain “good” in the grand scheme so the witch side must be portrayed as the “evil” one but… why we just sit and enjoy Satan being an embodiment of evil? Are we so insecure to know more? He is evil but he also isn’t. Simple good/evil distinctions have no meanings and as beautifully presented on the show, those often don’t have any real relation to the praised deity (being it The Dark Lord or the false god – yes, those are descriptions used in the show) and are only personal flaws and agendas of the people… So real and so true…
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is not showing Satanism and Satan in a bad light, it only shows people who are just flawed and using religion to do stupid things, no matter of which side this would be. The dark humor and sympathetic characters who are Satanists are not a negative for us. In fact, even the antagonists of the show like “miss Wardwell” are very likable and we want them to succeed.
So we come again to the great characters of the series. As already stated, they are well built and complex but they can be also overdrawn. Miss Wardwell is like a lunatic on drugs, evil, sexy witch/demon but it’s hard not to like her. Or maybe that’s a Satanist in me? I don’t know really, but despite her character is very enjoyable on many levels although she is classically playing on stereotypes.
Aunt Zelda may seem cold, not carrying at first but at the end of the show, we like here the most – for a reason. She is a stronger and better-played character of the two aunts. She is also a case example of a person who can be easily miss-judged and that nothing is as easy as it seems.
Aside characters we have very climatic, horror, Halloween setups all over, 70-80-ties movies climate, a mix of modern disguised under the old – very well done.
Oh, there is so much to tell about the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, but I don’t want to spoil the fun and post any spoilers. I can only say that the Netflix TV series is very mature, well made and with high artistic quality and in my opinion – very enjoyable for Satanists and others as well. Truly recommend this great show and can’t wait for the next season!
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