Our Head of Programme and Accessibility Officer, Kat Dodd, recently watched “Supernatural Academy” and is here to talk about it.
I am an adult that unironically loves to watch Disney shows and movies aimed at kids, so I’ve had “Supernatural Academy” on my peripheral for a while and just hadn’t watched it yet. The main reason I hadn’t yet was that I assumed it was connected to “Supernatural” which I hadn’t finished, but turns out, I was wrong, it’s not connected at all and the only thing the two shows have in common is that supernatural creatures and magic exists.
I stumbled into the show a few days ago when I was looking for something cute and fun to enjoy without having to think too hard about it. And it is cute and fun! But it does not come to play in terms of the emotional hits, either, and I was not expecting it to be as heavy-hitting as it is. It addresses diaspora, ingrained prejudices, and various trauma, and does so very well. There’s one plotpoint in particular that is very allegorical for being in an abusive situation that’s hurting you but you don’t know how to leave, without being on the nose about it, either. For me, it’s very similar to “She-Ra: Princesses of Power” in terms of addressing hard topics but in an age-appropriate way for the demographic. Unfortunately, the main problem with the show is that it can’t quite decide what that demographic is. The animation style and the episode descriptions make it seem like it’s aimed at kids ten and under, while the actual content seems to be more aimed at pre-teens and teenagers. That being said, I loved it, and plan on watching it again, and hope to find other people to talk about it with, because there are so many things that you can get out of it!
Supernatural Academy is currently available on Netflix.