Netflix’s new series ‘Siempre Bruja‘ has been stunned by an electric wave of bad reviews by the very audience the platform had hoped would support the series.
Why the show, which is about an enslaved African girl and her “magical” adventures, has tanked.
There is nothing romantic and interesting about an enslaved person and their owner. ??♀️
— Norma (@normajeanesays) February 4, 2019
Read below…
The show’s promising trailer garnered praise by TV fanatics globally when it was released last year.
It’s going down tonight and this weekend……binge-watching #SiempreBruja pic.twitter.com/F3gicOSZ7R
— Trin (@Intense_XEnergy) February 1, 2019
Alas, no one was happy with what they saw when the series finally hit the air.
Why? Its disturbing romanticisation of chattel slavery.
Netflix having the AUDACITY to drop a series about a black slave in love with her white slavemaster during #BlackHistoryMonth2019 #SiempreBruja pic.twitter.com/jVkEeADUPb
— Mihrimah Irena |??♀️Wakanda Zindabad??♀️| (@Mihrimah_Irena) February 2, 2019
Still not over how much of a mess #SiempreBruja was. Afro-Latinxs & Black folks deserved so, so much better. I’m sorry, y’all. Especially for those of you who watched, the real time travel should’ve been you all getting the time back you spent watching ?
— Janel Pineda (@Pineda_Janel) February 4, 2019
The romanticization of slavery in #siemprebruja is making me incredibly uncomfortable pic.twitter.com/WCGF3Yi1d7
— She Is Lee (@accordinglee) February 3, 2019
I think what’s really sad about #SiempreBruja is that we were all excited to supported black stories/actors that were underrepresented and then we got this steaming pile of mess.
— Steph Curry Goat ? (@rebirthoftee) February 4, 2019
These stories are all the same
.. and why is the 1 cute black guy have to be gay.. it’s so predictable #SiempreBruja— Shayness (@iamshayness) February 4, 2019
We’re trying to like Siempre #Bruja but it’s archaic/telenovela/white-washed story line ain’t doing is for us. #siemprebruja
— BrujasOfBrooklyn (@BrujasOf) February 4, 2019
Netflix: So we got this cool new show called #SiempreBruja
Me: Okay I’m in
Netflix: It’s about an enslaved black woman who time-travels to the present but wants to go back to the past because she’s in love with the son of the man who purchased her —
Me: pic.twitter.com/p3IHGUmTE5
— Eric Haywood (@EricHaywood) February 2, 2019
The biggest complaint is that the series sought to sexualise/romanticise the stomach-churning nature of the slave/master dynamic. A dynamic, which in reality, saw black men and women brutalised by the barbaric miscreants ‘Bruja’ and shows like it would have us believe they were attracted to.
Watching #SiempreBruja and I see exactly why a lot of this was kept out of promo. I don’t even feel comfortable with this plot. Y’all love making slaves fall in love with their masters. And y’all knew EXACTLY what y’all were doing not putting any of that in the trailers. pic.twitter.com/5AtSXDc82v
— N O V A (@_inthenova) February 2, 2019
![Stream: 'Mufasa: The Lion King [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]'](https://thatgrapejuice.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/mufasa-movie-soundtrack-tgj-1-464x260.png "Stream: 'Mufasa: The Lion King [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]'.")
but she was in love with her s**** masters son he wasnt a s**** owner..
People are so selectively
sensitive and always want an issue to fight about . Like for real , watch or don’t . It’s not illegal to make a fictional show about this type of stuff. People really need to knock that chip off their shoulder and realise it’s just a tv plot . Get the f*ck over it ?
Uhhh no.. that’s the problem. Slavery isn’t some thing that just happened once in the past so now we can get artsy with it because everyone has moved on. People are still living the effects. It’s not something to become part of the inspiration well for glossy romance stories. Would you feel the same way about a Jewish girl time traveling and wanting to go back to be with the son of the SS officer that sent her family to a concentration camp? No. The very premise of that sounds so tone deaf and gross. This is the same thing.
This show is made in Columbia. I think we as Americans approach slavery topics with more sensitivity and realistic versus others who see it more as a fantasy and less problematic.
First of all, its Colombia, not Columbia. Second, as an Afro Latina who actually grew up outside of the United States, I can say there is nothing fantastical or unproblematic about the very real socio-economic stigma still attached to being black or dark in Latin American countries. It’s not a matter of how Americans vs. Latin Americans view the topic, its still being shown in America. I get that its just tv, and that tv isn’t real. But that’s the problem…its not real or anywhere near representing the reality of the topic. And the bottom line is people would like to see themselves and their history realistically represented to truly enjoy and relate with what is being shown on tv. Is that too much to ask for?
That’s a huge problem in and of itself, but that’s not even the half of it. Can we talk about Mayte and Leon for a second? In the very first pilot, he’s forcing himself on her and Mayte literally tells him to let her go and CARMEN HAS TO INTERVENE. Mayte then covers for him with the excuse that he’s her boyfriend. And still we’re supposed to root for them as a couple????