Sabrina and the Economics of Necromancy

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Hello, and welcome to Nightmare Masterclass. My name is David Stockdale. I'll be your host on this excursion into the dark unknown. In this installment, I'll be covering The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, a new series on Netflix. The show is based on a graphic novel of the same name, and Sabrina, the character, has appeared in numerous media iterations over the years. Notably, the show borrows from the aesthetics of the graphic novel in a playful sort of way, and I think it’s safe to say that this particular interpretation of Sabrina is considerably darker than previous versions. I do think there's a bit more subtext going on in this series that one might expect just based on an initial viewing. So, let's get into it.

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[labyrinthgirl]

I find it interesting that the witches are devoted to Satan, but they have a Baphomet statue, who is not Satan, but is often confused for him.

[LaughingManRa]

We need green, sustainable demon energy now!

[ireysword]

I was really excited for this episode and you did deliver a very interesting one! I really liked it.
Regarding the whole cole mine thing. It seems to me like caos takes place in a town without real time progression. Like days pass but they do have a weird mix of technologies. Ambrose using a laptop but sabrina uses a polaroid camera (i think her model was from the early 80s). Harvey seems to be the only person with a smartphone. Most of the cars seem to be older models. It has a similar aesthetic to gotham in that regard. Though in that show it was done for stylistic reasons. Maybe in sabrina it is an actual plot point. And thats why it's still a cole mining town. Because times don't really change there.

[IvanRSaldias]

Just a side note:
Sabrina was on th works earlier than Riverdale. Melissa Joan Hart was keeping the rights of Sabrina so they had to start with Riverdale until they secured the whole Sabrina thing.

[colorfastam]

I haven't watched the video yet, but it should be titled "Sabrina in Necronomics 101"

[RDisGD]

Nice video. I also liked how Satan was basically a stand in for the patriarchy.

[alexarias]

This show doesn't even seem like a guilty pleasure for me, I feel like it's a genuinely interesting show!

[joesiemoneit]

man, i cant wait for the DARK and GRITTY re-boot of THE CARE BEARS!

[IknowIamkindagreat]

I liked it because it genuinely felt like a Buffy Vampire Slayer reboot, same quirky charm. Cheesy but kinda fun, oddly.

[thefoamingbrain]

music is way to loud this time at least for me it makes it hard to follow what you are saying.

[TonySamedi]

I really enjoyed the show specifically for it's commentary on religion, though I feel it screws that up a few episodes my going just a bit too far.


SPOILERS

I think the Feast episode would have been better served without seeing the cannibalism at the end, or perhaps keeping that but having some more people seeming to object somewhat. If not entirely refusing to eat, some doing it with looks more like they're doing it because it's socially expected of them not that they are that devoted to it.

[MrGamerGuy]

Everyone calls it cringey, which is fair, I really enjoyed this show and I will keep watching it. I feel it manages a dark whimsy that Harry Potter was never able to reconcile. Yeah, it's ridiculous stuff, but I adore its bad-satanic-church, its over confident protagonist who keeps trying to fix everything, and all the side stuff especially the Aunts and Ambrose.

[saintouija]

I just really hope that nobody thinks this is how real pagans/witches are.

[psychoderelict]

on the surface, Sabrina looks poorly written. going deeper, we realize the show is much worse.

[cardeajackson]

I Swear I have to bring a Dictionary with me every time I Watch one these videos.

[dismantlingamy]

David, love the channel. Ever plan on doing something on Ash Vs the Evil Dead??? Feel like that series only got better with every season and was canceled too early. Love to hear your take.

[christophercarnes]

I'm always grateful for your uploads! Looking forward to the premier.

[TheInredibleMrH]

Glad you did a video on this series! I personally enjoyed the first season quite a bit. It certainly was goofy and campy, but it reminded me a lot of the B-horror genre. Because of this, I was able to accept a great deal of that campiness.

Also, another great video, David. Keep up what you're doing.

[skellymom]

What I don't like about Sabrina (aside from some really bad writing, character development, etc.) is that they equate Wicca/Paganism with Satanism. Both are quite different. I also especially don't like the how this show really ascribes to the way the Catholic Church (and other Christian religions) still apply the stereotype that this is how witches really are. Many men, women, children, and animals died in Europe and The Americas (and still do in places like Africa) in history because they were/are accused of being a witch and therefore an agent of Satan. I have friends in both the Wiccan/Pagan and Satanic Community (who are not anything close to what Hollywood or any Christian denomination portrays them as) who suffer greatly from prejudice and sometimes even violence against them. I get what maybe this series was trying to do with bringing down the patriarchy in theory, but fails horribly at it. I would like to also add on the Christian side of things (to advocate for my other friends), like the narrator of this video states the presence of God or Jesus is absent. In order to make a more compelling story, it would have been nice to include a strong polar opposite power (think yin-yang symbolism) to balance it out...and more than just the presence of crosses which is the only symbolism seen in the first season of this series. And, perhaps, I am just too much of a fan of the series Supernatural to really "get" Sabrina as a fun fantasy romp exploring the concepts of nuanced good/evil dichotomy. (Disclaimer: I am aware that Supernatural does cast some witches and Satanists in a negative light as well. However, Sabrina's narrative is extremely close if not almost exact to how witches were seen in the earlier part of history by the Catholic Church and the Puritans, which allowed so much real death and misery to occur. Supernatural is so far distanced from that narrative and so fantastical that is barely follows church/religious canon. It reads less of the writings of Cotton Mather (who was a serious influencer and head of the American branch of witch hunters) and more of the X-files meets Charmed.

[KTWEBS]

Really enjoy your vids! You have a great voice for narrating this stuff. Channels like yours always have a weird voice, which makes it hard to listen too like Night Mind. Keep up the awesome content!