[REVIEW] A world where women are leading in Motherland: Fort Salem

translated article / Thai version

If you’re looking for a supernatural sci-fi series full of empowering feminine power, Trust me, Motherland: Fort Salem won’t disappoint you.

In a world where women are leading without the old norms of society.

Motherland: Fort Salem tells the story of the United States in a universe where both citizens and witches coexist in society. Plus these witches are like, the defence fortress of the country. They stay at the forefront to protect citizens with an army full of young witches. But do most citizens appreciate the presence and efforts of these soldiers? You have to go watch it and find the answer by yourself.

Motherland: Fort Salem

The show brings out feminism through the female characters. Especially through the witches who played an important role and were very powerful through their magic (called works) by using their voices (seed sounds). In the first episode, they already showed us the witches who can heal wounds, summon storms, manipulate minds, as well as a mighty army of witches, which all of that power comes from their “voices” — but nevertheless, the witches who were recruited into the army didn’t go completely voluntarily. They didn’t even have a choice. (Reminds me of South Korea’s military recruitment system). These witches are sent out to protect the people who were once focused on burning them alive. This point is one of the interesting points that is made in the entire show.

Although this show is full of strong female characters, but this show also has male characters as well. Of course, there are not as many as the number of female characters. And the male characters that appear are often the ones who relate to the female characters only. Moreover, the story features them as people who is nurturing and is clearly playing a supporting role to women. (In the same way of how women’s gender roles are presented in our own world). I love how this show is playing with gender roles reversal which is brilliant if you ask me.

Besides all the things that is already mentioned above, there’s a lot more new perspectives that the show has offer to us, such as bringing the LGBTQIAN+ characters in a new dimension through Raelle and Scylla’s relationship, two powerful witches who are also two of the main characters in this show ㅡ isn’t even considered as a Queer relationship, in this Motherland’s universe. Because in this show, there’s no heterosexual norm to take as the world we are living in today. That’s why Raelle and Scylla are never questioned or treated differently. They also got a lot of support from friends around them… well, mostly.

They also featured variation of people in the series, such as the character Abigail Bellweather, a prominent descendant of the illustrious Bellweather family and Anacostia, a tough but kind-hearted drill surgeant and one of the military’s most important soldier which both are black women. Gregorio, a young man who is seen as a match made in heaven for Abigail is one of Indian ethnicity. We also have some generals of other Asian ethnicities, including the Biddies, who aren’t just whites.

Another thing in this show that impressed me was the series didn’t have a clear separation between good and bad. There’s no such thing as black and white, it’s all morally grey. Every side has their own reasons for making decisions. Plus, their reasons mostly sound so valid. It’s so hard for the audiences like us to decide which side we should take as well. This grey dimension made the world of witches even more interesting.

All the big and small issues were interjected throughout the story. And damn, this show is truly one of a kind. Motherland: Fort Salem is another series that I don’t want everyone to miss. Available in Thailand now on Disney+ Hotstar.

Special thanks to Alicia (Twitter : @AlilsBk1)!