by Metadata Specialist Kathleen Smith
As a seventh grader nearly thirty-five years ago, I used to watch She-Ra: Princess of Power after school every day. I was thrilled to find that Netflix had a new rebooted version titled She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. I have been watching the reboot and I found it much better than the original version, with the characters having more diverse backgrounds and backstories.
In the reboot, a former soldier of the evil Horde, Adora is trying to find her identity and purpose in life on the planet Etheria after coming upon a magic sword which transforms her into the mighty warrior She-Ra. Helping her on her journey are Princess Glimmer and Bow who are fighting in a rebellion against the Horde.
One of the characters, Bow an archer and technology whiz, grew up in the Library of the Whispering Woods with his two fathers George and Lance, the library’s historians/archivists. This is featured in the second season episode “Reunion,” when Bow secretly runs off to visit his fathers. Adora (She-Ra) and Glimmer follow Bow’s tracks and find him in the archives, where they learn unique artifacts and ancient pottery. Not giving much more away, this is an episode I consider to be a favorite because it features a library and archive complete with artifacts and rare books. The vase and other pottery on display there remind me of the ancient Cypriot pottery in ODU Special Collections’ Dudley Cooper collection that is on display in our Reading Room in Perry Library.
It was a great thrill to watch this episode, because I work in an archives department within a university library, and I like seeing libraries and archives being represented animatedly. If you are binging on Netflix during the stay-at-home order and are into libraries and archives, you might want to watch this!