By Chris Snellgrove | Published
Since then Agatha Everything Goes broke the Marvel TV curse by giving us the best show since WandaVisioneveryone has been trying to figure out why this spell worked so well. Well, it looks like lead star Kathryn Hahn may have figured this out: at a recent PowerWomen conference, she discussed the “emotional safety” of working especially with women on the show and how it “encouraged complexity” and gave her a real-life “coven” that “vibrated and buzzed” during production. If you consider Agatha Everything Goeswith a strong appeal to female viewers, it seems that the show has succeeded in adapting to a certain demographic.
Witches Are Made
Among Internet users who are likely to order brain pills, there is a popular opinion that if the shows that “go all out” are compatible they will “break,” paying a perceived price to include a population other than old white dudes. Agatha Everything Goes being a smash hit because of its obvious appeal to women would seem to fly in the face of this theory, but the show’s success mercifully extends beyond the confines of the internet’s endless culture wars. AgathaDisney’s success doesn’t mean that every Disney+ show needs to embrace its inner girl boss. Instead, it proves that House of Mouse needs to stop trying to appeal to everyone with every show.
Take a look back at some of the Marvel shows on Disney+, incl The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Lokiagain He’s the Hulk. All of these wildly different shows have one thing in common: Marvel wants to appeal to as many people as possible, ultimately to the detriment of the overall quality of the series.
For example, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier he wanted the audience to sympathize with the evil people and their desire to fight against the corrupt world governments that had abandoned millions of people. But they don’t have much sympathy, which is why the Flag Smashers just blow up a depot full of innocent people. Disney has tried to appeal to those who applaud civil liberties and those who like to see terrorists punished, but the result is a confusing villain with motives that make no sense as time goes on.
Until Agatha Everything Goes, Loki has been considered the best MCU Disney+ show since WandaVision. But apart from the main character with a shocking intelligence, the show also suffered from trying to appeal to everyone… the show tries to appeal to academics with endless variety and Easter eggs, but also tries to appeal to those who like mystery boxes in full. “Who started TVA?” part. Additionally, it tried to appeal to romantics with its quirky Loki/Sylvie pairing as it laid the foundation for the Marvel games and movies; the result was a show that could have been brilliant, just right.
Some fans may be tempted to compare He’s the Hulk to Agatha Everything Goes because this legal comedy was aimed at women, right down to the main villain being a woman abuser. However, I would argue that the show is more about raising awareness of feminism and the struggles women face (from being called to being killed) than saying more than the obvious “patriarchy is bad,” which is why so many fans remember bad things. as the titular character twerking instead of any kind of important message. This was basically Tumblr activism: a show, don’t give it nearly as much meaning as anyone hoped it would.
Agatha All Once: By Women, For Women
All of this takes us back Agatha Everything Goesa show made both with women. That’s not to say that men can’t enjoy it (heck, I loved it!), but the show resonates more with its target demographic by focusing the storytelling on female agency and the magical power of sisterhood. We also see our title character locking lips with Rio Vidal (Aubrey Plaza) at an event celebrating feminism, which feels very remarkable because Disney usually seems to limit such representation for fear of offending other markets (especially China).
Again, a lesson Disney should learn from Agatha Everything Goes it’s not that every show needs girl power but instead that every show needs to be built from the ground up for the right audience. There’s nothing wrong with clearly appealing to aliens with a show about the drunken galactic adventures of Rocket Raccoon or appealing to arthouse nerds with a series about a Skrull who’s forgotten who he really is. The point is that the show needs to be written for that focus rather than trying to appeal to everyone at once.
This goes against the conventional wisdom that a show needs to appeal to as many people as possible to be popular. But Agatha Everything Goes it teaches us that tapping into a specific demographic helps shows develop much-needed word of mouth. And the fact that Hahn’s show grew in popularity over time is a testament to the old adage: if you build it (in this case, an ambitious show about a powerful lead written and directed by passionate fans), they will broadcast.
Only time will tell if Disney learns the right lessons about Agatha Everything Goes. I have a lot of hope that it shows Daredevil: Born Again again Wonder Man will be as focused, creative, or clever as this incredibly brutal show. But the key is for House of Mouse to stop casting as wide a net as possible and instead lock in the target audience of its characters, creators, and scripts. If not, the Marvel curse will return and stay in place until executives learn that fans want custom comfort food and not another bowl of generic slop.
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