Shadowhunters is a must watch show that has not only received positive reviews but also impacted the lives of its audience.
By: Kavi Bharathi
Shadowhunters is supernatural drama television series which was released in 2016 and has been available in Singapore via Netflix. The show just recently ended in May 2019 with four seasons and an average audience score of 85 per cent.
Despite its high audience score, Shadowhunters is a show that never gained popularity in Singapore. Ms Alvina Logan states that this is due to lack of advertising for the show in Singapore while another fan Mr Joey Gao adds on that many Singaporeans like other fandoms like KPop. With the show only available on Netflix, there was also the additional problem of people without a Netflix subscription having no access to the show. In spite of the lack of popularity in Singapore, some fans like Ms Logan would encourage others Singaporeans to watch the show due to its strong online fan community fondly known as the “shadowfam”.
She also says, “The show was addictive from the beginning and the growth of the characters is amazing to watch.”
Most local fans who watched the show when it first came out were people who had read book series The Mortal Instruments written by Cassandra Clare. Some fans like Ms Isabel Yong, a Republic Polytechnic student were “introduced to the show by friends” while others like Ms Tang Ci En, a student from Ngee Ann Polytechnic stumbled upon the show on Netflix. Currently, the official Singapore Shadowhunters twitter account has about 2,323 followers.
Shadowhunters is about Clary Fray, an 18-year old girl who discovers her heritage as a shadowhunter alongside her best friend Simon and three new allies Jace, Alec and Isabelle. Shadowhunters are technically demon hunters and as the name suggests they are half mortal and half angel, created to protect the humans from the demons from the shadow world. What started out as a story about a girl discovering who she really was quickly developed into a complicated and brilliant plot with complex characters, psychologically frightening villains and a world with people fighting for what they believe in with swords and runes that gave you special abilities.
Ms Logan says, “I loved how even though it has sci fi and fantasy elements, the issues they have are real and relatable: how to overcome difficulties no matter what life throws at you.” While Ms Yong said that she preferred the show as the characters made it interesting. With fans loving the show due to numerous reasons ranging from character development to the actual shadow world.
The largest impact the show has made on audience is the positive representation of the LGBTQ characters Alec and Magnus. This positive representation gave people the opportunity to accept themselves. Ms Ci En said that the show helped people see LGBTQ couples in a positive light. Meanwhile Mr Gao, found it to be quite heartening as he could see how much a positively portrayed gay couple were “appreciated and supported” by the viewers. Dr Say, a polytechnic lecturer with psychology background said that a TV show with positive representation caused acceptance as “repeated perspectives and examples of action taken by known personalities drive specific actions”.
Shadowhunters has a huge and closely bonded fan community online resulting in people having the opportunity to make new like minded friends. Ms Logan said that she had joined some International Viewing Parties online where she got to see the show and chat about it online with fans from all over the world. Through social media fans were even able to make friends from overseas. She says, “I have a friend in Poland now.” Furthermore, Iris Adler, a fan from America, states that this show gave her the opportunity to meet people from other countries and bond.
“I have met people from all over the world even Singapore.”
The fandom has also evolved beyond fan clubs to creating content. Mr Gao has been creating fan art while both Ms Logan and Yong have been writing fanfiction online. Ms Logan said that the show helped her discover her love for writing.
If you are a fan of supernatural warriors and dysfunctional families, then this show is for you. As Mr Gao said, “you will have no regrets”.
Comments