Ask someone who’s never seen an episode of Xena: Warrior Princess (because they were too busy watching Hercules: The Legendary Journeys?) what they know about the show, and they’ll probably say something like, “Well, it stars Lucy Lawless and she’s, um, a warrior princess in barely-there clothing.”
This hypothetical person isn’t wrong, and probably spent the 1990s doing something more productive than watching cheap syndicated action shows. The outfits on Warrior Princess were a major part of the show’s appeal (Gabrielle’s “Billous Green Sports Bra” has its own Wiki page), but they were also ridiculous. How can you expect Xena to fight Dahak in this?
In an interview with io9, Javier Grillo-Marxuach, a writer/producer for NBC’s Xena reboot, said that the “skimpy outfits” are being left behind.
“A great deal of the appeal of the show lies in certain pulpy elements – like Gabrielle’s bare midriff, Xena’s leather miniskirt, Callisto’s amazing and gravity-defying… well, you get it,” he said. “And it’s hard for me in the post-Brienne of Tarth era to reconcile with the idea that Xena and her friends can meet every challenge in such skimpy outfits. I think we are going to have some very lengthy discussions about how to bring those elements into the present day without missing the boat on what makes Xena exactly what she is; and how to have our cake and eat it, too.” (Via)
Have you tried eating cake in what’s essentially leather bondage? Anyway, this is a sad day for teenage boys and girls who won’t be able to discover their sexual identities while watching Lucy Lawless, or whoever’s playing Xena in the reboot, fight some warlords in whatever the hell this is.
(Via io9)
