Fierce Girls web series empowers Indigenous girls
From New Zealand to Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, teenage superheroes provide alternative narrative
Like many web series created with kids in mind, Fierce Girls wants its young viewers to embrace their inner superheroes.
Unlike most series, however, it employees a distinctly Indigenous approach that runs counter to Hollywood ideas around superheroes, according to Fierce Girls’ lead producer and director, Loretta Todd.
Billed as the world’s first superhero series created for Indigenous girls, Fierce Girls follows two teenagers with warrior spirits who (according to the press release) “use their newly acquired superpowers to empower young women and celebrate the strength and beauty of being Indigenous in a challenging world.”
Hollywood-style superhero narratives can ring hollow for Indigenous audiences, says Todd. “In the Indigenous way, you’re supposed to be not better or worse than anybody, and so what happens when two everyday kids start to have superpowers? Would you think you’re better than everybody else or would you use those special powers to still be immersed in who you are and your culture?”