1. Strong, powerful, independent women who are the heroines of the story rather than the damsels-in-distress
That’s enough of a reason alone. But just in case… I have about 10 other reasons to watch it if you’re interested and they’re all relevant and important.
2. There is real affection between a woman and another woman that is not any sort of queer-baiting but is genuine love, trust, faith and compassion formed from a deep friendship
3. It teaches you many lessons in life that are still relevant in today’s paradigm. Specifically messages about love, forgiveness, vengeance and redemption. Often at times you are forced to see the most lovable characters in the show in a negative way and the most hatable characters in the show in a positive way. This is to understand the nature of humanity in a more in-depth way than before. After all, complications in a person’s personality is what makes them all the more dynamic and admirable, do they not? We all have evil and good in us. What matters though is which side of us we choose to feed. Many of the characters in this show teach you the significance of this in very intense ways
4. It teaches you all about balance and how opposites and polarities that seem completely contradicting work together to create the bigger picture to how life really is and what would happen if either side of the spectrum disappeared or didn’t exist
5. It is the best representation for LGBTQ in the 90’s/early 2000’s. Again, no queer-baiting for the sake of ratings. If the LGBTQ community tuned in, it’s because they found sincerity and value in it
6. One of the so-called “villains” in the show has a real story as to how they became the hard-hearted and psychotic person they are. This is specifically designed for the purpose of getting the audience to sympathise and maybe even empathise with them
7. There is an episode that deals with the sexual, physical and emotional abuse of one of the lead characters. This is done so cleverly that it doesn’t seem obvious, therefore isn’t offending or unbearable to watch, yet still stays true to the seriousness of the situation. It is your preference to choose to see it as rape or something else which I really respect about this episode and the show in general
8. I said LGBTQ is represented in the show. I want to focus specifically on the T part of it. In an episode there is a transgender/transsexual character that delivers the message of how hard it is to be yourself in a world that wants to see you in a different way. How your power and worth is taken away from you just because you’re not accepted for who you are. Many episodes carry this message but never more profoundly than this episode
9. It deals with family estrangement. Scenarios such as unwilled pregnancy and forced marriage. Parents that have disowned, neglected and abandoned you. Crises with jealousy and resentment from sibling rivalry. But most strongly, right from the very first episode, a mother’s deep shame because of the lead characters’ sinful actions of her past
10. One of the lead characters gets into a situation in an episode where she has to decide whether to fight in a just cause to protect and defend someone she loves or surrender and do nothing. This is a very strong and important message because often we feel there is no other option but to fight when someone we love is threatened and in danger. We are forced to realize that if we do fight, aren’t we becoming just like the person we feel we have to fight and prolonging the violence? And also realize what would become of us if we choose to do nothing at all and something bad happens to the person we love? Will we ever forgive ourselves for not defending them? Will we forever regret not acting out in violence in order to protect them from harm, or in the worst case, save their life?
I could go on and on but I will stop at 10 reasons otherwise this post is going to be incredibly long. Honestly though, this show has unbelievable writing and producing and acting that you can take so much from it. Almost every episode has a message or moral of some kind that is important and significant to know, understand and learn. There is no other show that I’ve seen that does this better, or really, at all. The character development and evolution for the lead and recurring characters dig deep inside and underneath your skin and hit your heart so hard. You are required and expected to see, hear, feel and know what is most important in life and how to deal with it. And furthermore, it is just incredibly entertaining and interesting. This is why Xena: Warrior Princess is timeless and is still relevant to watch in 2017.
This is one of my favorite episodes in both Gabrielle and Xena’s character development
In fact, it’s kind of like the fusion of the dark and light chakrams coming together as two parts of the whole is a reflection of Gabrielle and Xena completely coming together and choosing to be on the same path, accepting both the darkness and the light that comes with the way of the warrior…
Twenty years after its premiere, Xena:
Warrior Princess is still alive
and well —thanks in no small part to its availability on Netflix.
Looking back, its influence on modern action shows like Blindspot and Agents of
S.H.I.E.L.D.are clear, and star Lucy Lawless — who’s now kicking zombie butt on Ash Vs. Evil Dead — continues to be bombarded with
adulation for her first major television role. In honor of its
anniversary (and the recent release of a new 20th anniversary soundtrack) here are twenty things you probably didn’t know about
the show — one for every year.
1. Lawless Modeled Xena’s look on a
Tennis Star Xena was originally going to be blond,
but the actor thought that an Amazon princess should look “big and
bronze and dark-haired,” according to a 2015
interview — like, say, Argentinian tennis champ and US Open
winner Gabriela Sabatini (below). Also, she got to save her hair, since her
natural color is dark blond and she didn’t want to spend the next six
years bleaching it.
2. Lawless Was the Second Person
Cast for Xena The first was Vanessa Angel, who you
probably don’t remember as the genie-like “perfect woman” from
the Weird Science TV show.
Another near-miss in casting? The role of Joxer — played by Ted
Raimi — almost went to Wallace Shawn, of Princess Bride fame. Of course, now, such
casting would be inconceivable.
3. The Warrior Princess Costume Now
Resides in the Smithsonian In 2006, the outfit was donated to the
Museum of Natural History. Lawless probably doesn’t mind — the actress once said the
original constricted her ribs, so at first, she felt like she was
having constant panic attacks on set.
4. Multiple Medical Situations Were
Written Into the Show
What do you do when you have a show
whose titular character can’t do her usual assortment of flips and
kicks because she shattered her hip doing a spot for The Tonight
Show? Shoot some body-swap
episodes featuring Callisto (Hudson Leick) and maybe put her in some
less physical situations, like the beauty pageant in “Here She
Comes … Miss Amphipolis.” Or if your star gets pregnant? Create
a “Twilight of the Gods” story line in which Xena’s child is catalyst
for the destruction of the Greek gods.
5. Xena Has Two Simpsons Action
Figures If you’re the star of an action TV
show, of course you’ll have an action figure. But how many people can
say they’ve had an action figure made by a show they’re not even on,
much less two? Lawless
appeared on the tenth “Treehouse of Horror” — as herself, but
dressed as Xena — and proved so popular, she made it into both a
Treehouse playset and the 25 Greatest Celebrity Guest Stars line.
6. Dwarf Planet Eris Was Almost
Called Xena Well, never officially. But the team
that discovered Eris called it Xena and the media used that name for
a while until the International Astronomical Union handed down the
final decision. The “Xena” nickname came about because it started with X (the
tenth planet), it sounded mythological, and they were looking to add
more female names to the night sky.
7. The Credits Had a Running Joke
It started as an occasional joke in
season 1, but by season 2, every episode had a fake disclaimer
reminiscent of the “no animals were harmed” message from the
American Humane Association. These include, “Despite Gabrielle’s
incessant hurling, Ulysses’ ship was not harmed during the making of
this motion picture,” “No oversized Polynesian-style Bamboo
Horses were harmed during the production of this motion picture.
However many wicker lawn chairs gave their lives,” and, from the
final episode where [SPOILER ALERT] Xena dies, “Xena was permanently
harmed in the making of this motion picture, but kept her spirits
up.”
8. The Accent is Southern California The show was shot in New Zealand and
features an international cast, so a dialect coach was hired to give
the fictional world some uniformity. Rather than go for a Standard
American English, though, the show opted for Southern California.
Maybe in hopes that people would leave their TVs on after Baywatch and not notice the change?
9. The Theme Song is Sung in
Bulgarian
The bagpipe-like instrument at the
beginning also hails from Bulgaria; it’s called a gaida. Here are the
lyrics in English:
The Warrior Princess rides alone.
Her past drives her from shame.
Against the forces of a dark world
She fights for good, not for fame.
Horns sound her coming, blare her
name.
Make way the warrior! Cheer!
Drums beat a rhythm, let villains
beware
The Warrior Princess is here!
11. The Chakram is Real…
…and was used as recently as WWI in
France. An old issue of Popular Mechanics says
that Sikh soldiers fighting for the Allies in France carried them
and, when thrown, could cut a 2-inch thick stalk of bamboo. No
mention of whether it could strike five men, then return to the
owner, sadly.
12. Lawless Hated Doing Fight Scenes How do you play a warrior princess when
you don’t much care for the warrior part of the job? “My only
defense was to get good at it,” she said in an interview for the
Television Academy archives. “Get it over and done with ASAP.”
13. There Was Almost a Disco Episode Xena
had more than one musical episode, but this one would have put them
all to shame. Alternately known as “The Sappho Episode”, it would
have ended with Xena and Gabrielle kissing “with deep and sincere
passion.” Whether producers chose not to resolve the “will
they/won’t they” of the hinted at — but never explicitly stated — lesbian relationship or whether there were just too many rights
issues with the music (which would have included Donna Summer
classics like “Last Dance” and “Love to
Love You Baby”) isn’t clear.
14. Karl Urban Played 4 Different
Roles on the Show
Though you probably know him as
“Bones” McCoy from the rebooted Star Trekmovies,
Urban’s first taste of international fame came from Xena,
where he played two minor roles — Mael and Kor — and two major
recurring roles — Julius Caesar and the god Cupid. Of course, that
doesn’t hold a candle to Lawless, who played six separate
characters (eight, if you include the two other roles she played in
the original Hercules series).
Renèe O’Connor, Lawless, Kevin Sorbo, and Michael Hurst
15. Three Actors Played Their Own
Children Two human — Renèe
O’Connor (who played Gabrielle and her daughter, Hope) Marton Csokas
(who played Borias and his son, Belach) — and one horse — Tilly
(who played Argo and Argo I).
16. Gabrielle Did Most of Her Own
Stunts
Of course, the show’s stunt team were
some of the best in the business. But perhaps since Gabrielle had
fewer dangerous stunts, O’Connor handled the bulk of them —
including the famous shot where she did a backflip while kicking a
cannibal in the face from season 6’s “The Abyss,” which was done
without any of the Hong Kong-style wirework that the show often
employed.
17. The Show Won One Emmy — for
Music Despite its enduring popularity and
legacy, Xena was never a critical darling. But the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences did honor the score: Composer Joseph LoDuca was nominated
seven times and won once in 2000.
18. Xena’s Name and her Iconic Cry Are
Both Bastardizations
“Xenos” means stranger in Greek, and
“Xena” is a mutation of the word. Her battle cry comes from the funeral
ululations of Iranian women. Lawless couldn’t get her tongue to mimic
them, though, so she went with the “AYIYIYIYIYI!” we know today.
19. Xena Had 9 Lives (Well, 3 Really) She was brought back in season 2 by ambrosia, and in season 5 by the prayers
of Eli (Galavant’s Timothy
Omundson), but there was no coming back from her death in the final episode of the series. Even in the fantasy world of Xena, cremation’s
pretty tough to get around.
20. Xena Quickly Became More Popular than Hercules… …and Hercules didn’t like it. “Xena
took all my directors, they took half my writing staff, they took
everybody to go and work for that show,” Kevin Sorbo told SFX
Magazine in 2001. He also complained that the shows didn’t
collaborate as much as they could have.
And one thing you probably did know:
Xena Was Gay The
producers and the studio both had their own reasons for not wanting
Xena and Gabrielle’s relationship made explicit – and Lawless
herself never made a definitive choice during the show’s run. But she
told Lesbian
Newsin
2003 that, in retrospect, Xena was “Gay. Gay, definitely.” She
wouldn’t even say she’s bisexual; as far as she’s concerned, Xena and
Gabrielle, “They’re married, man.”
Xena: Warrior Princess is available to stream on Netflix.
I knew some of these, but not all (especially not the first one)
I love that as soon as Xena realises that Gabrielle’s checking her out she gets all pouty and cool.
Like she’s thinking, “Oh! Baby girl’s watching… Better get my strut on.”
Meanwhile Gabrielle is just blatantly checking out her leather clad warrior, clearly thinking lascivious thoughts. Both completely ignoring Ares.
*sigh* This show… 😍
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