Today I bring you a fun, mysterious, exciting, and spooky web series that is definitely worth your time. MisSpelled is about five young women who all discover one day that they have magical powers and are witches. Though the girls don’t always get along, and certainly don’t always see eye to eye, they begin working together to use their witchy powers. Especially when one of the girls, Gladys, accidentally kills her boyfriend, Ian, when she loses control of her powers. Together the girls—Nina, Emma, Quinn, and Stella—try to help Gladys bring Ian back to life, but with some disastrous consequences.
Lindsey McDowell, who plays Gladys, is also the creator, writer, and producer for for the web series. She was also the creator and producer for the web series Echo and Nellie. In creating MisSpelled McDowell has given us a great new show with five leading women of color, which we all know is sadly a rarity in fantasy. It’s very clear that the lack of roles for women of color in pop culture played a major part the creation of the web series, and that the opportunity to give exposure to women of color actresses means a lot to McDowell and the other actresses. Each of the actresses spoke about their problems with Hollywood’s lack of representation, and the often racist and stereotyped roles they are asked to play or audition for. They also spoke about the need for more diverse and interesting roles for people of color.
MisSpelled gives us a diverse cast of magical women all with their own unique problems and interesting personalities. Stella is quirky and more happy-go-lucky than the other girls. She also seems a little lonely, which explains why she is so intent on keeping the group of girls together despite their differences. Emma is very independent and a little bit bratty. She is very much concerned with her own well being and so is not too interested in being part of the group. She also seems to hate nature, which is unfortunate because her powers seem nature based. Quinn is by far the most spiritual of the group and seems like if she wasn’t already practicing some form of witchcraft, she was at least interested in it. Because of this, Quinn tends to have the most knowledge of any of the girls in the group, and thus ends up playing more of a leadership role than any of the others. Quinn is by far the most excited about her gifts and wants the group to stay together so that they can grow in their powers. Nina is a perfectionist, preppy, and seems to be doing much better financially than the other girls. She’s a hard worker who has everything going for her and so is the most resistant to using her powers or being a part of the group. Gladys is very emotional, temperamental, and headstrong. She has very little control over her powers and (at the moment) appears to be the most powerful of the group. While Gladys gets along with Stella, her relationship with the other girls is still tense. She wants to learn to use her gifts, but also is wary of the other girls she is practicing with.
Because of how well-drawn these characters are, MisSpelled is a great coming-of-age tale for young women, especially those who are struggling to accept themselves. Every episode of MisSpelled keeps you on the edge of your seat, and keeps you guessing as to what might happen next. The drama and intensity of this web series could easily rival some of the your favorite popular supernatural TV shows, but with significantly more female roles and no racism.
Sadly, the web series is struggling a little after their last episode, so McDowell created a Kickstarter to help them raise money in order to continue making it. Although MisSpelled fell short of its intended goal of seventy-five thousand dollars, it did make nearly twenty-five thousand dollars. However, all is not lost! McDowell has started another campaign on Indiegogo in order to raise the remaining thirty thousand dollars. I highly recommend that you check out MisSpelled and donate so that this awesome web series can continue. You can also find information about MisSpelled on their website, Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. So go watch and donate to this week’s web crush!
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