An Opinion Before Release

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From what I understand of the upcoming comic, The Return to Sleepy Hollow, Katrina and Ichabod have parted ways. According to Entertainment Weekly, "Ichabod has now built a name for himself as a debunker of occult claims across the world."* Katrina has converted her family home into a funeral parlor, and has apparently stepped into Ichabod's role as a detective and medical examiner, even wearing her estranged husband's oversized magnification eyewear.  

Photo: The Return to Sleepy Hollow
Katrina and an unknown character perform an autopsy. 

Her daughter *, in turn, has taken on Katrina's ties to the occult and supernatural in that she can communicate with the dead. One illustration depicts Katrina teaching the girl how to draw the evil eye circle.

I do not know if Katrina's witchcraft is now a secondary trait, disused, or if it aids her line of work. Regardless, I see her new role as one created solely to lend her character more "worth" and agency. Feeling the need to essentially reinvent her character implies that the Katrina we knew in the film is not good enough and should be "improved." It implies that, to be strong, she must take on a role we previously associated with a man. To me, it suggests that witchcraft, closely tied to womankind, should not be the only skill we know her to employee. 

I never perceived Katrina as a shrinking violet. She volunteered to enter the Western woods, she did not look away from danger. 

One scene I've always loved is when Ichabod steps behind Katrina for protection, and she bravely shields him as the Headless Horseman is near. This has always seemed a perfect example of their dynamic. He sketches drawings of her surrounded by illustrations of hearts, angel wings, his declarations of his love, while, in the script, she knowingly and mischievously says her father would not like what he might see. He is afraid of his dreams, spiders, weak at the sight of gore. Yet, Katrina is the one who calmly whispers spells of protection, saving those she loves, cutting the claw from a raven. I've read synopsis of the film stating Katrina is a damsel in distress, but I see her as a protector. Throughout the film, she aims to save and protect. Ichabod, meanwhile, requires protecting. It is her book, even, that saves his life.

I can't see the need for change to bring strength and substance to her character, especially when that "strength" consists of traits from a male character, making her almost a shadow or parody of him. If Katrina need be reinvented, why couldn't it have been in a form unique to her? 

Perhaps the comic will prove different, we can hope.

* Why must modern media make characters world famous and ensure couples cannot remain together? All aside, I always took the events of Sleepy Hollow to indicate Ichabod was made aware and came to accept the supernatural in the form of the horseman, the crone, and even Katrina and his memories of his mother. 

* With the way matters are, I'm not even going to be so bold as to assume the child is Ichabod's. If she is, I will assume he was unaware of her birth and had no hand in her upbringing. 

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