Tradwives and ‘anti-woke’ backlash: can Netflix reboot Little House on The Prairie for a new generation?

After the classic series became a pandemic-era smash, a glossy new adaptation aims to explore the complexities of frontier life

Each incarnation of Little House on the Prairie has reflected the fears, hopes and hangups of its time – from Laura Ingalls Wilder’s semi-autobiographical children’s novels, first published in the wake of the Great Depression, to the television series they inspired, which premiered amid a recession and an oil crisis in 1974.

Netflix’s reboot, premiering on 9 July, is no exception. “The stories are able to transcend generations, which speaks to its basic nature,” says Luke Bracey, who stars in the new series as Charles “Pa” Ingalls, the rugged family patriarch. “This is a family trying to get along in the world.”