Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Screw you, Scooby Doo!

So tonight I was comforting my little cousin who had gotten hurt pretty badly "Play Fighting" on a trampoline, and as he became more calm, we turned on the t.v. to cartoon network. Now, seriously, there are a thousand and twelve things about children's television that bother the hell out of me, and I've decided to start speaking out about them when they catch my attention.
Tonight, well, we were watching some Scooby Doo movie butchering the retro 70s animation with computerized technology called Scooby Doo and the Samurai Sword. Typically, Scooby Doo is not really my preferred cartoon, however it proves better than go-to fart jokes and repetitive nonsense repeating itself so rather than voicing a vociferous protest, I decided that I was lucky.
I was wrong.
First, I was disturbed by the dehumanization of a man, tied up to a post and acting like a dog. It's not that I lack humor but it seriously made me stop and go "What the fuck!?" I don't know what society could possibly have against large brutish bald men but apparently they've been demoted to attack dog. Maybe that's what bothers me so much, everywhere I look it's like these kids are being promoted to be violent and sexist, and here a cartoon is showing me in living color how the government sees many of the young boys watching that very show: ready and willing to take orders blindly and attack on command.
I guess the subtlety of the imagery is what kind of turned my stomach. It just didn't set well with me and it made me deeply sorry that my already accident-prone and constantly injured 6 year old cousin is being fed this kind of brutal propaganda.
But that's not all.
After being commemorated and highly praised for "displaying the heart of a champion," and defeating "the mighty Sojo" (or something like that...), Daphne Blake (who is rocking the image of a woman capable of taking care of herself) is called on to fight another highly capable (and obviously well-trained) woman who had accompanied the gang earlier in the movie. As they both test their skill against the other in a grueling kung fu match, the movie cuts to Shaggy and Scooby, who are watching from the sidelines.
"Like, meeeoooow! Talk about a 'kung fu catfight,'[I assume this to be some sort of clever allusion to some established pop-culture point of view]huh?!" Shaggy asks Scooby with exaggerated arm movements, to which his dog obligingly replies;
"Meeeoow!"
Are they serious?
After seeing this, I became instantly disgusted. I don't know how they manage to justify dragging a serious kung fu match between two experienced and skilled women (whether cartoons or not!) down to the level of "cat fight." It's so degrading! Do you think that if Fred were battling the behemoth that Daphne defeated that there would be time for snide comments, or would the audience be left enraptured by his cunning skill and fueling his bravado by taking his match completely seriously? Would Shaggy be saying to Scooby, "Hey, Fred's ascot seems to be a little tight tonight, he's picking fights with all the wrong guys! He's such a sucker for a good cat fight!" No! They would be rooting him on, no fail, and promoting his display of masculinity...not belittling his achievements and meowing suggestively.
AND TO TOP IT ALL OFF... it ends with Daphne's hair band being pulled out and her hair inhibiting her performance. They're not even being subtle now. It's blatantly suggesting that if you pit a skilled woman against a skilled woman, they're still going to resort to hair-pulling!
The world is a clusterfuck, and somehow, Scooby Doo made my shitlist.

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