Zero respect for a franchise beginning to get out of hand
I intended for this week’s post to be about the 3D Mortal Kombat games. My recent extensive use of the PCSX2 emulator to play them to exhaustion felt like prime material for a post, but recent events in entertainment, word of mouth, and waiting for extra news to come out on said events motivated me to comment on this. Your 3D MK Games Appreciation post may have to wait until next week, followed by a look at GTA games RockStar is hoping you’ve forgotten by now.
In mid-2022, HBO Max announced a new series based around the Scooby-Doo character Velma Dinkley. The creator of this series was none other than The Office alumni Mindy Kaling. Depending on the type of media you consume, this was either a non-starter, a cause of excitement, or everything wrong with modern-day Hollywood.
Now that the series is out and releasing episodes regularly on HBO Max, everyone who’s been able to has seen it, and more and more news about the show, its creator, and the characters have come out, almost no one has anything good to say about the show save for animation and character design. From my own observations and everyone else’s opinions, my conclusions are that if the characters didn’t use the names or even likenesses of established characters, it wouldn’t be so bad. Personally, if it was more of a different set of characters in the same universe, then the media fiasco around the show would likely be naught. But some things are hard to ignore.
Part of me wants to believe that when The Last Airbender came out in 2010, there was a large amount of draft dodgers who contributed largely to the idea of “racebending,” only instead of different races and ethnic groups representing different countries (when that wasn’t exactly the case in the Avatar: The Last Airbender cartoon), established characters were largely race swapped save for Fred who we’ll mention later.
We can argue all day and night about diversity of skin color in the original show and it’s generational iterations over the years, but equally as important as color is also culture and character. Basically, what I’m saying is a show about four white dudes who behave the same would be boring, same for four black dudes, Asian dudes, Amerindians, etc. But as individuals with wants and goals, that’s a hook. Velma is an unfortunate victim of the “diversity of color = automatic good” that some in media claim is a fault of Hollywood. Mindy Kaling’s Velma is not the same as the original 1969 Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? and it shows.
Never mind that Velma is Asian Indian, Shaggy uses his real name of Norville and is black or that Daphne is a rare, East Asian ginger; character-wise everyone is divorced from their original iterations. Well-rounded characters have negative and positive qualities that make them believable and watchable, and there’s too much of the bad and not a lot of the good in Velma. Take the titular character herself.
Original Velma was a peak nerd with as many benefits and drawbacks included in that package. She can singlehandedly teach you all about the mechanics of simple machines within a larger, more complicated device; disassemble a radio blindfolded; and use the simplest possible solution to keep a volcano — real or model — from erupting or minimizing the damage if it does. Clearly, these are exaggerations, but they speak to the positive qualities that can be found in anyone else.
One of the drawbacks for her was that she was also a bit clumsy. Her nearsightedness is an age-old gag; you just can’t have a Velma whose glasses are neatly secured onto her face. Maybe as a middle-aged woman with a band to keep them secure, but it was pretty common to hear, “My glasses! I can’t see without my glasses.” All in all, it was a part of her charm. Number 1 candidate for assistant teacher or even principal, glasses get knocked off by a door.
Then there’s the rest of the gang. Fred was pretty much the everyman with surprisingly exceptional leadership skills, Daphne was the sharp rich girl (one of the few wealthy characters whose riches refer to money and access to knowledge), and Shaggy and Scoob were the pair of goofballs who could stuff their faces with anything deemed edible, the sandwich tower format serving as the default meal of choice. Alone, these folks would probably not get a lot done, but together they make an excellent team. Actually, this type of format can be said to have inspired elements in whole or in part of later shows.
Don’t quote me on that.
The facts in my fondue are that for as long as one of Hanna-Barbera’s recognizable cast of characters has been around, there have been re-imaginings and parodies. All of which I might have seen or would welcome, so long as it doesn’t desecrate the soul of the original or lambaste the fans of the original when legitimate and constructive criticisms are made. Basically, do what you want with X, but don’t insult the fans. No matter the product or franchise, the fans are not to be trifled with.
Mindy Kaling and HBO Max have taken yet another bug bear out of the pen to rub its ass on the carpet, and this time the stains get progressively harder to remove. The producers are forcing all four of their sober audience members to accept these as the original characters despite there being zero connections between them other than their names.
Old Velma was sweet and smart while new Velma appears to be a jerk. Old Shaggy was a clueless goofball while new Shaggy is said to be a hopeless straight edge. Old Daphne was quite charming while new Daphne is a drug dealer for some reason. Old Fred, by my description, kind of had protagonist energy. Charismatic leader who gets the ball rolling. New Fred is all that old Fred is not. Childish, cowardly, incompetent, and the butt of many a cruel and racist joke. What good is it for me to know that he’s penis is small? Well, for me, who’s enjoying the reviews in lieu of the lack of entertainment that was promised in the show, it does nothing for me to retain that knowledge. Not even the target audience is all that enthused.
Certain voices online who are active in the political sphere in other aspects have different takes on this in specific and modern media as a whole. Many conservatives have pointed to the emphasis of a character’s appearance or background as a sole or primary personality trait when in reality a character being black or Indian or Latino/a is merely a descriptor. Same thing for if they’re gay or bisexual. In contrast, many left-leaning voices often advocate for more non-white and non-straight protagonists to offset the default established from generations of media and cinema. Moderates would advocate for both: diversity of color, culture, and character. No picking and choosing what shines at the expense of the others. Funny enough, it’s reported that the far-left were so disgusted by the show that a conspiracy theory has popped up to claim that Velma was secretly spearheaded by the far-right to humiliate and defame the far-left based on assumptions and negative stereotypes.
I promised myself that I wouldn’t get too far into the political aspects of the debate of certain parts of media. I like to stay in the middle where I can absorb every part of a debate and form my own conclusion, even though I’ve given concessions to one side or another at times. I don’t want to stay in that circle for too long as there’s more to talk about the show so let’s move on.
Other criticisms I’ve heard regard the tired old meta humor. When done well, it can enhance the writing. When done poorly or for too long, it starts to rust. This was a bit what got me out of South Park for a bit, but recently I’ve been looking back into the show and for a quarter-century, it’s a bit like a cloaked fist. It punches hard, but doesn’t really talk down to the audience. I might bring it up in a later post.
Velma doesn’t seem to have a lot of material to lampoon off of and if I could do it a service, I’d probably give it the Old Yeller treatment… if there weren’t rumors circulating that it’s set to receive a second season despite fan backlash against the first.
For my final thoughts, Velma‘s characters and setting are a symptom of a larger problem in modern media: it’s an honest reflection of the creators that they often fail to see ironically. As an addition to the Scooby-Doo franchise, it’s entry was as welcome as an independent Rhodesia with white minority rule.
Let’s also not forget that they producers thought Scooby was too childish for this adult take on the franchise. Spoiler warning, though I don’t recommend watching it at all: one of the first scenes is a sex scene between roaches. And the dog got the boot? Well, at least he’s spared the indecency of this show… for now..
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