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First Velma Images Reveal an Adults-Only Scooby-Doo Reimagining turning ‘Velma’ Into Story About South Asian Crime Solver
- Thread starter Magister Xehanort
- Start date
Eh, I mean I did like darker tone of mystery incorporated, but end of the day they were still revealing the bad guy at the end of episode and it was kinda fun and games.
From one pic alone it seems like they are going to solve real murders. Why not just make new show, make it parody like they did in Venture Brothers, or something like that.
From one pic alone it seems like they are going to solve real murders. Why not just make new show, make it parody like they did in Venture Brothers, or something like that.
By the way, this is not the first time Velma has been reimagined with a different racial background. Hayley Kiyoko (Japanese descent) played Velma in a 2009 film.
The great irony here is Kiyoko is a lesbian. (Was closeted back then.)By the way, this is not the first time Velma has been reimagined with a different racial background. Hayley Kiyoko (Japanese descent) played Velma in a 2009 film.
An "adult show" and the cowards still will *not* make Velma an uncloseted lesbian in it - mark my words.
Speaking of, have they confirmed that Velma will be out of the closet for this show? Because there's really no excuse not to. Not even the bullshit "think of the children" excuse.
I am really blown away by it and i's taken me until today to try to put my feelings together as to why.
I understand that Scooby Doo is a really beloved multi-generational property with fans of every age. I also understand that for as templated as the show was in the 70s, it's actually a pretty unique premise in 2022. There is really no other "team mystery comedy" like Scooby Doo and this is a thing people have liked about it for decades. People genuinely like "the dog."
But as a cultural fixture, Scooby Doo and its ensemble characters have taken on a life of their own outside the actual text - especially with the advent of clip-driven social media. People with only a passing interest in Scooby Doo as a whole are interested in characters like The Hex Girls and, of course, Velma. There is no other SD character that has benefitted from cultural repositioning as much as Velma. She has been embraced as an underdog archetype finally getting her due. Much is discussed about what the character represents to people and basically none of it has to do with Scooby Doo, the dog.
So in an era where an unassuming member of an ensemble has taken on a reputation independent from the original context of the programming, of course it stands to reason that someone would be motivated creatively to explore that character in an isolated context. And in its isolation, they can experiment with storylines and character traits in a way that will have no bearing on the existing dynamic of the core show. This seems like something everyone could at least tolerate even if they are a dedicated purist to the sacred legend of Scooby Doo.
I see a lot of people insisting that if the show was going to be this different it should just be a new IP, which I feel is missing the point. The point is not to make a Scooby Doo spinoff. The point is to make a show about Velma. It's not a new character because that's, again, not the point. The point is to make a Velma show that caters to her independent popularity as a character concept outside the official brand. It makes sense that the execution is going to be different from what anyone is used to.
I've been pretty surprised by the response, not because I think people should like it but because it seems easy enough to say "I'm not interested in this project" and move on if that is the case. Instead it has produced all this discourse surrounding what should and shouldn't be done with this property and its characters, which I just can't relate to at all. I have no idea if this show will be good. I also think it's weird they didn't have a more carefully curated reveal with a proper trailer that demonstrates the intended appeal of the show.
But the fact remains that there is a titanic abundance of Scooby Doo content that has ran for 50 years all leveraging the same fun and familiar dynamic. This is not a series with fans who are hurting for some return to form. One experimental show trying to capitalize on the immense popularity of one character among adult audiences doesn't seem like something that should provoke the kind of response we're seeing here.
I can't even believe I've been coaxed to reflect on it even as much as I have. My initial response was just "cool, will wait for a trailer" and then I spent 20 hours thinking about it trying to figure out if I was missing something that justified the intensity of reaction from others all across the internet. I still don't get it.
Gotta appeal to all the vanilla dudes out there who think having a mild geek girl fetish is the same as having anything resembling taste.
This thread has gone to the dogs ever since they realized the dog is gone.
If there's no Scooby Doo, then it isn't Scooby Doo.
I'm fine with going in a more mature direction and changing Velma to be south Asian, but without Scooby you can't call it Scooby Doo.
I'm fine with going in a more mature direction and changing Velma to be south Asian, but without Scooby you can't call it Scooby Doo.
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Confused as to how you wouldn't know this with it being one of the longest running children series around. My dad, myself and my daughter all watched scooby doo and loved it as a kid.
Look i was trying to be nice because you clearly love that dog, but if you saw the now deleted tweets Scooby made after a particularly intense late night Scooby snack binge, you'd understand why they're distancing themselves from him right now
Yeaaah, what exactly is going on here?
Is there some shitstorm attached to this?
…but I like the dog. :(
Edit: I'll watch just to see what the show is like, but I will miss Scoob. Like, totally.
Edit: I'll watch just to see what the show is like, but I will miss Scoob. Like, totally.
They are, but the issue is all the other core characters are there, and it is described as reimagining Scooby Doo with Velma being of South Asian descent. I'm 100% on board, but it's not a reimagining of Scooby Doo, if…..Scooby isn't in it.
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Without going page by page, I'm assuming multiples of "Why don't they just create a new character?!"
Y'all are free to not watch, you do know that?
I think the East Asian bit is outdated since that quote's from 2021, Mindy Kaling said she's South Asian and Mindy Kaling herself is South Asian.
I don't think East Asians and South Asians are that easily confused, either.
Sir, I'll have you know that lady isn't half naked. She is fully nude. Them is bubbles.
We can go higher.
We will go higher.
Whynotboth.gif?
I'm fine with a Scooby-less adaptation of the franchise. Scooby basically just does the exact same thing Shaggy does in most plots (other than, I suppose, times where it's only them +/- Daphne/Scrappy). You can still do the exact same Scooby Doo plot without him. It's not the same formula as, say, Courage the Cowardly Dog where without Courage there's no plot.
Incidentally the Scooby/Courage movie was awesome.
There's also a new Scooby-Doo show every few years, plus Scoob 2 coming (as far as I know) so he'll be back shortly. Scooby Doo and Guess Who is either still active or just ended?
Incidentally the Scooby/Courage movie was awesome.
There's also a new Scooby-Doo show every few years, plus Scoob 2 coming (as far as I know) so he'll be back shortly. Scooby Doo and Guess Who is either still active or just ended?
No worries, the way the infromation is presented in the OP is a little confusing (the article might have been edited because of that? I'm not seeing the first quote at the link right now).
I think in this case the actress just wanted to play this part and she has the clout to get the show made. Kaley Cuoco was part of the reason Harley Quinn got made, and this appears to be the same thing here - Kaling wanted to play Velma and made the show around herself. I don't really see the problem with it.
When a murder happens in a shower people in the moment don't think gish better put my clothes on
But if it's a prequel why would he be there, would he even be born yet? I honestly don't get it, I like Scooby Doo but Scooby himself doesn't need to be in every spinoff property.
But you have to start somewhere. The other option is almost no representation of South Asians. How are you going to get a racist system to fund a production outside the established power dynamic?
Yes, it's low hanging fruit, but the opposite is remaining invisible or getting table scraps. There is nothing wrong with using an established cultural story to bring more representation to a group. White people do it all the time and you rarely see them whine about it.
Yes, it would be great if currently more diverse mediums would be accepted, but in today's world where white people are super fragile about themselves means more push back against anything non white.
Eh, they let them make Harley Quinn queer so I'll give them a chance. This show feels like kind of a vanity project in the same way the Mindy Project did but I'm willing to give it a shot. Scooby not being there is like a weird omission but maybe they'll bring him on board in season 2 or something.
oh i mean i know people love the show, i grew up watching it too. i just didn't realise the dog who eats big cartoon sandwiches was such an important part of the recipe i guess.
First scene is Velma getting up naked from Daphne's bed because the Dean of Yale is in trouble due to his missing USB when we went on a bender at the strippers the night before.
It's absurd enough for me to wonder if that's really what the resistance is towards. I like watching Scooby Doo, but Scooby himself doesn't need to be in every spinoff like wtf.
I think it's less "Why not make a new character if you're going to make her south Asian" and more "Why not make a new character if she's not going to be around any of the previous characters, stuck in modern day urban environments instead of haunted mansions and the like, solving grisly murders instead of unmasking goofy scary pranksters, in a tonally different show with graphic violence, gratuitous nudity, and adult humor?"
Like, I dunno, I feel like the goofy cartoon dog adds a sense of levity to the whole thing. That these are goofy cartoon teens foiling evil horror plots, usually through traps that go completely awry. This feels more like a "funny" CSI show but Velma's a cop now. I honestly don't get why this is getting defended so hard, considering that "goofy cartoon but it's REAL and cynical" is the most trite-ass thing you can pitch. Just watch a Scooby Doo parody on Robot Chicken or something.
Like, I dunno, I feel like the goofy cartoon dog adds a sense of levity to the whole thing. That these are goofy cartoon teens foiling evil horror plots, usually through traps that go completely awry. This feels more like a "funny" CSI show but Velma's a cop now. I honestly don't get why this is getting defended so hard, considering that "goofy cartoon but it's REAL and cynical" is the most trite-ass thing you can pitch. Just watch a Scooby Doo parody on Robot Chicken or something.
You're being a little too literal here. It's not a reimagining of Scooby Doo the character, it's a reimagining of Scooby Doo the IP. Imagine if Star Wars had been called R2-D2, and then someone came along and decided to reimagine it without the cute mascot droid character. Does Star Wars still work without R2-D2? Is R2-D2's presence necessary for Luke's character to work in the trilogy? More to the point, is R2's presence necessary for Leia's character to work? Aside from using it as a mailbot? Velma's character does not need Scooby Doo.
They already tried a Velma and Daphne thing without Scooby and it was atrocious
Presenting "Dale", a King of the Hill spin-off set in New York, with none of the original characters and ESPECIALLY no Hank, Dale is an FBI agent now uncovering REAL conspiracies, and he fucks.
Show-runner: Seth Rogen.
I don't know, corporations like LGBT stuff when they can profit from it. "Come watch our new adult Scooby-Doo show because we finally made Velma gay" is the type of thing that will get them a lot of good free press.
To be fair, I think Dale did fuck. He just didn't do it as much as his wife.
Oh, it's one of those animes.
Yeah, and that was abysmal on its own, adding Scooby to it wouldn't have made it better.
Scooby is in an alternate kid-friendly universe. The end of Velma season 1 will be finding out the plot of a villain opening a portal to kill all versions of Scooby in the multiverse.