This is not a review. Velma is one of those shows that fail to focus on its story. Instead, it goes into the woke ideology and doesn’t delve into the I.P. as intended. This is a problem with a ton of shows and movies today. They focus little on the story and more on the so-called social issues while pretending they’re teaching rather than preaching.
Velma is meant to indulge its audience in the Scooby-Doo I.P., but the only thing that it has in common with it is the characters’ names and outfits. The only reference to “Scooby” is a secret project called “S.C.O.O.B.I.” related to Norville’s grandmother, Doctor Perdue.
This show might have worked better if it wasn’t aimed at pleasing a group of people who would revolt over not having diverse characters despite the characters being universally white in other media in the franchise. Whatever happened to caring about what the fans want?
There is a standard in Hollywood where the stars claim to be fans when a popular piece of media is remade. You see it all the time, and it’s annoying when the project doesn’t turn out to be the runaway success they expected.
What is The Point Of A Review Now?
I stopped reviewing Velma because of how obscene and predictable the story was becoming. While I understand the need to spice the story up for a new generation, was it necessary to design the characters to be of the same ethnicity as their voice actors? For example, Constance Wu, who voices Daphne, is Asian-American. The character is designed to be that ethnicity.
Under a decade ago, in 2014, when Star Wars Rebels started airing, Agent Kallus, a Caucasian, was voiced by David Oyelowo, a black British actor. If this were done now, there would be a massive upheaval, and the woke crowd would boycott the show. However, now, all characters, live-action or animated, have to fit specific criteria so that it appeals to a broader audience and avoid the woke boycotting the project and complaining.
Can We Get More Open Casting Calls, Please?
Whatever happened to an open casting call? One show I know did this was Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Rick Riordan, the author of the books, is heavily involved in the show’s production. When the casting of Leah Sava Jeffries, who will play Annabeth, was announced, he said the following in a blog post after trolls started saying horrible things about not having a ‘white Annabeth’:
I was quite clear a year ago, when we announced our first open casting, that we would be following Disney’s company policy on nondiscrimination: We are committed to diverse, inclusive casting. For every role, please submit qualified performers, without regard to disability, gender, race and ethnicity, age, color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or any other basis prohibited by law. We did that.
Rick Riordan defends the casting of Leah Sava Jeffries as Annabeth
It should be about talent. Not about what someone looks like. I have written about this a million times. Another thing that irritates me is the shameless trolls who target one specific person. In Velma’s case, people blame Mindy Kaling (who voices Velma) for ruining the project.
Let me explain for those of you wondering why people are blaming Mindy more than anyone else.
Mindy’s production company is involved, and she’s an executive producer, meaning she has to sign off on the project.
It’s Not Entirely Mindy Kaling’s Fault
However, she is not to blame entirely. She doesn’t hold a writing credit on Velma the way she does on other projects like The Mindy Project and the American version of The Office. Usually, I don’t have a problem with race-swapping or making a character gay. However, I take issue with the story preaching to the audience and telling everyone how to feel.
For example, multiple times throughout the episodes that have aired thus far, Velma constantly yells at her dad for not caring that her mother went missing. The way she says it makes it sound like she wants the world to feel sorry for her. This could’ve been handled better from a writer’s standpoint.
It is no wonder that HBO Max is airing two episodes a week rather than one. It looks like they’re trying to eliminate their backlog of completed projects they know people will be crapping on. No one wants to be told how to feel or act. Let alone that they have to feel sorry for the down-on-their-lucky protagonist.
Sorry, but people shouldn’t be forced to feel sorry for someone who doesn’t deserve it. That is not how life works. Velma is supposed to be an adult-comedy-horror-mystery, but all elements fall flat. In my review for episode one, I mentioned that the story didn’t work.
Stereotypes
The story has little adult content and is mediocre for something produced by Warner Brothers Animation. When the series starts, the first thing seen is a cockroach mating with another cockroach. Also, teenage butts are seen, but you don’t see anything else in wide shots of the front as soap bubbles cover everything else.
Also, how is Fred being a late bloomer with puberty a bad thing? I agree with the criticisms of the show feeding into stereotypes. One example is Carroll, Daphne’s biological mother and her biological father, Darrell, being criminals. How many times have people of Asian descent been portrayed as criminals? There are too many to count. How many Caucasian characters have been written as selfish, dimwitted and wealthy? Why do African-American or mixed-race characters always get written as intelligent? Can’t there be a shake-up?
Make an Asian character a teacher. Make a Caucasian character someone with massive flaws and not be childish and selfish. Have the person of colour be the dimwit for a change. There is so much that can be done.
