a little nightcap of wank
Aug. 9th, 2007 01:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
teapotgirlSo this is how lame I am: I am unbelievably annoyed at a Sequential Tart article about Kim Possible. Now I don't mind if you want to deconstruct a show, especially one that is geared toward young girls, but the writer is complaining about plot holes in the overall story arc and missing bits of character development when in fact this stuff is already covered by episodes the writer obviously has never seen.
I am glad the writer eventually owns up to only seeing the first 2 seasons of Kim Possible before losing track of the show, and now is catching up with the fourth season--at the very least, she knows Kim and Ron are dating (ewwwwww). It seems all the things she finds problematic are resolved by episodes in season 3, and even as early as 2. Seriously, I can get past her random Ron hate but how you can analyze a body of work without seeing it in its entirety?
The first problem she has with Kim, something she needs to mention twice, is that she believes the creators/writers didn't bother "to provide any rationale whatsoever for how Kim became a world famous teen-girl freelance James Bond-type superagent in the first place." Kim's first mission is covered in a tv movie/3-parter from season 2, "A Sitch in Time": Kim and Wade set up a site for her burgeoning babysitter business, and the first job she gets is a local billionaire trapped in his own home because of his complex laser security system (and Kim uses her super cool cheerleading skills to get him out) . Her origin is further explained in season 3's "Team Impossible" when it's revealed the billionaire meant to go to the web site of Team Impossible, the world’s premier action/rescue team, but because of a typo found Kim's site instead. It's basically bad google-fu and word of mouth that makes Kim's reputation as a do-gooder.
The writer also seems to think Kim has perfectly balanced crime fighting and being a teenager, saying "it also leaves the show open to the interpretation that for girls, at least, merely saving the world or making a difference in some other more ultimately meaningful way isn't enough--you also have to have the more superficial validation of prettiness and popularity conventionally epitomized at the high school level by being a cheerleader." There are plenty of episodes where Kim falters, and it's only through the help of friends and family does the job get done, like the episode where she has to juggle college applications and finding a new mission suit while Drakken attempts to recreate Pangaea. And for a show in the action/adventure genre, I boggle at the author's complaint that Kim doesn't get much down time. Kim's got her day off episodes like the one where she gets a cold and Ron has to go on a mission by himself, or the one where she's stuck in the library and it's up to Ron to find a missing library book--but these are few and far between because it's primarily action/adventure show.
The writer also doesn't understand Bonnie's purpose, why the show needs a resident mean girl. She's there to fill out that high school experience, and help move the plot along. Bonnie is the Draco to Kim's Harry.
And I really can't get past the article's hate on for Ron. It's Ron! He writes songs about his naked mole rat! And he has mystical monkey powers! MONKEY POWERS! As much as I love Xander, the dude only has knowledge about guns and an eyepatch.
I am glad the writer eventually owns up to only seeing the first 2 seasons of Kim Possible before losing track of the show, and now is catching up with the fourth season--at the very least, she knows Kim and Ron are dating (ewwwwww). It seems all the things she finds problematic are resolved by episodes in season 3, and even as early as 2. Seriously, I can get past her random Ron hate but how you can analyze a body of work without seeing it in its entirety?
The first problem she has with Kim, something she needs to mention twice, is that she believes the creators/writers didn't bother "to provide any rationale whatsoever for how Kim became a world famous teen-girl freelance James Bond-type superagent in the first place." Kim's first mission is covered in a tv movie/3-parter from season 2, "A Sitch in Time": Kim and Wade set up a site for her burgeoning babysitter business, and the first job she gets is a local billionaire trapped in his own home because of his complex laser security system (and Kim uses her super cool cheerleading skills to get him out) . Her origin is further explained in season 3's "Team Impossible" when it's revealed the billionaire meant to go to the web site of Team Impossible, the world’s premier action/rescue team, but because of a typo found Kim's site instead. It's basically bad google-fu and word of mouth that makes Kim's reputation as a do-gooder.
The writer also seems to think Kim has perfectly balanced crime fighting and being a teenager, saying "it also leaves the show open to the interpretation that for girls, at least, merely saving the world or making a difference in some other more ultimately meaningful way isn't enough--you also have to have the more superficial validation of prettiness and popularity conventionally epitomized at the high school level by being a cheerleader." There are plenty of episodes where Kim falters, and it's only through the help of friends and family does the job get done, like the episode where she has to juggle college applications and finding a new mission suit while Drakken attempts to recreate Pangaea. And for a show in the action/adventure genre, I boggle at the author's complaint that Kim doesn't get much down time. Kim's got her day off episodes like the one where she gets a cold and Ron has to go on a mission by himself, or the one where she's stuck in the library and it's up to Ron to find a missing library book--but these are few and far between because it's primarily action/adventure show.
The writer also doesn't understand Bonnie's purpose, why the show needs a resident mean girl. She's there to fill out that high school experience, and help move the plot along. Bonnie is the Draco to Kim's Harry.
And I really can't get past the article's hate on for Ron. It's Ron! He writes songs about his naked mole rat! And he has mystical monkey powers! MONKEY POWERS! As much as I love Xander, the dude only has knowledge about guns and an eyepatch.
