I remember when it first came on I liked the reboot a lot but I was told it got worse over time. But by then I’d stopped keeping up with it So I lack any strong feelings, apart from those regarding this specific episode which I only just now have acquired
Honestly HIM was so iconic cos the show just literally never did anything negative with the character? As an adult I can obviously get that the joke was meant to be haha gay and/or trans man existing, this is instantly funny somehow. But as a kid I just saw this super strong and badass villain who's also unashamed of being femme, and is not only allowed to be a man despite it, but to be THE man of all time, yknow? I feel if they just kept HIM exactly the same he'd already be great LGBT rep for a modern audience. Also in retrospect it's odd that two shows at the same time both had a gay crossdressing satan as a main character. HIM and Red Guy from Cow and Chicken would be one hell of a power couple lol
@@Bunni89 i feel like him was set as what he was, while red guy kind of took the bugs bunny approach of dressing however he felt like for what he was doing that day. which....ya i see how awsome that is.
@@rabbidchickenfilms Yeah theyre both such different personalities and equally great takes on the same concept! You've got like.. drag vibes and genderfluid vibes. Or however you wanna read it! One good thing about these old shows making their LGBT characters super vague is that they end up being relateable to everyone in the whole LGBT umbrella :)
You know, if I had a nickel for every queer coded obvious Satan representation, I'd have at least two nickels. I feel I'd probably find way more if I dug deeper though. Not sure what to makes of that, really
It does not make sense to me at all that they intended this episode as anything other than transphobic propaganda. If it was meant to be supportive of trans people they dropped the ball so hard it's embedded in the floor.
Yeah, it... really seems like they exemplified "social contagion" forcing someone into "medical procedures" they were "too young to understand", and then society rightly rejecting them. -.-
I think I've read somewhere that the writers weren't intending this for this to be a trans episode but marketing decided to declare it was one. I have no idea if this is true or not though
Ya the "transitioning with science made me a monster and someone I trusted pushed me into doing it because of their own agenda" narrative is bad. Its anti-transitioning, transphobic, just super toxic. That version of the ppg is just terrible like so many other reboots of older shows were during that time.
I remembering liking the reboot when it first came out but I stopped keeping up with it and was told it got worse over time, so I actually lack the strong feelings others have Or maybe it has something to do with how growing up I never really liked the original show all that much so actually liked the changes Who knows, but at any rate definitely one of the bad episodes this one
But it's in favor of transitioning with magic which...is weird. It doesn't fit with trans-positive _or_ transphobic interpretations of the allegory. It just happens. Whee!
its funny the episode is trying to throw shade that transpeople didnt read the warning label when they wanted to transition when the joke is that transpeople DO know the warnings with transitioning BECAUSE ITS WHAT THEY WANTED. Shocker right?
I think the messaging can be interpreted as Donnie thinking he's not a real unicorn but being too afraid to come out and say his true feelings because his mom and friends may not support him if he's not a unicorn. He thought he was a feak when he transitioned, so he reverted back into denial. idk the plot is all over the place but it can be interpreted as him hiding his true feelings about being a unicorn. His horn was hidden away but his mum revealed it to everyone which must've been rough and he just leaves after that. However, in a later episode Donnie is back wearing the fake horn so...
A bigger shocker is that not everyone reads labels, and sometimes people can be pressured by others to undergo this change and then regret it later on in life. Just leaving that fact there.
A few things: The fact the character wanted to essentially change his "species" feels a lot like how conservatives will equate transitioning to blackface. Things like species and race are hereditary. Gender isn't. I could see the way Bubbles acts only out of her own interests as a way to kinda point and tell kids "look, you shouldn't support your friends who want to transition. It's selfish and rash and look what happened to him!" The way he has to symbolically die before he's recognized as a unicorn at least reminds me of the way my mom told me she'd have imagine the "old me" dying in order to accept me transitioning. Like wtf, I'm still going to be the same me as before, I'm just realizing things about myself that were always true, and I'm using the resources I have access to to achieve a body and life I'm more comfortable in. Really hard to see this episode as anything but transphobic.
This is pretty much all I can see too. Not sure why parents do that either, I don't know if now that I'm transitioning that will help and they'll realise I'm literally still the same person
We're _not_ the same people though. We're making radical changes to how we move through reality, and how reality moves through us. Depending on our individual levels of dysphoria, we may see pain and torture inside the very memories that our parents cherish most of all. That has to be a -mindfk- for them to catch up with our understanding of the past _and_ the present. As we grow, our lives become independent from them, but they will always have a piece of us in their hearts. We simply are not entitled to dictate the contents of that piece, despite it having our names on it. Our parents brought us into this realm. I think we owe them a little grace in how they process this major information, which they may never truly understand. If this causes a negative feeling in us, we can recognize it as a reflection of theirs. Stand firm in our identities. Let love and empathy pervade our interactions. As long as their intentions and efforts are good.
@@crnkmnky If you mean the parents, then they should go to therapy and work through that. Parenthood is a job. Children are not things. Children are not parts we play for our parents enjoyment. We are people. When parents see that, we will see a better world.
As a trans person, I wouldn't say I'm "the same person." But I am "more me" than I have ever been. I always tell people if before transitioning I was abc and xyz, if you never saw the abc and if you only liked xyz about me you won't like post-transition me. Because I am now exclusively abc, I no longer wear xyz as a cover. Saves me a lot of long, strung-out ghosting and allows me to cut through the BS and save time.
One of my most popular tumblr posts was a reaction to the episode as a trans man, and the breakdown was more or less: -Buttercup literally outs him by knocking his horn off which would be like pulling a trans person's pants down -How dramatic and goofy he acts about being a unicorn which makes the idea of transness look like a joke -Bubbles only wanting him to transition for her sake -The super duper dangerous procedure that he ignorantly signs up for without understanding the dangers because clearly we trans folk don't care about risks -The fact that the procedure turns him into a horrible monster which makes the idea of transitioning medically look scary -He destroys a museum of phallic objects (pickles) -That he was a unicorn the whole time, as if trans people should just expect themselves to grow their preferred body parts without a "dangerous procedure" I was SO angry watching the episode because they did make that claim that it was a trans episode, only to backpedal when people got mad.
I mean, I didn't really care about the risks when I got top surgery. I still learned what they were, I just would rather have any complication than have to keep living with breasts. it was fine though, zero complications.
@@SapphireSeahorse494that's great, good for you! But I think the point is that trans people are aware of the risks and it's not that it stops them from going through with it but that they've prepared for it (and anyone who isn't aware is usually because of lack of resources). Transphobes treat it as if we have no idea what we're doing to our bodies and that any form of transitioning is a mistake and a mutation which is how the episode depicts it.
They definitely failed with the writing if they were trying to say he wanted to be a real unicorn. However, if we reverse the narrative of the episode then it can be him pretending that he's a unicorn because of societal pressure. idk the plot is a mess just like the show
Pickles may not have been for their phallic nature but for their stereotype as being highly craved by trans women in the us who are often also on spironolactone.
There's a reason why we don't really talk about the PPG reboot. This kinda stuff on top of generally poor writing and animation makes it a chore to watch. Let's also not forget that there's an episode where the girls (who are elementary school kids) are drugged and perform sexual dances and the showrunner at the time gave himself a self-interet that was either a late teenager or young adult that had a relationship with one of the girls. Neither of these events occurred with any sense of irony or inworld questioning.
@declanmckenna6854 According to people that worked on episode the self-insert character wasn't actually a self-insert, but a case of another creator on the show making one of the characters a caricature of a colleague for a laugh and then the crew running with the inside joke without realising how it might look to other people. The person the character was modelled on wasn't the one responsible for the idea. I won't defend anything else about the reboot, but I do think the way that incident is usually talked about seems a little unfair on the guy.
The reboot is so weird. Like it seems like they really wanted to make it modern and relevant, intentionally changing things like taking away Miss Keen's boobs, writing out Ms. Bellum, and shoving in some extremely dated memes. None of it aged well at all, but whatever. But then you get episodes like this and it's like........ It weirdly feels like the show wants to be progressive but it's just really, REALLY, fucking bad at it??? Like I have no idea how the heck this stuff ended up like this, but it's pretty obvious that whatever decisions they were making weren't exactly coming from a place of sincerity, right? And that's a shame because all you really need to do to come off as progressive is just NOT be a dick to minorities and have basic empathy towards people.
I’ll be honest I looked at this and thought it was about the original Craig McCracken series thinking “what could have been transphobic about that??? Isn’t Craig and ally??” Then realized it was about the new show and everything clicked lmao
I was mad ever since they replaced bunny with bliss as the fourth sister but her design is so oc-core I just can't hate her. Kinda sick they gave her bunny's dress color tho. But there's much worse things going on with the show, bubbles voice, the random ahh cutaways, their terrible attempts at teaching lessons (like this ep), the way the whole thing treats kids like their dumb brains can only be satisfied with flashing colors and constantly changing pictures. Words can't describe how much I hate this show. It wishes it was ttg. (Y'all should watch moongirl and devil dinosaur instead, it's an actually good girl hero show. Or just watch the old ppg.)
It is bitterly ironic that the ad youtube decided to show me with this is some kind of PragerU nonsense about detransitioning. I wish I could tell them that THIS kind of bs is why many people regard adblock as self-care.
Ok can we just look at the fact that Donny attaches his hand-made horn to his head at the beginning of the episode in basically the exact same place that he's revealed to have a biological horn? How could he possibly not notice the biological horn? It feels like the show writers forgot the earlier part of the episode.
Yeah, this kind-of screams "We did the script in one draft". There's no logic or sense of pacing to anything, things just kind-of happen and keep happening until we hit a resolution. South Park has a great storytelling rule about trying to avoid plot summaries that keep saying "And then this thing happened", you want plots where you say "Because of this, that thing happened" because that means your story makes sense and has a logical continuity. But this ENTIRE episode is nothing but "This happened, AND THEN that happened, AND THEN this other thing happened."
I think a lot of you might do well to heed the consistent but reliable advice offered up on the animated cartoon, 'Tooter the Turtle'. Tooter was constantly trying to be something adventurous, like a knight or a WWI fighter pilot. He'd always enlist the aid of the kindly and wise, "Mr. Wizard", who'd magically turn him into the thing he thought he could be. Every single time, he'd fail at being the thing Mr. Wizard turned him into, so he'd cry out for Mr. Wizard to change him back. Every week, at the end of the episode, Mr. Wizard imparted to Tooter, the advice, "Be just what you is, not what you is not. Folks what do this has the happiest lot". Words of wisdom kids, words of wisdom.
@@RaptorFromWeegee Counterpoint: When Goku looks at the moon he turns into a giant ape and becomes more powerful. But he rejected that aspect of himself and had his tail removed. But, when the time came to fight Baby, he had to get his tail back and embrace the monkey within him to become even stronger and save the world. Don't hide from the things that make you special, being true to yourself will only make you stronger. Reject modernity. Embrace the Trans monkey within you. Go Super Saiyan 4 and be the hero you know you can be, Dragonball GT.
When they introduce the 4th powerpuff girl(a whole other thing), she has horrible anxiety that makes her powers act up but then she just kinda gets over it bc its the end of the episode
Call me paranoid if you want, but I spent too much time studying graphic storytelling to not see that the part at 8:58 of the video is intentional. The tower is right between the unicorn's legs immediately before someone points at them. Phallic imageries are too easy to spot for nobody to notice it during the animation process.
I haven't studied graphic storytelling anywhere near as much and it was pretty obvious the second I saw it so you're not paranoid. I wouldn't consider that paranoid at all. You seem to be sensitive to phallic imagery, if anything. PPGs has been loaded with phallic symbols from the get-go.
I don't think that's fair. There's enough near-literal demonization of the allegorical transition that I find it hard to believe everyone writing it wanted to make it trans-supportive. It's more like if someone is trying to be a queer ally, but follows the advice of covertly reactionary cishets instead of talking to any queer people.
My immediate thought upon hearing "world's oldest pickle": the world's oldest continuingly running store is a pickle shop in China that's been operating for something like 800 years. So there's a fun fact for you
I didn't see the new show at all, but I was expecting this to be about the old show with the male version of the power puff girls. I think at some point they go on disguise as the boys... It's been a while
The Rowdyrough Boys? Mojo Jojo made them out of snips, snails, and puppy-dog tails in a jail toilet. iirc, they were defeated by the Powerpuff Girls putting on their most femme personas and kissing the boys, causing them to explode. Unless you are talking about some other episode I'm forgetting :)
There was an episode of Powerpuff Girls Z where the Rowdyruff Boys disguised themselves as the Powerpuff Girls! It worked out great for the boys until the girls reminded them that by wearing the girls' clothes, they were wearing girls' clothes!
i think you're being very gracious here by entertaining the idea that they merely made a mistake bc i honestly can't imagine someone could accidentally fumble it this bad
I mean allies get things wrong all the time, plus the writer said they weren't going for a trans allegory in the first place so we have to take their word for it
I was like "wait, I like ppg, how didn't I know their was a trans episode" and then you said "2016 reboot" and I immediately felt a strong desire to throw myself out a window
Can you please explain why? I only watched the first original 2 seasons on Netflix lately and never got into the 2016 reboot. What exactly are the problems of the reboot? I genuinely want to know. Is it the bad writing?
As a long-time fan of the original series, I despise the 2010s reboot so, so much. This episode is definitely a reason why. I won't sit here and pretend the original is flawless and doesn't have things which haven't aged well, but I'd rather marathon the cringy "feminist" episode from the original than watch this episode ever again. The fact you can't even find newer PPG merch that doesn't use this trash heap's design. 🤬
the 2010s reboot really just had no idea what it was that made the original so beloved. it feels very tryhard, the "how do you do, fellow kids?" of cartoons
@@TheGuindo Exactly! Not inviting the original voice actors back was already a huge red flag from the beginning. It's not like I wanted it to fail, but boy howdy, did it.
The "cringy" feminist episode was never cringy, and still isn't. It holds up and was one of the major influences on helping me mature out of being a sexist kid. It handled the topic REALLY WELL. Nowadays we might expect a little more from such a theme, but it remained the best episode of any cartoon about sexism for a long long time. It's actually hard to think of other shows that have tackled it recently, as it feels like most shows just ignore the topic as if sexism is already defeated, when it's not. I'd love to see the moral come back. And maybe we can get a first ever appearance of the fabled "it's okay to be a boy" moral. One I'm still waiting to see appear. Really had hopes on MLP doing that. But nah, they live in a world where everyone is equal already so they skipped it... Sorry I really went off on a tangeant over you calling one of my fave episodes cringy, didn't mean to. You are right. The old series was not perfect. And some late series eps were downright bad. But it was mostly good and mostly progressive, and that makes it the opposite of 2010s PPG.
Youre being very generous about them and their bad cover up attempt to hijack someones story and use it for lgbt brownie points. The two in charge had become so known for just trying to plaster their name on this franchise for fame on top of the fact of boasting a feminist support despite being so contradictory and clearly only said it for money and and attention.
Not to "ThE oRiGioNaL DiD iT bEtTeR", but.... The original did an episode pointing out how creepy some of the "fans" were being, and it was very well addressed.
One of my best friends on Discord is trans and when she came out she said she knew since 2016. She's also a huge fan of the old Powerpuff Girls so she almost certainly knows about the reboot and probably this episode, too. I feel so bad knowing that she was pretty much betrayed by something she loved before 😥.
The PPG remake also had a “anti-bullying” episode where the moral was that Buttercup bullying people is ok, but she needs to learn that there’s a time and place for her “having fun.” This show fucked up its messages so badly.😭
Towards the end, when you talk about Him, it reminded me a lot about how frustrated I am with male bisexual representation in film and media. I once brought up that there isn't a lot of male representation for bisexuals, and when there is, their whole schtick is "I'm here to have sex with everyone" someone brought up "Lucifer is a pretty cool bisexual character ;)" and it's like, bro no he's not. Oh cool, my Bicon gets to be literally the devil. What kind of message does that send? What does that tell kids? I'm not particularly religious, but I do find it hurtful that villains are often queer coded. Even if they are "Cool.' Like yeah, okay, I get it, Scar is sassy, Lucifer is cool. Neat. Fine. I don't want my only options for someone to relate to sexually as villains. I want characters to look up to and relate to. There are other things a part of me I can use to relate to as well but it's still shitty, idk. Thanks for reading
I've only seen the first season so far. But "Lucifer" makes it pretty clear that he's *not* the bad guy, just a victim of vicious rumors. That being said, he's also not very good bisexual representation because his primary love interest is a woman and we never (again, only got to season one so it might change) see him with a guy without a woman also involved. So, less bisexual and more heteroflexable.
Assuming you mean Lucifer from the eponymous show VERY loosely based on Neil Gaiman's comic book character, he's not a villain. Hell, I'd even say he's almost a hero. Still not very good representation because despite being a very promiscuous character seen with innumerable partners you're gonna forget he's meant to be bisexual because he never even once shows any interest in men.
you’re right and you should say it. I’m also tired of seeing bisexual characters, specifically bisexual men in this case, be portrayed as promiscuous and criminals.
Have you watched Dead End Paranormal Park? I personally find it a really refreshing trans portrayal compared to other cartoons, and the trans person is the main character!
It’s one of the only 2 shows I’ve ever heard of that has a transmasc character, the other being the umbrella academy (I’ve only watched umbrella academy so far though). Us trans guys are SO disproportionately underrepresented in media. Do you know any other shows that have good transmasc rep?
@@GayLuigi333 None off the top of my head, unfortunately. Trans men are definitely still a rarity when it comes to media representation, and it is a travesty. I am hopeful for the future though, as more queer creators, including trans men, enter the industry with stories to tell. I am nonbinary myself, and an animation major, so I hope to be involved in queer storytelling in the future and give trans men some love :) 💜
@@GayLuigi333I'm proud to say as a young author I have a trans masc character... or two ;) I myself am not trans masc or femm... however I do make character that align with such. I really want to publish my books!
Honestly the episode could have been good if they just made the message "don't force someone to medically transition if they're fine without doing so" since there are a lot of trans people who are fine without getting surgery to transition and speaking as someone who's genderfluid, ny family has constantly asked me "so you're gonna get surgery???" When I don't plan to, and donnie definitely seemed fine with just the wooden horn, only getting rightfully upset when it was knocked off since like someone else said it'd be the same as pulling a trans man's pants down. But, i just think the whole ending of him being a unicorn the whole time just kinda threw any possible good message. I think the message would have been more clear if they just helped him get a new horn by making a new one that looks better than the old one, to give the message of how the most you can do if you want to help someone who doesn't want to medically transition is to support them and get them stuff to help them present as their desired gender. The episode would still be kinda bad but at least the ending message wouldn't just be "the [ insert thing character wants here ] was with you all along."
Please update the thumbnail to NOT showcase the 1998 show's logo and designs, it is very misleading. 2016 reboot has entirely different logo and changed look.
Funnily enough this is the 2016 series, which has a ton of other weird and creepy shit (like one of the writers making himself a character in the show so he could have Blossom fall in love with him)
@@super8bitable I was watching the last segment where it was talking about how Him isn't really something you can make much out of but how a lot of us still read into and identified hard with the series as kids when writing this, probably shoulda put a time stamp, but i stream of consciousness comment. I watched the reboot, it was pretty hit or miss, and when it missed, it missed hard
based on the zookeepers accent, I'm going to assume he was some sort of parody of steve irwin, who regularly kissed all manner of snakes, gators, and other animals.
Not sure if you meant never touching SU for a RUclips video or for yourself personally, but if you meant the latter you should definitely give it a try. You'll find that many of the things that got discourse poisoned were done so maliciously. not much really holds a candle when it comes to SU and queer messages in children's media or other media too. If not SU, you should check out some of the things that inspired it like revolutionary girl utena. it's kind of the godfather of lesbian animation
Yes this and a lot of Ghibli movies + the more than obvious Sailor Moon references! A ton of the inside jokes and running themes of the show were directly inspired and paid homage to a ton of old or even vintage queer media, and I’d even go as far to say that it has the best diversity in animation that I’ve seen to date? Like basically every character is distinct from the last and even the gems who are mostly (all, excluding Steven fusions) women don’t adhere to the “hourglass with huge t&a” rut a lot of women in animated media get stuck in. Like even the tertiary and expanded list of side characters all seem to have either distinct silhouettes or at the very least distinct personalities! I could gush about SU for hours because honestly I find the success of it very inspiring, despite the fact that I pretty much hate the organized fandom
@@Genderanarchy Basically, take a chance on investing the time to get through to at least the point where Jasper appears before deciding whether to carry on or quit (can dodge a lot of S1 for the purposes of that TBH, if you don't mind missing some small bits of lore, some of which never reappear ever again anyway, like the Carmen Sandiego grade global artefact collecting and the time travel weirdness). And stay the holy hell away from fansites. Heck, the crossover episode with Uncle Grandpa _directly took the piss out of_ the more rabidly obsessive fans with their gemsonas, weird headcanons, shipping of unsuitable characters and such, so it's not like the creators themselves were entirely comfortable with the behaviour. Most of the people are fine, but those are the ones who don't make much noise either. The obnoxious types also tend to be the loudest.
I feel like they could have made it a little better if one of Bubbles' sisters actually believed her and mentioned something like "Mabye we should find a unicorn first and ask them how they did it". Or maybe there IS a procedure that can do it, but as kids they are being impatient. Also just explaining why they didn't know they were a unicorn. Mabye the horn is in a different shape than the pictures theyve seen and it just didn't read as "unicorn" to them? I don't know, mabye if they just made it more about getting real medical advice instead of rushing into dodgey medical procedures without proper information. Could have saved them a lot of trouble.
Easy fix: The machine works, but then the other Unicorns don't accept them as 'an unnatural Unicorn', which leads to the Girls beating up a buff bully unicorn until their Unicorn gets ready to leave before finding one or two friends who accept them the way they are. You get your fight, the allegory is there, it's got a positive message of someone finding acceptance despite the struggle, and Bubbles gets a character arc where she realizes that not all Unicorns are good and it's what's inside that really matters. It's still going to be rushed, but at least it's better now and has more chances for actual jokes and funny gags with Unicorns breaking stereotypes and doing goofy things.
Seeing Lily uploaded and immediately clicking off whatever you were watching so she can get an extra view before the corporate overlords shut the whole club down is a special kind of way to spend the early hours of the morning, i enjoy it every time
i was holding my breath when the north korea unicorn cave thing came up and then breathed a sigh of relief when you called out the racism inherent in english journalism lol
If we were to view episode as legitimate trans allegory, this episode has to have the most absurd conservative propaganda message I’ve ever seen in a kid’s cartoon. Like It’s actually kind of infuriating. It says it wants to support discovering your true identity, but there’s no real journey or transformation being done if Donnie was already born a unicorn this whole time, and it seems to use a lot of regressive conservative rhetoric in order to paint a lot of gender reassignment surgery as like Frankenstein lab work. The new Powerpuff girls reboot really is fucking brain rot.
Commenting before RUclips snipers take this vid out! The whole time you were giving the plot summary, I was guessing (correctly) where it’d go and the concluding message. It’s a trope I’ve seen in a lot of children’s media, with the joke usually ending at “this animal thinks it’s a different animal haha” but this PPG episode goes a step forward, and it’s quite insidious. The dogs were howling at this one, if you catch me drift.
Reminds me of how the neckbeards probably misinterpreted the South Park panderverse episode as agreeing with their whole "go woke go broke" thing when the show creators were probably just trying to make fun of the neckbeards and Disney adults. I'm pretty sure the point of the episode was that diverse characters make a show better and that there's a problem with some of the representation of marginalized people in media. idk I didn't see the full special but the clips I've seen so far seems to make fun of the neckbeards who say "go woke go broke". Also, I'd definitely watch a spinoff of South Park where they were all diverse women. That'd be sweet.
Oh, dear. The possible harmful messaging in this episode really hit me when I realized that I might be Bubbles in some people’s understanding of transness. I have a very dear friend who experiences a great deal of dysphoria and hasn’t been able to do anything about it, and it’s gotten worse since he started high school and a group of boys started harassing him for his queerness. I knew his dysphoria was hurting him. I also knew that he was binding unsuccessfully and very unsafely, and that he had gone to the hospital and almost died because of a past unsafe binding attempt. I knew that he was terrified of his parents, and even if I told them what he was doing there was no guarantee I could stop him for any significant length of time. So, I decided to buy him a binder. I asked my parents to help me, and we had a long talk about it, and they agreed. I figured out the funding. I researched the safest, most effective and sensory friendly brands as explained by trans people, then let him pick from the top choices. I learned how to find the right size based on bra size since I couldn’t measure him and rounded up what he told me in case he was lying, to make sure he could breath. He had informed me that he was allowed to have a binder, as long as he paid for it, and he wasn’t allowed a job, but when his dad read his texts and found out, he freaked out and cut my friend off from me except for a weekly 2 hour extracurricular. He believed that my friend was not trans at all, but my queer brother and I were indoctrinating his child into transitioning because we wanted to manipulate more people into joining in on the trans trend because we wanted more hip friends. I never suggested that he experiment with pronouns or clothing or binding, I just listened and tried to see him the way he asked me to. Im not even queer. Completely cisgender, gender conforming, heterosexual and abstinent. That man hated me so much he didn’t want anyone saying my name in front of him, just because I supported his kid. I didn’t make anyone rush into being trans. I just wanted him to be able to breath again.
I could see Donny having always been a unicorn being akin to "you were always a [gender]," but then the focuses on externalities muck up sentiments in any and every direction.
I have a TV movie recommendation that barely anyone remembers: Ice Angel, it’s a movie about a hockey player who’s killed too early but due to the beurocary in heaven, all they can do is let him take over the body of a brain dead women figure skater and typical fish out of water hijinks ensue. It ends with the angels concluding that the man has forgotten his old life and has fully assimilated into the persona of the women skater. Wild this got green lit, really.
It would be cool to hear you talk about the episode “princess cookie” from adventure time as I’ve always seen it as a allegory for trans people but I haven’t seen many people talk about it.
In defense of Donnie hitting Bubbles, if I got trans surgery at the push of a friend who only wants me for my identity, and then it turns me into a monsters (which probably does hurt) I would hit her. A lot.
I honestly think this episode would have been better if Donnie successfully became a unicorn but witnessed bubbles selfishness as a result of that. Showing them off only for the sake of making HER feel good, resulting in Donnie outwardly cancelling their friendship. This could give Bubbles time to think about donnies feelings as well as having Donnie calling on the unicorns so they can join their herd. The ending could be similar except on a more bittersweet note, with Donnie bidding one last farewell to bubbles after she apologises.
This episode is like that weird moon-abortion episode of Doctor Who, where it may not have been intended to be a metaphor but god is it hard to see it any other way.
@@nicholasfarrell5981 Sarah z made a good video on in but it's pretty long so tl;dr the moon in an egg and all the women on the ship need to choose to kill it or not. It's very clear to mention the egg-moon being an unborn baby multiple times. It seems to have a more pro-life message but it's still pretty neutral. Theres more but that's the jist of it.
@nicholasfarrell5981 Basically, they revealed that the Earth's moon was actually a giant alien egg that was about to hatch. There is then a huge discussion on whether to kill the creature to stop it from hatching or let it hatch, potentially killing all life on Earth. The discussion of what to do about it is done between three women, and the language used in the debate is really similar to language used on both sides of the abortion debate. The episode ends up pushing the idea that sparing the creature is inarguably the morally correct option. The writer of the episode claimed that he did not intend for the episode to be an abortion allegory. The episode is called "Kill the Moon," and it is one of the worst episodes of the entire show in my opinion.
Honestly, we *need* more SU discourse. It's not nearly as horrid as half the internet loves to say it is (not to mention that the amount of misunderstanding of the show's plot and themes is so massive they might as well be talking about a different show) It's not perfect, and I'm not saying it is (I personally didn't like Future that much), but my god, does half the internet have a weird rage boner for the show.
Steven Universe Furture was horrible and they need to redo that entirely. Steven Universe as it was before future was just okay. Nothing too impressive, but I like a few episodes (specifically the Ruby x Sapphire ones)
I watched it as it came out and the worst part was the constant hiatuses and filler episodes that gave nothing. The planet is about to be destroyed by a giant mutated crystal of thousands of different broken gems, time to go to the farm and not do anything about that!
Yeah, the unicorn episode was a swing and a miss for The Powerpuff Girls. Hey, maybe you could look into Strawberry Shortcake (2003) for some transgender subtext? The 2003 Strawberry Shortcake show is very very sapphic, so there may be some trans stuff in there too.
it's not really talked about in the 2003 ver but in the 80s ver plum pudding was originally a boy but then became a girl (using this wording bc I'm pretty sure it was just a marketing thing)
@@wrong_thyme Considering the Plum is completely different from the original blue-haired eras and the purple Ashleigh Ball era, beyond being a sciency character, seems more like something new entirely.
Is not much of a trans episode, but it's a interesting take of the original series of some gender roles. Season 5, Episode 10B - Bubble Boy- Bubbles deguises herself as Boomer, and interects with his brothers and she actually has fun. It's interesting because from the main girls, Bubbles was the most girly among them. (not a trans episode, but it's one of the crossdressing episode that it does work in some ways). But PPG, the classic series, do defies many things, including something that I don't see in morden media, the spectrum of girlhood, all 3 girls are girls in different ways. Now, this episode, back at the time it came out, people were uproar, because the trans message that they were saying it existed back fired. I do find it awkward that the 2016 reboot removes a lot of the progressive valeues the original series already had, removes actual strong female characters, like Miss Belum, under the guise that she is sexy, and it was the point of her character. Another sad thing, is - removing the lead voice actors, but keeping all the others from the original series, it's quite hipocritical to a series that sold itself being “mordern and progressive“. The 2016, lacks in many aspects, it does feel souless at times and you can't really rewatch the show, it somehow dated itself so much that it doesn't work, the original series do have some dated aspects, but you can rewatch it no problem, including the 4th and 5th seasons that were kind of “bad“.
@@amesstarline5482 So maybe the idea was to only recast the children? Yeah, I don't get it either. I think Blossom's new voice actually sounds like a weird mixture of the original Blossom and Princess's voices.
@@BagOfMagicFood I believe they recast the main girls just to do a publicity stunt. Because they did A LOT of mkt around the new VAs for the PPG. The new VAs are not bad, but they are not great either and becomes kind of awkward when you hear original voices from the classic show and expect the original voices for the girls to show up, but it doesn't. From all the girls, Bubbles is the worst in my opinion, the new VA gives hare voice that is not cute, it's rather annoying.
Basically, the lesson is that thou shalt not reboot unless you're going to do something REALLY fresh with the property (e.g. She-Ra) and not just use it as a lazy grift / nostalgia profiteering. All that happens is that the things people loved about the original decay and become diluted, usually with terrible generic pap that completely misses the point.
I wonder if it was intentional for them to have a *literal trans flag* in the outro to that episode (I never watched the reboot, maybe it's the same graphic every episode?)
My episode fix for this: make Donny stay a talking horse, and have him give a speech about how being a talking horse is really special and good. That effectively turns all the unicorn stuff into trying to present what's expected and going overboard on it. that would be a nuanced allegory for a specific trend I've seen where a lot of trans girls have a, um, weird toxic masculinity phase RIGHT BEFORE the egg cracks. Like me cutting my long hair in 2013 and getting the twink haircut of the 2010s
I’m also trans, but in the different direction and I also got that twink haircut before the egg cracked, I still sometimes wish I could go back to it (so efficient in the shower) but nowadays but I do like having long hair way too much.
We are Lily's garden, making us your little buds. Probably too simple, but if you're looking for a community name often the most forward facing and simple is best.
Trust me it’s totally worth the watch, and you only need minimal context from season one (the shows seasons are like little stories, each season has different characters)
@@Galaxyjelly99 How the hell do you get legal access to anywhere showing it in the UK though? I think I'm going to have to end up importing DVDs (if they exist) or just straight up pirating it if I'm ever going to see more than the pilot. (And I particularly want to see those later series too, the idea of it being only loosely connected with whole new characters and story arcs - befitting an infinite train which must have picked up countless waifs and strays besides just Tulip - is pretty neat, and the reputation of the one with Lake precedes it)
Powerpuff girls was my ultimate childhood show and although the original also has its fair share of questionable episodes and writing choices, I got to explore my queerness through it. Characters like Buttercup, Brick, and Him were really important to me on how I related to their gender nonconforming traits! The reboot was a let down in so many ways and although I can acknowledge that the writers meant well, it doesnt negate the impact of the episode. This is why if they wanted to write a positive trans episode, they should've either hired a trans writer or take an educational course on trans representation (or ideally both). I haven't written for a show but I worked on one where we had indigenous speakers come in to educate us in order for us to navigate our own prejudices, be better allies, and to be more conscious about how we depict their community. This isn't a normal practice though and we only had it because of the discovery of burried indigenous children under residential schools. I think every show and movie that intends to be a voice for a marginalized group should always do things like this, as well as having people from that community be a part of the production process. It's an easy and effective way to avoid incidents like this episode..
Holy shit lily dressed to kill, what an icon. It might just be the Australian accent, but the "don't kiss pythons" guy at the beginning feels to me like a parody of the late Steve Irwin. Awesome analysis
Totally unrelated & I’m not trying to throw shade, but your drawing brought so much nostalgia. I’m an artist and the original PPG was one my faves as a kid, but I used to draw them exactly like that 😭 you sparked a core memory, ty 💖
Y'know one of my earliest memories of dysphoria was learning about reincarnation in 4th grade and thinking, "Perhaps I should kermit sudoku" as that was the only way I could conceptualize becoming a woman and I viewed the gamble as worth it. I imagine had I seen this show back then it would have garnered some bad thoughts
I wanna be called your Simp! That's the perfect name honestly. The best fandom named for RUclipsrs are kind of ironic or have some sort of twist on the concept. Like Danny Gonzales Greg for example. Or a spin on Simps even like Gaw Guras Shrimps. And genuinly as a Fan, I really would love to be called a Simp for you.
when i saw the thumbnail i was like,., ppg had a trans episode? never heard of that one before. and then i remembered the godforsaken reboot and the memory of watching shadow streak review this episode hit me like a truck. i dont think he talked about the anti-transition rhetoric so i’m excited 2 see a video essay entirely focusing on those elements!
Can you do an analysis of Mandark from Dexter's lab? I don't think he was intended to come off as trans but his backstory and the way he's treated give off that vibe
I'm going to have a basic lesbian moment here, even though I am aware of the consequences and very annoyed by the fact that only villains were queerified, by the GODS, I am so glad that we got some of the best villains out there also being queer-coded (yes I am talking about Lord Dominator). Yeah yeah, heroes are cool, not to me tho, I want an anti-monarch, space pirate ace lesbian menace ooops sorry I think I too went off topic here. Anyway, great video and I have to admit I agree with the notion, this whole episode delivered a very vague message that doesn't really sit with trans identities and the issues the community deals with. If anything, it just comes off as harmful.
Adventure Time did an episode with a similar aim to this one called "Princess Cookie" that was executed way better in my opinion (its been a while since I saw it, though).
Going to point out that in a new (well, 2021) show (kid cosmic) created by the creator of ppg the main villain is a guy in a cheer uniform and the good guys are also betrayed by a buff tough woman. Both are things that aren’t too heavy on their own but add Him to it and idk I just would like to point out that there is a pattern there
I was half expecting you to discuss that classic episode from the OG series where Bubbles had to go undercover with the Rowdyruff Boys as Boomer, so finding out that the 2016 series did this garbage thinly veiled metaphor episode fills me with disappointment and dread. The 2016 series is such a bad joke. 😬
Fandom Name: Petals They are numerous, they help plants grow (through photosynthesis), they attract (the alorithm), they can come in all sorts of sizes, shapes, and colors. Lily's Petals.
Good lord. I only knew about the reboot season offhand & have basically only seen their sister Bliss, that twerking panda gif. After being exposed to this vile episode it seems that Bliss is the reboot’s only worthwhile contribution to the franchise.
Great episode today! May I recommend much later in your channel history you could do similar videos over the topic of how Games handle trans characters? Not exactly greenlighting a let's play channel but more on the side of the same formula of these where it's just a view and discussion.
there's something funny to me about how the episode attempts to discuss the topic of trans people in a way that is so confusing that it fails at being trans-supportive AND transphobic at the same time
Since you mentioned She-Ra in your intro, have you considered doing a video on its queerness? My first thought of a possible topic would go to the transcoding(?) of Perfuma, though there is also the canonically trans star brother.
i think the australian zookeeper gag might be a reference to steve irwin as he gave animals little kisses and was completely without fear when handeling animals no matter how dangerous they seemed and famously kept calm after being bitten by the animal. So a kindly australian zoo keeper who got a little too close to a python and is calm despite being eaten seems to me like a steve irwin refrence.
![Blox Fruits Dragon Rework Update [Full Stream]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EqDAp8udhm0/mqdefault.jpg)
Me five minutes ago: "Oh sweet, the powerpuff girls!"
Me 1 and half minutes into the video: "Oh. _That_ powerpuff girls."
making fun of the reboot is so funny though i dont even mind
No same lol
Lmao
I remember when it first came on I liked the reboot a lot but I was told it got worse over time. But by then I’d stopped keeping up with it
So I lack any strong feelings, apart from those regarding this specific episode which I only just now have acquired
Reboot sucks
i genuinely believe og power puff girls having a villain that is litterally satan in drag is better trans rep than this hunk of garbage
Yaaaaassss
Honestly HIM was so iconic cos the show just literally never did anything negative with the character? As an adult I can obviously get that the joke was meant to be haha gay and/or trans man existing, this is instantly funny somehow. But as a kid I just saw this super strong and badass villain who's also unashamed of being femme, and is not only allowed to be a man despite it, but to be THE man of all time, yknow? I feel if they just kept HIM exactly the same he'd already be great LGBT rep for a modern audience.
Also in retrospect it's odd that two shows at the same time both had a gay crossdressing satan as a main character. HIM and Red Guy from Cow and Chicken would be one hell of a power couple lol
@@Bunni89 i feel like him was set as what he was, while red guy kind of took the bugs bunny approach of dressing however he felt like for what he was doing that day. which....ya i see how awsome that is.
@@rabbidchickenfilms Yeah theyre both such different personalities and equally great takes on the same concept! You've got like.. drag vibes and genderfluid vibes. Or however you wanna read it! One good thing about these old shows making their LGBT characters super vague is that they end up being relateable to everyone in the whole LGBT umbrella :)
You know, if I had a nickel for every queer coded obvious Satan representation, I'd have at least two nickels.
I feel I'd probably find way more if I dug deeper though.
Not sure what to makes of that, really
It does not make sense to me at all that they intended this episode as anything other than transphobic propaganda. If it was meant to be supportive of trans people they dropped the ball so hard it's embedded in the floor.
Yeah, it... really seems like they exemplified "social contagion" forcing someone into "medical procedures" they were "too young to understand", and then society rightly rejecting them. -.-
At some point, ignorance and incompetence are undistinguishable from malice.
I think I've read somewhere that the writers weren't intending this for this to be a trans episode but marketing decided to declare it was one. I have no idea if this is true or not though
@@AgentofChaos315a likely story
Hanlon's razor: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
Ya the "transitioning with science made me a monster and someone I trusted pushed me into doing it because of their own agenda" narrative is bad. Its anti-transitioning, transphobic, just super toxic. That version of the ppg is just terrible like so many other reboots of older shows were during that time.
Its perpetuating the trans-trender narrative
I remembering liking the reboot when it first came out but I stopped keeping up with it and was told it got worse over time, so I actually lack the strong feelings others have
Or maybe it has something to do with how growing up I never really liked the original show all that much so actually liked the changes
Who knows, but at any rate definitely one of the bad episodes this one
But it's in favor of transitioning with magic which...is weird. It doesn't fit with trans-positive _or_ transphobic interpretations of the allegory. It just happens. Whee!
its funny the episode is trying to throw shade that transpeople didnt read the warning label when they wanted to transition when the joke is that transpeople DO know the warnings with transitioning BECAUSE ITS WHAT THEY WANTED. Shocker right?
I think the messaging can be interpreted as Donnie thinking he's not a real unicorn but being too afraid to come out and say his true feelings because his mom and friends may not support him if he's not a unicorn. He thought he was a feak when he transitioned, so he reverted back into denial. idk the plot is all over the place but it can be interpreted as him hiding his true feelings about being a unicorn. His horn was hidden away but his mum revealed it to everyone which must've been rough and he just leaves after that. However, in a later episode Donnie is back wearing the fake horn so...
Like, I feel Donnie may not wanna be a unicorn but Unicorn society doesn't want him to change.
It’s so common to do research before ever seeing a dr too.
A bigger shocker is that not everyone reads labels, and sometimes people can be pressured by others to undergo this change and then regret it later on in life. Just leaving that fact there.
@@xxlasthopexx2603 Ah yes, imagining a person to own tha libz
A few things:
The fact the character wanted to essentially change his "species" feels a lot like how conservatives will equate transitioning to blackface. Things like species and race are hereditary. Gender isn't.
I could see the way Bubbles acts only out of her own interests as a way to kinda point and tell kids "look, you shouldn't support your friends who want to transition. It's selfish and rash and look what happened to him!"
The way he has to symbolically die before he's recognized as a unicorn at least reminds me of the way my mom told me she'd have imagine the "old me" dying in order to accept me transitioning. Like wtf, I'm still going to be the same me as before, I'm just realizing things about myself that were always true, and I'm using the resources I have access to to achieve a body and life I'm more comfortable in.
Really hard to see this episode as anything but transphobic.
This is pretty much all I can see too.
Not sure why parents do that either, I don't know if now that I'm transitioning that will help and they'll realise I'm literally still the same person
@@J43RH
They don't see us as the same people because we can't be controlled in the same way anymore.
We're _not_ the same people though. We're making radical changes to how we move through reality, and how reality moves through us.
Depending on our individual levels of dysphoria, we may see pain and torture inside the very memories that our parents cherish most of all. That has to be a -mindfk- for them to catch up with our understanding of the past _and_ the present.
As we grow, our lives become independent from them, but they will always have a piece of us in their hearts. We simply are not entitled to dictate the contents of that piece, despite it having our names on it.
Our parents brought us into this realm. I think we owe them a little grace in how they process this major information, which they may never truly understand. If this causes a negative feeling in us, we can recognize it as a reflection of theirs.
Stand firm in our identities. Let love and empathy pervade our interactions. As long as their intentions and efforts are good.
@@crnkmnky If you mean the parents, then they should go to therapy and work through that. Parenthood is a job. Children are not things. Children are not parts we play for our parents enjoyment. We are people. When parents see that, we will see a better world.
As a trans person, I wouldn't say I'm "the same person." But I am "more me" than I have ever been.
I always tell people if before transitioning I was abc and xyz, if you never saw the abc and if you only liked xyz about me you won't like post-transition me. Because I am now exclusively abc, I no longer wear xyz as a cover.
Saves me a lot of long, strung-out ghosting and allows me to cut through the BS and save time.
One of my most popular tumblr posts was a reaction to the episode as a trans man, and the breakdown was more or less:
-Buttercup literally outs him by knocking his horn off which would be like pulling a trans person's pants down
-How dramatic and goofy he acts about being a unicorn which makes the idea of transness look like a joke
-Bubbles only wanting him to transition for her sake
-The super duper dangerous procedure that he ignorantly signs up for without understanding the dangers because clearly we trans folk don't care about risks
-The fact that the procedure turns him into a horrible monster which makes the idea of transitioning medically look scary
-He destroys a museum of phallic objects (pickles)
-That he was a unicorn the whole time, as if trans people should just expect themselves to grow their preferred body parts without a "dangerous procedure"
I was SO angry watching the episode because they did make that claim that it was a trans episode, only to backpedal when people got mad.
I mean, I didn't really care about the risks when I got top surgery. I still learned what they were, I just would rather have any complication than have to keep living with breasts. it was fine though, zero complications.
@@SapphireSeahorse494that's great, good for you! But I think the point is that trans people are aware of the risks and it's not that it stops them from going through with it but that they've prepared for it (and anyone who isn't aware is usually because of lack of resources). Transphobes treat it as if we have no idea what we're doing to our bodies and that any form of transitioning is a mistake and a mutation which is how the episode depicts it.
They definitely failed with the writing if they were trying to say he wanted to be a real unicorn. However, if we reverse the narrative of the episode then it can be him pretending that he's a unicorn because of societal pressure. idk the plot is a mess just like the show
Yeah I think I saw that years ago, couldn’t remember the series but remembered the post and worked out it was this one further in
Pickles may not have been for their phallic nature but for their stereotype as being highly craved by trans women in the us who are often also on spironolactone.
how did Powerpuff Girls manage to *regress* in terms of gender messages this badly? the writers didn't watch the episode with the radfem villain lady?
There's a reason why we don't really talk about the PPG reboot. This kinda stuff on top of generally poor writing and animation makes it a chore to watch. Let's also not forget that there's an episode where the girls (who are elementary school kids) are drugged and perform sexual dances and the showrunner at the time gave himself a self-interet that was either a late teenager or young adult that had a relationship with one of the girls. Neither of these events occurred with any sense of irony or inworld questioning.
@declanmckenna6854 According to people that worked on episode the self-insert character wasn't actually a self-insert, but a case of another creator on the show making one of the characters a caricature of a colleague for a laugh and then the crew running with the inside joke without realising how it might look to other people. The person the character was modelled on wasn't the one responsible for the idea.
I won't defend anything else about the reboot, but I do think the way that incident is usually talked about seems a little unfair on the guy.
@@declanmckenna6854wait are they not kindergarteners? Or did the reboot age them up
@wendyheatherwood I did not know that. That just makes me sad he got labeled as a creep because of his coworkers joke.
The reboot is so weird. Like it seems like they really wanted to make it modern and relevant, intentionally changing things like taking away Miss Keen's boobs, writing out Ms. Bellum, and shoving in some extremely dated memes. None of it aged well at all, but whatever.
But then you get episodes like this and it's like........ It weirdly feels like the show wants to be progressive but it's just really, REALLY, fucking bad at it??? Like I have no idea how the heck this stuff ended up like this, but it's pretty obvious that whatever decisions they were making weren't exactly coming from a place of sincerity, right? And that's a shame because all you really need to do to come off as progressive is just NOT be a dick to minorities and have basic empathy towards people.
I’ll be honest
I looked at this and thought it was about the original Craig McCracken series thinking “what could have been transphobic about that??? Isn’t Craig and ally??” Then realized it was about the new show and everything clicked lmao
this reboot had so much weird shit around and couldn't even be so bad it's good just kinda creepy and mid at best.
Oh, like having that woman who was a groomer being on the team?
@@TheSpecialPsycho new to me if true but given the rumors around that one charater it wouldn't surprise me.
@@TheSpecialPsycho what happened?
I was mad ever since they replaced bunny with bliss as the fourth sister but her design is so oc-core I just can't hate her. Kinda sick they gave her bunny's dress color tho. But there's much worse things going on with the show, bubbles voice, the random ahh cutaways, their terrible attempts at teaching lessons (like this ep), the way the whole thing treats kids like their dumb brains can only be satisfied with flashing colors and constantly changing pictures. Words can't describe how much I hate this show. It wishes it was ttg. (Y'all should watch moongirl and devil dinosaur instead, it's an actually good girl hero show. Or just watch the old ppg.)
The reboot also had a perverted freaky writer self-insert character flirting with Blossom ugh
To me, the message from that episode boils down to "Wanna be a unicorn? Just be born one, silly!"
It is bitterly ironic that the ad youtube decided to show me with this is some kind of PragerU nonsense about detransitioning. I wish I could tell them that THIS kind of bs is why many people regard adblock as self-care.
First time I ever reported an ad lmao
On the plus side, there's a video linked on the sidebar that absolutely rips it to shreds.
Ok can we just look at the fact that Donny attaches his hand-made horn to his head at the beginning of the episode in basically the exact same place that he's revealed to have a biological horn? How could he possibly not notice the biological horn? It feels like the show writers forgot the earlier part of the episode.
Yeah, this kind-of screams "We did the script in one draft". There's no logic or sense of pacing to anything, things just kind-of happen and keep happening until we hit a resolution.
South Park has a great storytelling rule about trying to avoid plot summaries that keep saying "And then this thing happened", you want plots where you say "Because of this, that thing happened" because that means your story makes sense and has a logical continuity. But this ENTIRE episode is nothing but "This happened, AND THEN that happened, AND THEN this other thing happened."
I think a lot of you might do well to heed the consistent but reliable advice offered up on the animated cartoon, 'Tooter the Turtle'. Tooter was constantly trying to be something adventurous, like a knight or a WWI fighter pilot.
He'd always enlist the aid of the kindly and wise, "Mr. Wizard", who'd magically turn him into the thing he thought he could be. Every single time, he'd fail at being the thing Mr. Wizard turned him into, so he'd cry out for Mr. Wizard to change him back.
Every week, at the end of the episode, Mr. Wizard imparted to Tooter, the advice, "Be just what you is, not what you is not. Folks what do this has the happiest lot". Words of wisdom kids, words of wisdom.
@@RaptorFromWeegee Counterpoint:
When Goku looks at the moon he turns into a giant ape and becomes more powerful. But he rejected that aspect of himself and had his tail removed. But, when the time came to fight Baby, he had to get his tail back and embrace the monkey within him to become even stronger and save the world.
Don't hide from the things that make you special, being true to yourself will only make you stronger.
Reject modernity. Embrace the Trans monkey within you. Go Super Saiyan 4 and be the hero you know you can be, Dragonball GT.
Trust me, this is a common issue with the whole reboot and it's not unique to this episode at all
When they introduce the 4th powerpuff girl(a whole other thing), she has horrible anxiety that makes her powers act up but then she just kinda gets over it bc its the end of the episode
This is my favorite birthday present. As a young girl who didn't know she was a girl, this was one of my favorite shows. I'm so happy to see this!
🧠 ~~ 🧠
ditto :)
@art3mis48 - The way you worded your comment melts my heart. Also, I'm so happy for you!! Happy Birthday!!
Happy birthday!!✨
Happy birthday! This was also my fav childhood show and I actually expressed my transness through the show a lot!
Call me paranoid if you want, but I spent too much time studying graphic storytelling to not see that the part at 8:58 of the video is intentional.
The tower is right between the unicorn's legs immediately before someone points at them. Phallic imageries are too easy to spot for nobody to notice it during the animation process.
I haven't studied graphic storytelling anywhere near as much and it was pretty obvious the second I saw it so you're not paranoid. I wouldn't consider that paranoid at all. You seem to be sensitive to phallic imagery, if anything.
PPGs has been loaded with phallic symbols from the get-go.
Remember: don't kiss giant pythons...
Sometimes a pickle museum is just a pickle museum......you know, like the Freud cigar comment?
This would imply that the people behind this episode were thinking things through. Which, evidently, they weren't.
@@SuperFloxes Maybe so.
That PPG episode is like when someone is trying to be a queer ally, but they're so clueless that they wind up being inadvertently offensive.
I don't think that's fair. There's enough near-literal demonization of the allegorical transition that I find it hard to believe everyone writing it wanted to make it trans-supportive. It's more like if someone is trying to be a queer ally, but follows the advice of covertly reactionary cishets instead of talking to any queer people.
@@timothymclean
Well said; you're on point there.
My immediate thought upon hearing "world's oldest pickle": the world's oldest continuingly running store is a pickle shop in China that's been operating for something like 800 years. So there's a fun fact for you
I assume they have sold multiple pickles over that time, not the same one over and over.
I didn't see the new show at all, but I was expecting this to be about the old show with the male version of the power puff girls. I think at some point they go on disguise as the boys... It's been a while
The Rowdyrough Boys? Mojo Jojo made them out of snips, snails, and puppy-dog tails in a jail toilet. iirc, they were defeated by the Powerpuff Girls putting on their most femme personas and kissing the boys, causing them to explode.
Unless you are talking about some other episode I'm forgetting :)
From what I remember, they captured butch and bubbles replaced him but I cannot recall why
Bubbles did go undercover as boomer in one episode, though this can contextvise this can hardly be dirscripted as a trans episode.
@@foxmusicalchemist mmmh, never saw it from this point of view, thank you
There was an episode of Powerpuff Girls Z where the Rowdyruff Boys disguised themselves as the Powerpuff Girls! It worked out great for the boys until the girls reminded them that by wearing the girls' clothes, they were wearing girls' clothes!
I think the python kissing joke is a Steve Irwin reference -- he did that a lot with animals, right?
My thought too... the zoo keeper also has an Australian adjacent accent.
@@summer3545”Australian adjacent” is now how I will describe all badly fake Australian accents in media
No, it's definitely a thinly veiled vore fetish of one of the writers.
So is Nightmare on Elm Street. and countless other things.@@Nanook128 maybe it's just a coincidence.
@@Nanook128 It can be two things.
i think you're being very gracious here by entertaining the idea that they merely made a mistake bc i honestly can't imagine someone could accidentally fumble it this bad
I mean allies get things wrong all the time, plus the writer said they weren't going for a trans allegory in the first place so we have to take their word for it
I was like "wait, I like ppg, how didn't I know their was a trans episode" and then you said "2016 reboot" and I immediately felt a strong desire to throw myself out a window
Can you please explain why? I only watched the first original 2 seasons on Netflix lately and never got into the 2016 reboot.
What exactly are the problems of the reboot? I genuinely want to know. Is it the bad writing?
@@lifesymbiont5769 its inferior in basically everyway with no reason to watch it. Thats all
As a long-time fan of the original series, I despise the 2010s reboot so, so much. This episode is definitely a reason why. I won't sit here and pretend the original is flawless and doesn't have things which haven't aged well, but I'd rather marathon the cringy "feminist" episode from the original than watch this episode ever again. The fact you can't even find newer PPG merch that doesn't use this trash heap's design. 🤬
the 2010s reboot really just had no idea what it was that made the original so beloved. it feels very tryhard, the "how do you do, fellow kids?" of cartoons
The reboot version made Powerpuff Girls Z look like the original
@@jil2312 Oh, God. At least PPG Z had some charm to it and was trying to be its own thing.
@@TheGuindo Exactly! Not inviting the original voice actors back was already a huge red flag from the beginning. It's not like I wanted it to fail, but boy howdy, did it.
The "cringy" feminist episode was never cringy, and still isn't. It holds up and was one of the major influences on helping me mature out of being a sexist kid. It handled the topic REALLY WELL. Nowadays we might expect a little more from such a theme, but it remained the best episode of any cartoon about sexism for a long long time. It's actually hard to think of other shows that have tackled it recently, as it feels like most shows just ignore the topic as if sexism is already defeated, when it's not. I'd love to see the moral come back. And maybe we can get a first ever appearance of the fabled "it's okay to be a boy" moral. One I'm still waiting to see appear. Really had hopes on MLP doing that. But nah, they live in a world where everyone is equal already so they skipped it...
Sorry I really went off on a tangeant over you calling one of my fave episodes cringy, didn't mean to. You are right. The old series was not perfect. And some late series eps were downright bad. But it was mostly good and mostly progressive, and that makes it the opposite of 2010s PPG.
Youre being very generous about them and their bad cover up attempt to hijack someones story and use it for lgbt brownie points. The two in charge had become so known for just trying to plaster their name on this franchise for fame on top of the fact of boasting a feminist support despite being so contradictory and clearly only said it for money and and attention.
So what you're saying is, they were TERFs
fandom name suggestion: The Lilies. like a field of flowers.
it also makes any conversation involving you and your fans sound like a band.
"Lily and the lillies" sounds kinda badass tbh
This gets my vote
@@SnoFitzroyLily and the Garden or Field of Lillies
I'd say Wildflowers!
@@likemossIgrowonyou That's so pretty! Lily and the Wildflowers!!
“Mom, can we have lgbt rep?”
“We have lgbt rep at home.”
The lgbt rep at home:
considering this version was the same one that showed a grown man crushing on blossom im not surprised they did something so awful as this too ugh
Not to "ThE oRiGioNaL DiD iT bEtTeR", but.... The original did an episode pointing out how creepy some of the "fans" were being, and it was very well addressed.
One of my best friends on Discord is trans and when she came out she said she knew since 2016. She's also a huge fan of the old Powerpuff Girls so she almost certainly knows about the reboot and probably this episode, too. I feel so bad knowing that she was pretty much betrayed by something she loved before 😥.
The PPG remake also had a “anti-bullying” episode where the moral was that Buttercup bullying people is ok, but she needs to learn that there’s a time and place for her “having fun.”
This show fucked up its messages so badly.😭
Towards the end, when you talk about Him, it reminded me a lot about how frustrated I am with male bisexual representation in film and media. I once brought up that there isn't a lot of male representation for bisexuals, and when there is, their whole schtick is "I'm here to have sex with everyone" someone brought up "Lucifer is a pretty cool bisexual character ;)" and it's like, bro no he's not. Oh cool, my Bicon gets to be literally the devil. What kind of message does that send? What does that tell kids? I'm not particularly religious, but I do find it hurtful that villains are often queer coded. Even if they are "Cool.' Like yeah, okay, I get it, Scar is sassy, Lucifer is cool. Neat. Fine.
I don't want my only options for someone to relate to sexually as villains. I want characters to look up to and relate to. There are other things a part of me I can use to relate to as well but it's still shitty, idk. Thanks for reading
I've only seen the first season so far. But "Lucifer" makes it pretty clear that he's *not* the bad guy, just a victim of vicious rumors.
That being said, he's also not very good bisexual representation because his primary love interest is a woman and we never (again, only got to season one so it might change) see him with a guy without a woman also involved. So, less bisexual and more heteroflexable.
Assuming you mean Lucifer from the eponymous show VERY loosely based on Neil Gaiman's comic book character, he's not a villain. Hell, I'd even say he's almost a hero.
Still not very good representation because despite being a very promiscuous character seen with innumerable partners you're gonna forget he's meant to be bisexual because he never even once shows any interest in men.
you’re right and you should say it. I’m also tired of seeing bisexual characters, specifically bisexual men in this case, be portrayed as promiscuous and criminals.
As a fellow bisexual, I totally understand what you mean, and I agree!❤
Yeah, its like they’re tryna associate them with icons considered as bad or negative 💀
Have you watched Dead End Paranormal Park? I personally find it a really refreshing trans portrayal compared to other cartoons, and the trans person is the main character!
It’s one of the only 2 shows I’ve ever heard of that has a transmasc character, the other being the umbrella academy (I’ve only watched umbrella academy so far though). Us trans guys are SO disproportionately underrepresented in media. Do you know any other shows that have good transmasc rep?
@@GayLuigi333 None off the top of my head, unfortunately. Trans men are definitely still a rarity when it comes to media representation, and it is a travesty. I am hopeful for the future though, as more queer creators, including trans men, enter the industry with stories to tell. I am nonbinary myself, and an animation major, so I hope to be involved in queer storytelling in the future and give trans men some love :) 💜
Too bad it's canceled.
@@d4m4s74seriously I just finished mourning inside job 😢
@@GayLuigi333I'm proud to say as a young author I have a trans masc character... or two ;) I myself am not trans masc or femm... however I do make character that align with such. I really want to publish my books!
Honestly the episode could have been good if they just made the message "don't force someone to medically transition if they're fine without doing so" since there are a lot of trans people who are fine without getting surgery to transition and speaking as someone who's genderfluid, ny family has constantly asked me "so you're gonna get surgery???" When I don't plan to, and donnie definitely seemed fine with just the wooden horn, only getting rightfully upset when it was knocked off since like someone else said it'd be the same as pulling a trans man's pants down. But, i just think the whole ending of him being a unicorn the whole time just kinda threw any possible good message. I think the message would have been more clear if they just helped him get a new horn by making a new one that looks better than the old one, to give the message of how the most you can do if you want to help someone who doesn't want to medically transition is to support them and get them stuff to help them present as their desired gender. The episode would still be kinda bad but at least the ending message wouldn't just be "the [ insert thing character wants here ] was with you all along."
Please update the thumbnail to NOT showcase the 1998 show's logo and designs, it is very misleading. 2016 reboot has entirely different logo and changed look.
I have to agree, I do feel a little misled.
Great video, super informative, just the wrong thumbnail.
@@KiboSanti back when I made the comment the thumbnail had the 90s show logo.
I wish the Powerpuff Girls art was changed to the current one too.
Nothing goes together quite like closeted queer kids and problematic 90s/00s cartoons
Funnily enough this is the 2016 series, which has a ton of other weird and creepy shit (like one of the writers making himself a character in the show so he could have Blossom fall in love with him)
this reboot was actually from 2016, the original was much better
Well, they don't have Morrissey any more, so they gotta have something.
@@super8bitable
*loads assault rifle*
@@super8bitable I was watching the last segment where it was talking about how Him isn't really something you can make much out of but how a lot of us still read into and identified hard with the series as kids when writing this, probably shoulda put a time stamp, but i stream of consciousness comment. I watched the reboot, it was pretty hit or miss, and when it missed, it missed hard
based on the zookeepers accent, I'm going to assume he was some sort of parody of steve irwin, who regularly kissed all manner of snakes, gators, and other animals.
Lily in her Dana Scully era for the Powerpuff girls episode, such a nostalgia trip.
I briefly misinterpreted this as Diane Skelly, an artist who has worked for Reboot Archie Sonic. That would be a trip for me.
I'd been watching a lot of videos about The Simpsons and started wondering what part of The Powerpuff Girls was "the Mike Scully era."
Not sure if you meant never touching SU for a RUclips video or for yourself personally, but if you meant the latter you should definitely give it a try. You'll find that many of the things that got discourse poisoned were done so maliciously. not much really holds a candle when it comes to SU and queer messages in children's media or other media too.
If not SU, you should check out some of the things that inspired it like revolutionary girl utena. it's kind of the godfather of lesbian animation
Yes this and a lot of Ghibli movies + the more than obvious Sailor Moon references! A ton of the inside jokes and running themes of the show were directly inspired and paid homage to a ton of old or even vintage queer media, and I’d even go as far to say that it has the best diversity in animation that I’ve seen to date? Like basically every character is distinct from the last and even the gems who are mostly (all, excluding Steven fusions) women don’t adhere to the “hourglass with huge t&a” rut a lot of women in animated media get stuck in. Like even the tertiary and expanded list of side characters all seem to have either distinct silhouettes or at the very least distinct personalities! I could gush about SU for hours because honestly I find the success of it very inspiring, despite the fact that I pretty much hate the organized fandom
@@Genderanarchy Basically, take a chance on investing the time to get through to at least the point where Jasper appears before deciding whether to carry on or quit (can dodge a lot of S1 for the purposes of that TBH, if you don't mind missing some small bits of lore, some of which never reappear ever again anyway, like the Carmen Sandiego grade global artefact collecting and the time travel weirdness). And stay the holy hell away from fansites. Heck, the crossover episode with Uncle Grandpa _directly took the piss out of_ the more rabidly obsessive fans with their gemsonas, weird headcanons, shipping of unsuitable characters and such, so it's not like the creators themselves were entirely comfortable with the behaviour. Most of the people are fine, but those are the ones who don't make much noise either. The obnoxious types also tend to be the loudest.
I feel like they could have made it a little better if one of Bubbles' sisters actually believed her and mentioned something like "Mabye we should find a unicorn first and ask them how they did it". Or maybe there IS a procedure that can do it, but as kids they are being impatient. Also just explaining why they didn't know they were a unicorn. Mabye the horn is in a different shape than the pictures theyve seen and it just didn't read as "unicorn" to them? I don't know, mabye if they just made it more about getting real medical advice instead of rushing into dodgey medical procedures without proper information. Could have saved them a lot of trouble.
Easy fix:
The machine works, but then the other Unicorns don't accept them as 'an unnatural Unicorn', which leads to the Girls beating up a buff bully unicorn until their Unicorn gets ready to leave before finding one or two friends who accept them the way they are.
You get your fight, the allegory is there, it's got a positive message of someone finding acceptance despite the struggle, and Bubbles gets a character arc where she realizes that not all Unicorns are good and it's what's inside that really matters. It's still going to be rushed, but at least it's better now and has more chances for actual jokes and funny gags with Unicorns breaking stereotypes and doing goofy things.
Seeing Lily uploaded and immediately clicking off whatever you were watching so she can get an extra view before the corporate overlords shut the whole club down is a special kind of way to spend the early hours of the morning, i enjoy it every time
i was holding my breath when the north korea unicorn cave thing came up and then breathed a sigh of relief when you called out the racism inherent in english journalism lol
If we were to view episode as legitimate trans allegory, this episode has to have the most absurd conservative propaganda message I’ve ever seen in a kid’s cartoon. Like It’s actually kind of infuriating. It says it wants to support discovering your true identity, but there’s no real journey or transformation being done if Donnie was already born a unicorn this whole time, and it seems to use a lot of regressive conservative rhetoric in order to paint a lot of gender reassignment surgery as like Frankenstein lab work. The new Powerpuff girls reboot really is fucking brain rot.
This comment is exactly my thoughts
Commenting before RUclips snipers take this vid out! The whole time you were giving the plot summary, I was guessing (correctly) where it’d go and the concluding message. It’s a trope I’ve seen in a lot of children’s media, with the joke usually ending at “this animal thinks it’s a different animal haha” but this PPG episode goes a step forward, and it’s quite insidious. The dogs were howling at this one, if you catch me drift.
i do not catch your drift i dont know what dogs howling means
Reminds me of how the neckbeards probably misinterpreted the South Park panderverse episode as agreeing with their whole "go woke go broke" thing when the show creators were probably just trying to make fun of the neckbeards and Disney adults. I'm pretty sure the point of the episode was that diverse characters make a show better and that there's a problem with some of the representation of marginalized people in media. idk I didn't see the full special but the clips I've seen so far seems to make fun of the neckbeards who say "go woke go broke". Also, I'd definitely watch a spinoff of South Park where they were all diverse women. That'd be sweet.
@@bingusbongus9807 Dogwhistles make dogs howl.
@@BlackXSunlight ahh ok!
Oh, dear. The possible harmful messaging in this episode really hit me when I realized that I might be Bubbles in some people’s understanding of transness. I have a very dear friend who experiences a great deal of dysphoria and hasn’t been able to do anything about it, and it’s gotten worse since he started high school and a group of boys started harassing him for his queerness. I knew his dysphoria was hurting him. I also knew that he was binding unsuccessfully and very unsafely, and that he had gone to the hospital and almost died because of a past unsafe binding attempt. I knew that he was terrified of his parents, and even if I told them what he was doing there was no guarantee I could stop him for any significant length of time. So, I decided to buy him a binder. I asked my parents to help me, and we had a long talk about it, and they agreed. I figured out the funding. I researched the safest, most effective and sensory friendly brands as explained by trans people, then let him pick from the top choices. I learned how to find the right size based on bra size since I couldn’t measure him and rounded up what he told me in case he was lying, to make sure he could breath. He had informed me that he was allowed to have a binder, as long as he paid for it, and he wasn’t allowed a job, but when his dad read his texts and found out, he freaked out and cut my friend off from me except for a weekly 2 hour extracurricular. He believed that my friend was not trans at all, but my queer brother and I were indoctrinating his child into transitioning because we wanted to manipulate more people into joining in on the trans trend because we wanted more hip friends. I never suggested that he experiment with pronouns or clothing or binding, I just listened and tried to see him the way he asked me to. Im not even queer. Completely cisgender, gender conforming, heterosexual and abstinent. That man hated me so much he didn’t want anyone saying my name in front of him, just because I supported his kid. I didn’t make anyone rush into being trans. I just wanted him to be able to breath again.
A joke from a Steve Erwin sounding zoo. Keeper about not kissing reptiles? In 2016? Topical
I could see Donny having always been a unicorn being akin to "you were always a [gender]," but then the focuses on externalities muck up sentiments in any and every direction.
I have a TV movie recommendation that barely anyone remembers: Ice Angel, it’s a movie about a hockey player who’s killed too early but due to the beurocary in heaven, all they can do is let him take over the body of a brain dead women figure skater and typical fish out of water hijinks ensue. It ends with the angels concluding that the man has forgotten his old life and has fully assimilated into the persona of the women skater. Wild this got green lit, really.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on Emily Howard of _Little Britain_ :)
Also, Him is a top-tier queer icon no dif
It would be cool to hear you talk about the episode “princess cookie” from adventure time as I’ve always seen it as a allegory for trans people but I haven’t seen many people talk about it.
Or any of the genderbendy episodes with Prince Bubblegum, Fiona and Marshall Lee :D
In defense of Donnie hitting Bubbles, if I got trans surgery at the push of a friend who only wants me for my identity, and then it turns me into a monsters (which probably does hurt) I would hit her. A lot.
I honestly think this episode would have been better if Donnie successfully became a unicorn but witnessed bubbles selfishness as a result of that.
Showing them off only for the sake of making HER feel good, resulting in Donnie outwardly cancelling their friendship.
This could give Bubbles time to think about donnies feelings as well as having Donnie calling on the unicorns so they can join their herd.
The ending could be similar except on a more bittersweet note, with Donnie bidding one last farewell to bubbles after she apologises.
This episode is like that weird moon-abortion episode of Doctor Who, where it may not have been intended to be a metaphor but god is it hard to see it any other way.
The . . . the moon . . .
WHAT.
@@nicholasfarrell5981 Sarah z made a good video on in but it's pretty long so tl;dr the moon in an egg and all the women on the ship need to choose to kill it or not. It's very clear to mention the egg-moon being an unborn baby multiple times. It seems to have a more pro-life message but it's still pretty neutral. Theres more but that's the jist of it.
@@nicholasfarrell5981Also maybe soul recycling moon? Look up reincarnation and the pacman thing?
@nicholasfarrell5981 Basically, they revealed that the Earth's moon was actually a giant alien egg that was about to hatch. There is then a huge discussion on whether to kill the creature to stop it from hatching or let it hatch, potentially killing all life on Earth. The discussion of what to do about it is done between three women, and the language used in the debate is really similar to language used on both sides of the abortion debate. The episode ends up pushing the idea that sparing the creature is inarguably the morally correct option.
The writer of the episode claimed that he did not intend for the episode to be an abortion allegory. The episode is called "Kill the Moon," and it is one of the worst episodes of the entire show in my opinion.
Honestly, we *need* more SU discourse. It's not nearly as horrid as half the internet loves to say it is (not to mention that the amount of misunderstanding of the show's plot and themes is so massive they might as well be talking about a different show) It's not perfect, and I'm not saying it is (I personally didn't like Future that much), but my god, does half the internet have a weird rage boner for the show.
Steven Universe Furture was horrible and they need to redo that entirely. Steven Universe as it was before future was just okay. Nothing too impressive, but I like a few episodes (specifically the Ruby x Sapphire ones)
Steven Universe actually really helped me come to terms with my non-binary identity, and it has a really special place in my heart, even if flawed
id love a video on the trans allegories with steven and pink diamond or pink diamond and rose quartz!!! the entire homeworld arc was transcoded tbh
SU broke a lot of barriers, it deserves credit for that at least.
I watched it as it came out and the worst part was the constant hiatuses and filler episodes that gave nothing. The planet is about to be destroyed by a giant mutated crystal of thousands of different broken gems, time to go to the farm and not do anything about that!
Yeah, the unicorn episode was a swing and a miss for The Powerpuff Girls. Hey, maybe you could look into Strawberry Shortcake (2003) for some transgender subtext? The 2003 Strawberry Shortcake show is very very sapphic, so there may be some trans stuff in there too.
Thank god there isn't
it's not really talked about in the 2003 ver but in the 80s ver plum pudding was originally a boy but then became a girl
(using this wording bc I'm pretty sure it was just a marketing thing)
@@wrong_thymeNow in the 2022 series, we have Plum Pudding a guy once more, a nonbinary Raisin Crane, and a new character in Bananoffee, who is trans.
@@amesstarline5482 oh it's cool they have confirmed trans characters now
(even if they detransitioned plum pudding 😢)
@@wrong_thyme Considering the Plum is completely different from the original blue-haired eras and the purple Ashleigh Ball era, beyond being a sciency character, seems more like something new entirely.
Is not much of a trans episode, but it's a interesting take of the original series of some gender roles.
Season 5, Episode 10B - Bubble Boy- Bubbles deguises herself as Boomer, and interects with his brothers and she actually has fun.
It's interesting because from the main girls, Bubbles was the most girly among them. (not a trans episode, but it's one of the crossdressing episode that it does work in some ways).
But PPG, the classic series, do defies many things, including something that I don't see in morden media, the spectrum of girlhood, all 3 girls are girls in different ways.
Now, this episode, back at the time it came out, people were uproar, because the trans message that they were saying it existed back fired.
I do find it awkward that the 2016 reboot removes a lot of the progressive valeues the original series already had, removes actual strong female characters, like Miss Belum, under the guise that she is sexy, and it was the point of her character.
Another sad thing, is - removing the lead voice actors, but keeping all the others from the original series, it's quite hipocritical to a series that sold itself being “mordern and progressive“.
The 2016, lacks in many aspects, it does feel souless at times and you can't really rewatch the show, it somehow dated itself so much that it doesn't work, the original series do have some dated aspects, but you can rewatch it no problem, including the 4th and 5th seasons that were kind of “bad“.
The only VA of a non-male character that was allowed to stay was Ms. Keane, which is odd because her VA also was Princess, but Princess was recast.
@@amesstarline5482 So maybe the idea was to only recast the children? Yeah, I don't get it either. I think Blossom's new voice actually sounds like a weird mixture of the original Blossom and Princess's voices.
@@BagOfMagicFood I believe they recast the main girls just to do a publicity stunt.
Because they did A LOT of mkt around the new VAs for the PPG.
The new VAs are not bad, but they are not great either and becomes kind of awkward when you hear original voices from the classic show and expect the original voices for the girls to show up, but it doesn't.
From all the girls, Bubbles is the worst in my opinion, the new VA gives hare voice that is not cute, it's rather annoying.
@@amesstarline5482 the worst part is that Princess was recast with a person from the production crew, not even a professional VA.
Basically, the lesson is that thou shalt not reboot unless you're going to do something REALLY fresh with the property (e.g. She-Ra) and not just use it as a lazy grift / nostalgia profiteering. All that happens is that the things people loved about the original decay and become diluted, usually with terrible generic pap that completely misses the point.
"Metaphorically speaking can kiss its own ass" is fucking gold! Thanks for another great video!
Might the snake thing be a satirical portrayal of Steve Irwin?
Without a doubt!
Didn't Steve die from getting attacked by a sting ray? What connection does that have with the snake?
@@lordnokia4222he was better known for working with alligators and snakes
@@lordnokia4222no it was a crocodile
I wonder if it was intentional for them to have a *literal trans flag* in the outro to that episode (I never watched the reboot, maybe it's the same graphic every episode?)
My episode fix for this: make Donny stay a talking horse, and have him give a speech about how being a talking horse is really special and good. That effectively turns all the unicorn stuff into trying to present what's expected and going overboard on it. that would be a nuanced allegory for a specific trend I've seen where a lot of trans girls have a, um, weird toxic masculinity phase RIGHT BEFORE the egg cracks. Like me cutting my long hair in 2013 and getting the twink haircut of the 2010s
I’m also trans, but in the different direction and I also got that twink haircut before the egg cracked, I still sometimes wish I could go back to it (so efficient in the shower) but nowadays but I do like having long hair way too much.
We are Lily's garden, making us your little buds.
Probably too simple, but if you're looking for a community name often the most forward facing and simple is best.
PLEASE DO A REVEIW ON SEASON 2 OF INFINITY TRAIN!! The whole story is based around a trans character and it’s really powerful and good!!!!!
Trust me it’s totally worth the watch, and you only need minimal context from season one (the shows seasons are like little stories, each season has different characters)
@@Galaxyjelly99 How the hell do you get legal access to anywhere showing it in the UK though? I think I'm going to have to end up importing DVDs (if they exist) or just straight up pirating it if I'm ever going to see more than the pilot.
(And I particularly want to see those later series too, the idea of it being only loosely connected with whole new characters and story arcs - befitting an infinite train which must have picked up countless waifs and strays besides just Tulip - is pretty neat, and the reputation of the one with Lake precedes it)
Did not expect the “ancient unicorn lair” in north korea
Steven Universe is great actually and I'd love if it was talked about more.
Powerpuff girls was my ultimate childhood show and although the original also has its fair share of questionable episodes and writing choices, I got to explore my queerness through it. Characters like Buttercup, Brick, and Him were really important to me on how I related to their gender nonconforming traits!
The reboot was a let down in so many ways and although I can acknowledge that the writers meant well, it doesnt negate the impact of the episode. This is why if they wanted to write a positive trans episode, they should've either hired a trans writer or take an educational course on trans representation (or ideally both).
I haven't written for a show but I worked on one where we had indigenous speakers come in to educate us in order for us to navigate our own prejudices, be better allies, and to be more conscious about how we depict their community. This isn't a normal practice though and we only had it because of the discovery of burried indigenous children under residential schools. I think every show and movie that intends to be a voice for a marginalized group should always do things like this, as well as having people from that community be a part of the production process. It's an easy and effective way to avoid incidents like this episode..
What show did you work on?
Always makes my day when one of these pops onto my feed
Honestly calling us Simps is bloody hilarious XD
I was told PPG 2016 was bad, but I didn't realize it was... well, this bad.
Unironically just woke up my bae, new episode of trans episode just dropped!!!
_The Trans Episode of "The Trans Episode of..."_
Holy shit lily dressed to kill, what an icon. It might just be the Australian accent, but the "don't kiss pythons" guy at the beginning feels to me like a parody of the late Steve Irwin. Awesome analysis
Totally unrelated & I’m not trying to throw shade, but your drawing brought so much nostalgia. I’m an artist and the original PPG was one my faves as a kid, but I used to draw them exactly like that 😭 you sparked a core memory, ty 💖
I often feel a sense of community on this channel and especially so when seeing Lily's drawing skills. I'm not alone. 🥰😉
Y'know one of my earliest memories of dysphoria was learning about reincarnation in 4th grade and thinking, "Perhaps I should kermit sudoku" as that was the only way I could conceptualize becoming a woman and I viewed the gamble as worth it. I imagine had I seen this show back then it would have garnered some bad thoughts
I wanna be called your Simp! That's the perfect name honestly. The best fandom named for RUclipsrs are kind of ironic or have some sort of twist on the concept. Like Danny Gonzales Greg for example. Or a spin on Simps even like Gaw Guras Shrimps. And genuinly as a Fan, I really would love to be called a Simp for you.
Okay, I was only close to crying while watching this. I was not prepared for a surgery arc.
Wait YT notifications actually work now? I get to watch your awesome videos earlier than usual ❤
when i saw the thumbnail i was like,., ppg had a trans episode? never heard of that one before. and then i remembered the godforsaken reboot and the memory of watching shadow streak review this episode hit me like a truck. i dont think he talked about the anti-transition rhetoric so i’m excited 2 see a video essay entirely focusing on those elements!
Can you do an analysis of Mandark from Dexter's lab? I don't think he was intended to come off as trans but his backstory and the way he's treated give off that vibe
I'm going to have a basic lesbian moment here, even though I am aware of the consequences and very annoyed by the fact that only villains were queerified, by the GODS, I am so glad that we got some of the best villains out there also being queer-coded (yes I am talking about Lord Dominator). Yeah yeah, heroes are cool, not to me tho, I want an anti-monarch, space pirate ace lesbian menace ooops sorry
I think I too went off topic here. Anyway, great video and I have to admit I agree with the notion, this whole episode delivered a very vague message that doesn't really sit with trans identities and the issues the community deals with. If anything, it just comes off as harmful.
Tbf I don't think the WOY characters are really paragons of cishet society or anything so Dominator gets a pass from me
Adventure Time did an episode with a similar aim to this one called "Princess Cookie" that was executed way better in my opinion (its been a while since I saw it, though).
You make my day everytime you upload lily, thanks for your hard work!
me when lily uploads yaaay
edit; also him (the devil thing) was my childhood crush
where is your icon from? i have seen it before just don’t know the name
@@ranchustars3050 cherry crush on webtoon! also I like your homestuck pfp
Going to point out that in a new (well, 2021) show (kid cosmic) created by the creator of ppg the main villain is a guy in a cheer uniform and the good guys are also betrayed by a buff tough woman. Both are things that aren’t too heavy on their own but add Him to it and idk I just would like to point out that there is a pattern there
I was half expecting you to discuss that classic episode from the OG series where Bubbles had to go undercover with the Rowdyruff Boys as Boomer, so finding out that the 2016 series did this garbage thinly veiled metaphor episode fills me with disappointment and dread.
The 2016 series is such a bad joke. 😬
'Lily Simps' is actually great IMHO
Fandom Name: Petals
They are numerous, they help plants grow (through photosynthesis), they attract (the alorithm), they can come in all sorts of sizes, shapes, and colors.
Lily's Petals.
Good lord. I only knew about the reboot season offhand & have basically only seen their sister Bliss, that twerking panda gif. After being exposed to this vile episode it seems that Bliss is the reboot’s only worthwhile contribution to the franchise.
This was a trap. Cause I tought its the old show not the disaster we got as a remake.
They turned bubbles into a chaser, funniest thing I've ever seen
Oh I thought this would some episode from the old one that I missed/forgot about, if it’s from the new one I’m never surprised that it’s bad.
I was a bit surprised when I clicked the video, I figured you meant the first series with the "Rowdy Ruff Boys"
gonna watch this while i workout, hi lily! been binging your vids like crazy
Thought this ep was gonna be about the rowdyruff boys or something lmao. I forgot the reboot existed
Lily! Have you considered the Adventure Time episode about the cookie that wants to be a princess? Season 4, Episode 13.
Great episode today! May I recommend much later in your channel history you could do similar videos over the topic of how Games handle trans characters? Not exactly greenlighting a let's play channel but more on the side of the same formula of these where it's just a view and discussion.
There was the Cyberpunk episode, so it's not too big a stretch.
there's something funny to me about how the episode attempts to discuss the topic of trans people in a way that is so confusing that it fails at being trans-supportive AND transphobic at the same time
How about you call us your petals? Like the flower, Lily's petals. Or is that too cheesy?
Since you mentioned She-Ra in your intro, have you considered doing a video on its queerness? My first thought of a possible topic would go to the transcoding(?) of Perfuma, though there is also the canonically trans star brother.
We could just go by the "lily simpsons" sort of a "screaming into the void" vibe.
i think the australian zookeeper gag might be a reference to steve irwin as he gave animals little kisses and was completely without fear when handeling animals no matter how dangerous they seemed and famously kept calm after being bitten by the animal.
So a kindly australian zoo keeper who got a little too close to a python and is calm despite being eaten seems to me like a steve irwin refrence.
So cool of youtube to plaster a prageru "detrans" "the dangers of transitioning surgery" ad below this video twice as large as any video thumbnail ☠☠☠
Oh, theres an episode of the og show where Bubbles has to pretend to be a Rowdy Ruff Boy, I though this was the episode you were covering
I hope you do Star vs the forces of evil and the whole trans Marco theory from back then