In an ever-maddening world, nothing is off-limits to woke revisionists. One of the latest examples is the roll-out of “Velma,” the prequel to the classic Hanna-Barbera animated “Scooby-Doo” series which debuted in 1969.
Countless numbers of kids were entertained by the show until it was canceled in 1985. The Saturday morning cartoon series featured teenagers Velma, Fred, Daphne, Shaggy and the star of the show, Scooby, their talking Great Dane. Together, the crew solved mysteries involving supposedly supernatural creatures to the chagrin of actual masquerading humans via their missteps. The franchise was so successful that in 2013 TV Guide ranked it as the fifth-greatest broadcast cartoon of all time.
Enter “Velma,” which strays so far from the famous original it is not even a recognizable rendition. The new HBO Max show is rated TV-MA (mature audience) for sex, nudity, gore, profanity and intense scenes. And though it features teenage characters, the “diverse” cast promotes the LGBTQ agenda and bears no resemblance to the Scooby-Doo originals.
Velma is South Asian and gay, Fred is a white, entitled heir to an accessories fortune, Daphne is an adopted Asian girl with lesbian cop parents and Norville (where did he come from?) is black and replaces Shaggy. Best of all, there is no Scooby-Doo or any dog at all.
The first episode of the show tells us all we need to know. A high school girl is murdered, with her brain cut out by a crazed serial killer. It further features cockroaches engaged in sexual activity which segues to a nude girls’ locker room shower fight. Daphne is portrayed as a drug dealer who preaches that the profession is fine if your life is crappy. And for good measure, she kisses Velma to add more content for mesmerized viewers. Then there’s the jokes that center around “femininity, patriarchy and white power.” Talk about entertaining!
The show debuted in January and was absolutely scorched with negative reviews, achieving a rating of 1.8 out of 10 on IMDb. Rotten Tomatoes audience gave it an abysmal score of 7%.
HBO appears to have laid a giant goose-egg with its latest animated venture. Those who live in flyover country have endured cancel culture and woke sentiments for too long. Finally, they are speaking out to voice their negative opinions about the show and are beginning to realize that remaining silent about so-called entertainment only leads to a further erosion of the overall culture.
For those with children, this is of particular concern, as wokesters continue to push the radical LGBTQ envelope and are ever-more bold in their attempts to destroy opportunities for kids to experience simple traditional television shows like Scooby-Doo. Instead, they promote warped, anti-family indoctrination intent on sewing mass confusion in young minds.
Is it any wonder then that today’s youth are in real turmoil? Cinematic garbage like “Velma” serves no productive purpose and is likely destined for the entertainment dung heap, where it most assuredly belongs.
Yet sadly, those who came up with “Velma” didn’t arrive at the idea on their own. They had to take a once-successful concept and bastardize it in a way that was never intended.
The woke crowd has done much the same in recent years with its efforts to change the sexual preferences and racial makeup of comic book superheroes. Not only are original storylines diminished, but the characters’ personal traits are again manipulated to promote the LGBTQ agenda.
Shame on those who believe “Velma” is worthy of even rudimentary praise. And hats off to all those who accord it the rejection it aptly deserves.
Mark Figley is a political activist and guest columnist from Elida. His column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Lima News editorial board or AIM Media, owner of The Lima News.
