Disaster ‘Velma’ Is So Bad It's Spawned Psyop Conspiracy Theories

‘Velma’ Is So Bad It's Spawned Psyop Conspiracy Theories

archived 14 Jan 2023 17:10:03 UTC

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‘Velma’ Is So Bad It's Spawned Psyop Conspiracy Theories

People are certainly talking about Velma, that much is true. Just…not very positively. Velma currently has the lowest audience score I’ve seen for an HBO or HBO Max production, a 7%. To get that low requires not just “review bombing” but your show also likely has to be…genuinely bad.

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‘Velma’ Is So Bad It's Spawned Psyop Conspiracy Theories​

Paul Tassi
Senior Contributor
News and opinion about video games, television, movies and the internet.
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Jan 14, 2023, 10:20am EST
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Velma
HBO MAX
Yesterday, HBO Max bragged that Velma, the new adult-rated Scooby Doo cartoon, was its most-viewed animated premiere ever. I’m not sure precisely what that says, given that the only other Max original animated series I can even think of is Harley Quinn, plus a bunch of other older series that WB Discovery recently murdered.


But people are certainly talking about Velma, that much is true. Just…not very positively. Velma currently has the lowest audience score I’ve seen for an HBO or HBO Max production, a 7%. To get that low requires not just “review bombing” but your show also likely has to be…genuinely bad.

And it is. Velma is very, very bad.

Velma is so bad in fact, that it’s spawning conspiracy theories that creator Mindy Kaling made what is essentially a parody of what the right wing thinks left wing comedy is like. As in, a show that not just recast most roles with new races, but also features loads and loads of “white guys, amiright?” jokes. The idea is that Kaling is a secretly conservative force in media trying to make the left look bad by making a cringey adult cartoon full of “this rich white guy has a small dong” jokes that the right can point at as everything wrong with race-recasted, social justice-influenced media.


I do not want to go down a big rabbit hole about Mindy Kaling’s personal beliefs and influences here. And yet if that wasn’t the intent of the show, it sure feels like it in practice. On one side, it absolutely is working to spark mockery from the right, exactly as you might imagine it would. But on the other, it’s just not defensible at all by those who would normally welcome a progressive series.


Take She-Hulk for example. That was a hugely controversial show where it was very explicit about roasting misogynistic comic fans, perhaps often lacking in subtlety. But I would still very much defend that show, as I think its humor and fourth-wall breaking works, and most of the people who were upset about it are the very people that it’s overtly making fun of…for being upset about it.

Velma is not that. Velma is not defensible by any stretch of the imagination. It’s just bad. Making progressive jokes is fine so long as the jokes are good. They are not good. I heard the show described somewhere as a series written by TV writers who only ever talk to other TV writers. That’s a pretty good summary. And the idea here is that it’s so, so bad at landing its jabs at right wingers that it almost feels like self-sabotage.

There is a world in which this concept might have worked. I can see an “adult” Scooby Doo series where you have an overlooked Velma attempting to claw back credit from a privileged Fred, the “leader” of the gang. And yet here it’s not just jabbing at Fred for being an overconfident white dude, it’s literally “he’s such a whiny white man baby that his mommy cuts his steak and he hasn’t finished puberty so he has a small penis.” Like just…no remote hint of subtlety or nuance or anything that could make the progressive humor work.
An easy counter-example to turn to is the R-rated Harley Quinn series, also on HBO Max, which still feels true to the characters it focuses on, is full of left-leaning messaging on misogyny an LGBTQ issues, but importantly…is funny and compelling. I mean, this show recently did a full bit about the Joker running for mayor as a progressive socialist and it worked.
Velma? I don’t know what Velma is doing. I’m not sure I subscribe to this “Mindy Kaling made a dogwhistle series for right wing trolls” theory, as the Occam’s Razor explanation is that the show is just…bad. The jokes are…bad. That’s really it.
I may continue watching out of morbid fascination, but man, this is truly one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever seen.

 

[Boss Hawg]

Who the fuck keeps hiring this Mindy chick? She was not funny on the Office. She was woefully bad to Its Always Sunny in that one episode she was in. How does she keep getting jobs? Does she have dirt on EVERYONE?

 

[kcbbq]

Scooby-Doo is life. Scooby-Doo is love.

Scooby-Doo is eternal.

It died with Casey Kasem and the bloated corpse has just gotten more and more maggot infested over time. Let it stay dead.

 

[Mr. Bung]

I mean they raped most of the really popular stuff, this is the next tier now. Just you wait until American Ninja gets a woke remake, and poor old Michael is chastised for his Cannon movies being so shit.

For all the things that have been rebooted, for the longest time I really wanted Duckman to get a reboot or even a continuance, preferably starting with the cliffhanger in the last episode of the series. The witty and observational humor was really good and I'd love to see its take on society now since it last aired in the mid 90's. That is of course if they kept true to the formula and didn't turn it into woke garbage. Part of what made the show so great was how much it poked fun at the culture of political correctness, which we know as the predecessor to woke culture. If it's ever going to be brought back, now would certainly not be the time.

 

[Secret Asshole]

A friend of mine's been rapidly falling into a mindset recently that's like an outright cartoonish example of the twitter/reddit smug politics bugman fuck stereotype. Despite the fact he now constantly acts like I'm right wing and a conspiracy nut that "fell for the grift" or some weird shit with no fucking basis, the guy has been constantly parroting some theory about how this show's somehow a 5d chess move to keep women out of the workplace and bolster transphobia and homophobia through outrage watches SOLELY because some popular twitter user they follow said that as the reason due to the Mindy bitch making some statement about the office and using what he unironically called "The Tr slur" at some point. I fucking hate the modern state of politics so fucking much this shits fake as hell. Why the fuck can't some people just accept the blatant truth that this velma shitty scooby doo spinoff is just shit because it's a mediocre adult sitcom with scooby characters haphazardly slapped into it? Fucking hell. Guy also keeps spamming dms and group chats with clickbait articles "debunking" shit that literally nobody was talking about which makes this even more fucking wild to me. I've heard this isn't an isolated case and the fact articles are now being made about it really kinda adds to my knowledge of how deep this brainrot runs.

You have to remember that in these times, your political side can NEVER be wrong, no matter what. This goes for the left and right as well. See how many people promoting a 'trad', 'religious' lifestyle defend Andrew Tate, an obvious rapist, women trafficker and con man. He's TOTES FIGHTING THE MAHTRIX GUYZ. Whatever the fuck that retardation means.

The same thing with Velma. Their ideology CANNOT be wrong, so if something is trash, it was done that way on purpose! IT CAN'T BE US. You see this with the worship of corporations and government, on both sides. They cannot possibly comprehend that their worldview might be wrong about some things. They cannot rectify the cognitive dissonance, so it MUST be an operation against them. Mindy Kailing who is a minority in Hollywood, is totally an alt-right conservative even though she is in statistically one of the most progressive places on the planet, working in the most progressive industry on the planet, where if you aren't with everyone on politics, your career is dead. There's no critical thinking, they use the one time she used the word 'tranny' as their flimsy 'proof' and then go on to do what they made fun of the alt-right conspiracy theorists for.

 

[Psyduck]

Have the usual suspects made their totally authentic outrage vids yet?

At some point people *have* to begin picking up on the grift

 

[TitchBitties]

I only watched about half of the first episode, pretty obvious just from the cover you know what you're getting. I did surprisingly laugh at a few one-off jokes like "You cheat off me in Spanish because you think I'm Mexican" it's a woke way of making a racist joke but it's still a racist joke so I liked it. I got bored and went to get food around the time Blaggy showed up.

 

[Iron Jaguar]

I really wanted Duckman to get a reboot or even a continuance

Great show. I must dig out my DVD set.

Their ideology CANNOT be wrong, so if something is trash, it was done that way on purpose! IT CAN'T BE US.

This comes under the Second Law of SJW's: SJW's Always Double Down.

 

[BiggerChungus]

Well, you had Santa Inc. which was even more aggressive with its propaganda and that was fully unironic. Occam's razor applies here, I think. Ultraspoiled racist rich girl who people kiss the feet of because she has money and isn't white uses her influence to fund a shitty self-insert cartoon, which just so happens to align with "the message" some elite media executives want to push. A match made in Hell, and little else.

 

[Seethecoper]

For all the things that have been rebooted, for the longest time I really wanted Duckman to get a reboot or even a continuance, preferably starting with the cliffhanger in the last episode of the series. The witty and observational humor was really good and I'd love to see its take on society now since it last aired in the mid 90's. That is of course if they kept true to the formula and didn't turn it into woke garbage. Part of what made the show so great was how much it poked fun at the culture of political correctness, which we know as the predecessor to woke culture. If it's ever going to be brought back, now would certainly not be the time.

We both know it wouldn't be the same. The people who worked together to get something like Duckman produced have either retired, died, or fell for the woke shit. If it comes back, it will be a husk of its former self with Orange Man Bad J6 gun nuts Cornfed Says Trans Rights! non binary Ajax being the bulk of the "comedy".

Actually, non-binary Ajax would be pretty funny and true to character

 

[Pointing_Pink_Yoshi]

What’s the difference between this any other liberal attempt at quality television?

 

[Mr. Zed da Robot Poon Fed]

These fuckers are actually greenliting a second season of this turd. Just reenforces that shows should be made cheaply and that bad publicity is still publicity.

HBO Max cancelled/removed a bunch of shows and films due to the Discovery merger, but are keeping this trash fire.

 

[Ahriman]

For all the things that have been rebooted, for the longest time I really wanted Duckman to get a reboot or even a continuance, preferably starting with the cliffhanger in the last episode of the series. The witty and observational humor was really good and I'd love to see its take on society now since it last aired in the mid 90's. That is of course if they kept true to the formula and didn't turn it into woke garbage. Part of what made the show so great was how much it poked fun at the culture of political correctness, which we know as the predecessor to woke culture. If it's ever going to be brought back, now would certainly not be the time.

Oh for fuck's sake, they better stay the fuck away from Duckman.

That show was way, waaaay ahead of its time, just pay close attention to this rant:

And this one:

This is a TV show that came out in frickin' 1994. At the time I was way too young to understand it, now I see it with more mature eyes and think it's a goddamn masterpiece. Clearly he was denouncing the libleft rearing their ugly head, in the early '90s.

And what he says about the movie industry, he absolutely fuckin' nailed it.

This is quite true, read up on the term "Hollywood Accounting", swallow that blackpill.

I want to believe that, while Jason Alexander is still alive, he won't let them touch it.

 

[IAmNotAlpharius]

Who the fuck keeps hiring this Mindy chick? She was not funny on the Office. She was woefully bad to Its Always Sunny in that one episode she was in. How does she keep getting jobs? Does she have dirt on EVERYONE?

I never thought she was funny. She was my least favorite character in the office.

 

[Ahriman]

Who the fuck keeps hiring this Mindy chick? She was not funny on the Office. She was woefully bad to Its Always Sunny in that one episode she was in. How does she keep getting jobs? Does she have dirt on EVERYONE?

It's either that, or she must suck a mean dick.

Whatever the case is, it runs in her family - go back a page and read up about her brother.

 

[ZehnBoat]

I mean, so far the show is successful in the sense that it's made bad and controversial on purpose to get people to talk about it. You will get tons of JewTubers making their "Velma is bad and here is why" 2-hour essays.

okay, so people are talking about it....
and then what?

if a soy guzzler has honestly used that excuse "at least it gets people talking"
it would be super ironic since people on that left can't stop talking about trump.

i mean, if you really want people talking, you could minecraft a known public figure on live tv
herostratus isn't remembered because he made stupid cartoons

 

[Agent Abe Caprine]

The irony of these "adult-oriented" shows is that the writers are all stuck in the most immature state of adolescence. Wanna insert an "adult" theme? Well, it's farts, sex, poop, pee. swearing, ass, tits. What about a coherent plot that now has the freedom to include themes that you couldn't have used when the main target was children? Nah, that's for boring boomers and their retrograde views...

At least let's be thankful they didn't take it to the other "adult" extreme, where Daphne probably would be raped, Shaggy ODs and dies, and Fred has sex with his own father. "Adult", right?

This is one of the reasons anime took off in the West. Even the stuff for middle schoolers is more mature than your average Family Guy rip off #42069. Hell, I'm sure Anpanman is less insulting to an adult's intelligence.

 

[Mr. Bung]

Oh for fuck's sake, they better stay the fuck away from Duckman.

That show was way, waaaay ahead of its time, just pay close attention to this rant:

And this one:

This is a TV show that came out in frickin' 1994. At the time I was way too young to understand it, now I see it with more mature eyes and think it's a goddamn masterpiece. Clearly he was denouncing the libleft rearing their ugly head, in the early '90s.

And what he says about the movie industry, he absolutely fuckin' nailed it.

This is quite true, read up on the term "Hollywood Accounting", swallow that blackpill.

I want to believe that, while Jason Alexander is still alive, he won't let them touch it.

This is why I'm so heavily interested in what true to character Duckman would rant about when it comes to this day and age. Everything ranging from the internet, smart phones, online dating, exorbitant gas prices, inflation, pandemic lock downs, woke culture etc. Every plot and rant especially would be beyond gold; it would be fucking platinum.

As you pointed out it was waaaaaay ahead of its time and for a show from the mid 90's some of the observations were downright prophetic, and everything else for the most part has also aged really well. All the shit he was complaining about in the mid 90's is still an annoyance today.

 

[Ahriman]

This is why I'm so heavily interested in what true to character Duckman would rant about when it comes to this day and age. Everything ranging from the internet, smart phones, online dating, exorbitant gas prices, inflation, pandemic lock downs, woke culture etc. Every plot and rant especially would be beyond gold; it would be fucking platinum.

As you pointed out it was waaaaaay ahead of its time and for a show from the mid 90's some of the observations were downright prophetic, and everything else for the most part has also aged really well. All the shit he was complaining about in the mid 90's is still an annoyance today.

I'd say that the closest we can get to Duckman is Foamy the squirrel.

 

[Mr. Bung]

I'd say that the closest we can get to Duckman is Foamy the squirrel.

It's funny that you mention him. I first got into Duckman in 2010, and at that time I'd already been watching Foamy for about 6 years and I was frequently making comparisons between the two.

 

[TyrasGuard]

okay, so people are talking about it....
and then what?

if a soy guzzler has honestly used that excuse "at least it gets people talking"
it would be super ironic since people on that left can't stop talking about trump.

i mean, if you really want people talking, you could minecraft a known public figure on live tv
herostratus isn't remembered because he made stupid cartoons

They already made money due to how Hollywood accounting works, they can also make money with left-wing investors by promoting left-wing values. The more people talk about it, the more likely it is that investors see it and promote it as well.

It's how things work sadly.