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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nAmidst all the traction surrounding the release of the newest film in the \u201cScooby-Doo\u201d franchise, \u201cTrick or Treat Scooby-Doo!\u201d (2022), there is one aspect of the film that audiences will not stop talking about\u2014the \u201ccoming out\u201d of the original cast member Velma Dinkley as LGBTQ. And frankly, it\u2019s about time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speculation surrounding Velma\u2019s sexuality is not new. Fans and critics alike have talked about signs pointing to Velma being queer for years. Tells include characteristics from her tomboyish clothing to her little regard for men. Some people have been so sure of Velma\u2019s sexuality that this reveal is met with feigned surprise or shock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Velma\u2019s newfound lesbian identity is made clear in recently released film clips that have been circulating on social media. She is seen blushing and googling-eyed, basically drooling over fashion designer Coco Jones, a new character who is presumably there to help the gang solve the mystery at hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the video, Velma cuts herself off mid-sentence, dropping all the scooby snacks on the floor, her glasses fogging up and her face turning beet red; these are all clear indications that Velma is crushing on Coco. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The blatant depiction of Velma\u2019s attraction is a big improvement, considering Warner Bros. Studios shoved boyfriends Shaggy (\u201cMystery Incorporated\u201d) and Patrick (\u201cScooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed\u201d) down her throat in the past films.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Creators of the live-action and animated films Tony Cervone and James Gunn both confirmed that their Velma is indeed written into the canon as queer, and always has been.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI obviously don\u2019t represent every version of Velma Dinkley, but I am one of the key people that represents [the LGBTQ] one,\u201d Cervone captioned an image of Velma in front of a pride flag to his Instagram account in 2020. \u201cWe made our intentions as clear as we could ten years ago. Most of our fans got it. To those that didn\u2019t, I suggest you look closer. There\u2019s no new news here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cervone further clarifies in his response to a fan comment that \u201cVelma is not bi. She\u2019s gay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fans have taken to Twitter to express their excitement and approval of Velma\u2019s coming out, with some tweets calling her \u201ca lesbian icon.\u201d Even actress Hayley Kiyoko, who played Velma in the 2009 live-action film \u201cScooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins\u201d tweeted her approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI remember booking Velma in 2008. It was my first big role in a movie. I also remember thinking \u2018I wonder if they know they hired a lesbian as Velma\u2019 here we are, 14 years later,\u201d Kiyoko tweeted. \u201cLove you all so much.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite all the excitement surrounding Velma, the prolonged effort to write her into the films as her true homosexual self is a reflection of the political atmosphere surrounding the censorship of the LGBTQ+ community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2020, Scooby Doo creator Gunn, who wrote the 2002 live-action, tweeted back to a fan who questioned Velma\u2019s sexuality. Gunn responded back with, \u201cI tried!\u201d He then expanded on the limitations and changes made to his original script by the warner bros studio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn 2001 Velma was explicitly gay in my initial script for 2002\u2019s live-action \u201cScooby-Doo,\u2019\u201d Gunn said in the tweet, which has since been deleted. \u201cBut the studio just kept watering it down & watering it down, becoming ambiguous (the version shot), then nothing (the released version) & finally having a boyfriend (the sequel).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s gross repression and lack of inclusion of LGBTQ+ characters in children\u2019s media that has been around for years. And when LGBTQ+ characters are included in series, like \u201cThe Powerpuff Girls\u2019\u201d Him, they are villainized and depicted as evil.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This neglect is dangerous to the development of children\u2019s identity, only further perpetuating the idea that there is something wrong with identifying as part of the LGBTQ+ community, something to hide. After all, we learn from what we see in the media, so the options are evil or nothing at all, newer members of the LGBTQ+ community are simply screwed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though there is no timeline to when people discover their sexuality (including changes), the majority of people say they knew they were not straight between the ages of 10 to 19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s important for children to see characters in the media that look like them. Studios, producers, and directors need to stop contributing to the homophobic environment that already severely exists off-screen and allow characters to be the true gay, lesbian, transgender, or any other self they\u2019re written as.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nathalie Moreno, Co-Editor-in-Chief, The Southern Amidst all the traction surrounding the release of the newest film in the \u201cScooby-Doo\u201d franchise, \u201cTrick or Treat Scooby-Doo!\u201d (2022), there is one aspect of the… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27931,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"0","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":71799,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[4058],"class_list":["post-27929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-scooby-doos-velma-comes-out-as-a-lesbian-its-about-time"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}