Scooby-Doo has pitted the gang of Mystery Incorporated up against an eclectic bunch of monstrous foes. However, the newest installment in the direct-to-video line of animated movies, Scooby-Doo! Frankencreepy , has one of the members facing the most horrifying monster yet. Daphne Blake, the vibrant red head on the team, is forced to face her own inner demons as a curse takes her from a petite size 2 to a voluptuous size 8.
The movie sends the gang to Transylvania, Pennsylvania, where Velma has inherited a castle from a deceased great uncle, Dr. Von Dinkenstein. During the hijinks that the Scooby-Doo gang endures, Daphne is cursed by the masked baddy and expands to 4 times her normal size.
Fans of the Scooby-Doo universe have had a mixed reaction to the curse, and many are questioning the negativity that Daphne feels from her new girth. The video shows Daphne expand to quite a large size, which is not necessarily proportionate with a real life size 8 woman. The visual makes it appear as though a size 8 is quite obese, when it is actually below the average size of 14.
Twitter user, LiterartBex wrote:
“An 8 is smaller than I am; they drew her 2x bigger. So many things wrong here.”
Tom Burns, of The Food Men Project , wrote:
“It’s sad to think that my daughter can’t even watch a cartoon about a dog solving mysteries without negative body stereotypes being thrown in her face.”
Amazon reviewer and Scooby-Doo fan, D. Davidson, was a little more positive in his response:
“I was worried about it promoting a negative body image for women based on another review about Daphne being turned in to a “size 8” and her freaking out about it. I actually have to defend the writers here because Daphne realized she was being superficial throughout that story arc, it added to the story in a meaningful way (it allows her to evade iron face) and the most importantly: Fred didn’t notice/care and said that she “always looked good to him”. I would say it was more about acceptance and not being superficial than anything.”
Although the transformation was only temporary, the influx of negative feedback for the Scooby-Doo release, as well as the nation’s view on an individual’s size, can be perfectly summed up in a comment by twitterer U_So_Clumsy:
“Scooby Doo taught us that the real monsters are humans and if that is not deep, I don’t know what is.”
What are your thoughts on the matter?
[Photo Courtesy: Warner Bros. ]