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So, a couple of weeks ago, there was this link going around that depicts certain 90s cartoon characters “taking on” New York fashion week in trendy outfits. Among them are Lisa Simpson and Daria. When I saw this, the first thing I thought was, Ugh. Lisa Simpson, proud feminist with so much to say about gender roles, body shaming and capitalism, drawn in this hyper-thin, rich girl way? Why, baby Jesus? Why? My friends had the same question, plus not-so-thrilled reactions to Daria. You know Daria, who once said, …”edgy” occurs when middle-brow, middle-aged profiteers are looking to suck the energy–not to mention spending money–out of the “youth culture”? Yep, that Daria is depicted in overpriced clothes, standing in front of a Mercedes dealership. Yuck.
Well, my friends and I try to be creative while we’re trashing things, so we started thinking about the cartoon characters of our childhoods (and beyond) and the ways in which their almost-always benign political characteristics lend so well to product placement and other corporate fuckery (which is the entire point of them, obvi; Lisa’s feminism is a rarity). And we wondered…how could we parody them in a way that both poked fun at their original product-placement-readiness (or in some cases their fucked-upness–see Rallo) while also making a point about growing up and becoming who we, and our friends and communities, became (hint: we are not NY fashion models)? Well, here’s what we came up with:
Continued @ BlackGirlDangerous.org…
Hat tip to Favianna Rodriguez.