fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2363 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2363 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

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It was a kids show, but in comparison to most it was unusually nuanced, with story arcs rather than self-contained episodes and character development over time. For me, I find the characters themselves are what's stuck with me, even though it's been years since I watched it. Machiavellian Xanatos, prickly Hudson, how Demona was both vicious and pitiable...they're memorable.

Also Elisa was one of the first female leads I saw who got to be competent, feminine, and badass all in one go. It just touched on a lot of great stuff with moral greys everywhere, antagonists being allowed to (somewhat) change and grow as people. Compared to most other things I watched, it was just really engaging and thought provoking, as well as thoughtful in its own right.

Plus, I actually really appreciated that always lying underneath the surface of everything else, there was a sense of hope.

It's also aged pretty well, imo.

Although I do accept that not everyone thinks this way, and that's fine. I don't know if I'd hold it on a pedestal, but it's still pretty good.

"Also Elisa was one of the first female leads I saw who got to be competent, feminine, and badass all in one go."

Also, black and Hispanic, without the story making a non-white protagonist necessary (I dunno, it seems like a lot of action cartoons, if a character wasn't a white guy, there had to be an in-story justification for it).

I think it's still aged pretty well. I'd actually like to see more action cartoons these days with "realistic" drawn characters. Let's not forget the whole "Baby's first introduction to Shakespeare" thing (though I was confused later in high school when I realized Macbeth's wife was Not A Nice Person; though Demona could be seen as the real Lady Macbeth).

There were the hints and details planted early on (Owen, anyone), and evil love story that wasn't entirely evil, and great characters, and some fantastic world building. Plus Xanatos. Xanatos just wins. Everything.

And while BTAS is just a hallmark fantastic series, one thing I like about Gargoyles that BTAS did NOT have was the whole linear story-line thing. That made for some interesting character growth that you couldn't really get with BTAS. (Here, Dick's in college. Hey, here's a new Robin. Okay? Okay.)

I think it is one of those things, though, like Buffy, where people watching it for the very first time these days will be like, "So what?" without realizing just how groundbreaking it was at the time.

Edited 2013-06-22 22:53 (UTC)

Wasn't Elisa black and Native American? Besides that, yes to all of this, when I think about how amazing it was to have a badass non-white starring heroine in the mid-90s I'm like "how didn't I appreciate this more?!" Plus the fact that she was such a realistic adult with a whole family and life besides running around chasing bad guys - oh, yeah, and her awesome boss on the force was a woman, too. Then you toss in Demona and Angela and Fox and ugh, this show was just lousy with complex female characters of all persuasions.

*headdesk* Holy cats, you're right. That's two dumb-bunny moments for me in the comments already. Yeah, her father was Native American.

And yeah, her boss was a woman, and Demona, Angela, and Fox were all around being fantastic. Made me kinda mad when the Nostalgia Chick said something about her being the token-token female on the show. There were so many cool (and sometimes evil) ladies just being awesome.

Yes, to all of this.

Especially the linear thing. I always really appreciated the sense of history the gargoyles brought with them to the show and how well it tied up so many of those threads that were started by the show's setup. The fact that it spanned so many centuries just made Demona that much more of a tragic figure to me.

Also yes, Owen's plotline was really nicely done, and I agree about Xanatos. Man, he's still one of my favorite characters in everything ever. I suspect the voice casting helped that along, but his writing is solid too.

I think it is one of those things, though, like Buffy, where people watching it for the very first time these days will be like, "So what?" without realizing just how groundbreaking it was at the time.

I think you're right about that, unfortunately. Which is nice, since there's a solid fanbase for it, but it does feel like something that isn't easily shared outside of its specific space. :(

Well I didn't say I hated it. The characters were definitely one of its stronger points, I thought. :)

[ SECRET POST #2363 ]

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