Fan Friday: Daphne Blake

Hi. Welcome back. If this is your first time reading my blog... WHERE YOU BEEN BIATCH!?!?! Just kidding... but seriously.Today we're doing something a bit different. I decided to talk about some of my favorite fictional characters. I know I already do this with Malicious Mondays, but those are times I focus on evil characters. Contrary to popular belief, I like other characters besides the villains... not often, but occasionally. I'm starting off with the vivacious red head Daphne Blake from the Scooby-Doo franchise. Let's get purple up in here!

I like your eyeliner gurl. 

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? originally aired on CBS as part of their Saturday morning lineup in 1969. This was dicey time children's television due to parent run organizations, such as the  Action for Children's Television (ACT), had began pressuring TV executives about the violence children's cartoons such as Jonny Quest and Space Ghost. The executive in charge of daytime programming at CBS at that time was Fred Silverman. Silverman began looking into other cartoons to revitalize their Saturday morning programming.  He contacted two geniuses known as William Hanna and Joseph Barbera to come up with a show similar to The Archie Show which had been wildly popular. After a lot of creative teamwork and brainstorming, the show Scooby-Doo, as we know it today, was born!

In case you've been living under a rock for last four decades, Scooby-Doo is about the adventures of five teenagers and their dog who solve spooky mysteries. They call themselves Mystery Inc and they drive around in a groovy van. Mystery Inc. consists of Fred, the leader of the pack, Velma, the smart-one of the group, Shaggy, the goofy one, Daphne, the princess and of course they're sidekick Scooby-Doo. Each episode, the crew find themselves in the midst of a mystery, usually involving "supernatural" elements. All the monsters and ghouls they chase end up being people who are usually doing it to swindle or steal money or precious objects. It's a typical "whodunnit" series.

We can forgive the scarf. It was different time.

The character of Daphne Blake was inspired by the character of Thalia Menninger, portrayed by Tuesday Weld, on the popular late 1950's/early 1960's sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. In the first incarnation of Scooby-Doo. Daphne is the typical "damsel in distress" stereotype. She is even referred to as "Danger-Prone Daphne" due to her clumsy nature and ability to get kidnapped/imprisoned by the villain, usually resulting in her needing to be rescued.

Goddammit Daphne.

As Scooby-Doo went on and began to evolve over the decades, Daphne was made a stronger, more self-confident character as times began to change and attitudes toward's women changed. In the later incarnations of the franchise, Daphne becomes a serious member of Mystery Inc. helping solve the mysteries, rather than being hindrance on the investigation.

Hey, don't forget, Timmy had to be rescued by a dog too!

To me, Daphne is more than just a cartoon character. I might over think things, but I see Daphne as a sign of the times. At first she's seen as the typical pretty girl of the team. The weak link, often targeted by the bad guys. While most of the character of the franchise are static characters, Daphne proves to be a dynamic character over the many incarnations of Scooby-Doo.

"Where's Fred and Velma?" WHO CARES!?!?! #ByeFelicias

After original Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? and it's various spin-offs, Fred, Velma and Daphne disappeared from the show, now strictly focusing on Shaggy, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo. After a four year absence, Daphne returned in The New Scooby and Scrappy Doo Show (1983) later changed to The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries (1984). Daphne was now a successful investigator in her own right. She was more confident, intelligent and able to defend herself. She then got a starring role in the short-lived The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo (1985). Gone was the helpless female that Daphne was before. The mid-80's was a time when more and more women began filling the workplace, starting careers of their own. Daphne was example that women can be successful and follow their passions.

Daphne in The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo.

Scooby-Doo was re-vamped again in 1988 with A Pup Named Scooby-Doo. This showed the Mystery Inc gang as children, solving various mysteries. In this incarnation, Daphne is far more sassy and intelligent than her other variations before. In the late 90's several direct-to-video Scooby-Doo movies came out, showing Daphne as a glamorous, successful TV investigative journalist with her own show. This was during the time female journalists such as Katie Couric, Oprah Winfrey and Barbara Walters were extremely popular.

Celebrity status! 

In the live-action theatrical films, Daphne is portrayed by Sarah Michelle Gellar. Gellar breathes a bad-ass, sassy vibe into Daphne, which of course she does, she's fucking Buffy! This version of Daphne is not one to be fucked with! She's smart, vivacious, fashionable and she knows martial-arts. In the movies, Daphne actually beats up the bad guys! It's AWESOME!

SMG as Daphne. We love you Buffy.

Yes, maybe you can say I over-think things, or that I'm stupid, but I love the character of Daphne. I've always loved her. It's so interesting to watch a character evolve over the decades. It shows how society's views change and grow. Daphne is one character that you can definitely see this with. She has grown and evolved with us as a culture and will continue to do so, hopefully, with many more generations of Scooby-Doo to come.

Daphne got 80's all up in dat bitch!

She's still going in. Daphne don't care! She has 0 fucks to give! PEACE!

Daphne in What's New, Scooby-Doo? (2002 - 2008)

Daphne is born again in Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated (2010 - 2013)

I hope I didn't bore you too much. Have a fantastic weekend! Do everything I would do, which is probably everything you shouldn't do, so you should do it.

GET A GREEN SCARF!!!

BYEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!