Scooby Doo

[epepke]

Man, it was about ten years ago on sci.skeptic that I suggested Scooby Doo as a television show that promoted scepticism. So it's noticed now?

This sort of thing happens to me all the time.

[Hand Bent Spoon]

What's really crappy about it is we have someone complaining about the paranormal-- in an admittedly fiction movie!

When it comes to claims that the paranormal is real, and that the heart can be trusted above logic in real life be skeptical and rational all you want. I know I will. But when it comes to a piece of fiction, just leave it alone. In Gothica, we're talking about a piece of fantasy that makes no claim at being an historical account. Being skeptical of ficiton is nothing but, well, woowoo.

BTW, Scooby Doo was a very crappy cartoon, the rational bent being its one and only saving grace (apart from the memorable characters and The Mystery Machine, of course;) ).

In short, stop debunking fiction. It's a waste of our time and credibility.

[uneasy]

On the other side, I was always bothered by Johnny Quest as a kid. Sure, it was bad science, but that's par for the course for sci fi. It was that Hadji that bothered me. His magic tricks seemed so out of place in an otherwise good show. Magic tricks are fine, but they seemed so out of place.

[RSLancastr]

By all means, let's use a talking dog as a champion of skeptical thought.

[thaiboxerken]

Originally posted by Hand Bent Spoon


In short, stop debunking fiction. It's a waste of our time and credibility.

No one is debunking the events and things that happen in the Gothika movie. What the beef is the "moral message" that the story sends out. I greatly enjoyed the first X-Men movie because it's message was one of tolerance. I liked the second X-Men, but could've done without the "have faith" message. Gothika was an ok movie, but the "listen with your heart, not your brain" message was not cool.

[Stimpson J. Cat]

I liked the Scooby Doo movie. In fact, I liked it a lot.

I grew up watching Scooby Doo, and I agree that it was great that it endorsed skepticism and critical thinking. I think that what people who criticize the movie for failing to convey the same message are missing, is that the movie was a parody of the original cartoon!

Think about it, there is not one single aspect of the original cartoon that the movie does not poke fun at. It makes fun of Daphne's always getting captured by the bad-guy. It makes fun of Velma's nerdyness. It makes fun of Fred's stupidity. It pokes fun at the complete non-existence of any sexual tension in the cartoon, by having Velma secretly lusting after Fred, and Fred trying to get into Daphne's pants. It makes fun of Scrappy Doo. I about peed my pants when Velma told that guy that he wasn't really a puppy, but that he has some sort of glandular problem.

It would have been completely out of place for them not to poke fun at one of the most consistently recurring themes in the show. The whole business of Fred going on about how there's no such things as ghosts, only to have them be real, was just another example of poking fun at the original cartoon.

And most importantly, it worked. At least, it worked for me.


Dr. Stupid

[arcticpenguin]

Originally posted by RSLancastr
By all means, let's use a talking dog as a champion of skeptical thought.
Why not? Crossing Over has a talking @$$.

[Scoobmaster]

Hey - don't deny it....

Scoob RULES!!!!! :)

[Ratman_tf]

Except there's lots of episodes (mostly newer made for tv specials) where the ghost or alien or zombie turns out to be real.