Why Are Penny Proud's Friends So Fake?
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- čas přidán 26. 03. 2024
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The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder is an American animated television series created by Bruce W. Smith and Ralph Farquhar which premiered on Disney+ on February 23, 2022. It is a revival and soft reboot of The Proud Family, which originally aired on Disney Channel from 2001 to 2005.
In April 2022, Disney+ confirmed that the show's second season was in production, which premiered on Disney+ on February 1, 2023. The series has been received positively in critic reviews. The series made its linear premiere on January 7, 2023 on Disney Channel, and on Disney XD on January 8, 2023.
The series follows Penny Proud, a 14-year-old girl and her family, as they navigate their lives in the 2020s. Penny, and her parents Trudy and Oscar, face a myriad of challenges. Suga Mama returns, as does Michael, Dijonay, Zoey, and LaCienega. Two new kids, Maya and KG, raised by two dads, try to adapt to life in Smithville.
Maya Leibowitz-Jenkins is a recurring character in the revival series The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder. She is a 14-year-old activist who is "extremely mature for her age" and relentlessly marches to the beat of her own drum.
Much is unknown about Maya's past. She and her younger brother KG were adopted by two married men, Randall and Barry Leibowitz-Jenkins. - Zábava
Who is your least favorite of Penny's friends? And are there any other Proud Family topics you'd like to see me cover? I have one more idea.
Dijonay , I feel like LaCieniga isn't really her friend practically outright and Zoey tries at least. But Penny herself is toxic so i'd argue she somewhat deserves this
They need to bring sticky back on the show again
Oh, Dijonay without a doubt. LaCienega isn't even a friend and Zoey is neutral. Dijonay is supposed to be her BEST friend, but she ditches (and snitches on) Penny every chance she gets and rarely ever shows any sympathy when she hurts Penny.
As for a topic I'd like to see you cover, how about Penny's toxic family? Oscar and Trudy (and sometimes Suga Mama) are just as awful towards Penny as her "friends", if not more so... The poor girl is practically their live-in slave who's forced to take care of BeBe and CeCe more than their own parents. I mentioned some episodes down below where they're at their worst, but there are lots more (in both the original and reboot) when you see behind the wholesomeness and Penny being wrongly written to be disrespectful at times.
Dijonay! That girl is a mess
I was just imagining them all in a Saw trap. Starts with Zoey and everyone else each being tied up under two halves of a bus. A trolley problem with extra steps
Remember y’all: Her own bullies showed up to her birthday party and sang for her when her own friends didn’t bother to show up
You know that you fucked up when the people who bullied your supposed friend treats her better than you. I had toxic friends when I was in middle school and high school, I had to cut them out of my life when they made me feel like trash.
The Gross sisters always kept it real with Penny. You know they mean what they say 100% of the time. Even if most of the time it's negative, they do have their moments.
Especially that one episode where they give one of the sisters a makeover, that was one of their better moments.
The weirdest thing about enemies is that unlike your loved ones they're honest with you 100% of the time in most cases
🤕
What episode is that?
The issue isn't that Penny has bad friends; it's that it's lampshaded. Most of them show toxic behavior 24/7 and are ocassionally called out for it, but it's an episode thing, not a longstanding thing. It's like Penny's just friends with them just because.
I think this lack of carryover between episodes is why people dislike the friend group. If someone went through what Zoey experienced in that episode, in the real world, you might seriously reevaluate your toxic friends afterwards. But because this show doesn't have much growth between episodes, Zoey simply forgets how badly they treated her, and they don't grow or learn or change afterwards either.
Is it for the audience to be aware? Or just a California thing?
Right and what’s crazy is that they’re capable of doing that. The only character who has a long-standing development between episodes is Maya in season 1. While it’s not overtly said, it seems like they were trying to make it take awhile before Penny and Maya can be friends. Each episode having a totally different plot line while simultaneously trying to develop how Maya settle into the friend group.
Nah i def think a lot of them are bad friends especially Dijonnay🤣
And she could be friends with them because they are in her neighborhood
Penny's fake friends are plot devices more than genuine friends.
The problem with their friend group is demonstrated best in the colorism episode. They all gang up on Zoey. They blame Zoey for something that isn't her fault. They basically imply that Zoey is unattractive and doesn't appeal to any boys. And even Penny, the best of the group, similarly turns on Zoey cuz she's jealous that a boy didn't pick her (even though she already has a boyfriend). The episode forces Zoey to apologize when she did nothing wrong. This episode was a textbook definition of why people say this friend group is toxic.
Thing is that ginger haired white people are also the butt of all jokes and mocked due to their hair colour being connected to some stupid myth about them having no souls, also its like blondes being dumb
That episode shows how they truly view Zoe, as someone who is incapable of being loved due to her physical appearance and personality. They don't understand how someone attractive could like her, and think she needs to be with someone her own level.
On top of that, they immediately believed Maya's "oh my cousin said it" gossip, and used that to dog pile and justify their bullying of their childhood friend.
Maya's just a woke tool. Her parents especially
Well, they did end up apologizing for their behavior at the end of the episode and admitting that Noah was the real jerk, not Zoey.
@@giannaangulo7006But that's only after Zoe apologizes. And we don't even get any real conformation that Noah actually only likes white girls. She just broke up with him to make her friends happy under a belief that she didn't even confirm.
Isnt it weird that in a show that fights against racism, they make the black characters (the main ones at least) the worst people imaginable while the white character is usually just bullied by the others?
Given the people who *writes* these episodes.....no not really.
Outspoken "anti-racists" are usually as racist as a kkk clansman. If you feel the need to espouse your virtue, you have none to speak of
They could've made excellent commentary in the colorism episode. But instead of calling out boys who go for white/light skinned girls, they just portrayed the black girls being mean and jealous towards the innocent little white girl.
The only one I think is the least awful.
Is the gay one (I forgot his name sorry)
@cloberlobster2276 unfortunately I don't remember either, hes just the token gay character (the only way for Disney to give representation unfortunetly)
I know that friendships aren’t perfect, but THIS amount of toxicity for each other? That’s ALSO not normal.😅
Bruh, they shouldn't be considered friends. Lacianica and Maya clearly hate Penny for no reason, Zoe's a follower, and how many times has Dijonay claimed to have Penny's back only to completely flake? Remember when she dumped all her siblings on Penny to go to a concert when Penny had her own siblings to babysit? Michael's the only one who feels like a real friend to Penny, as they actually seem to have each other's back.
@@user-oy6he1qs8bong or that episode when the twins became teens! That had me heated on how everyone treated her 😭
Its a little bit refreshing for a Disney Channel show to see such toxic friendships. In most of the other ones the friendships are much more healthy. It took till season 2 for Moon Girl to get into a fight with her best pal Casey. Alex was usually nice to Harper in Wizards of Waverly Place. I find the toxicity hilarious and I am here for it.
@@icecreamhero2375 I agree, but Alex wasn't that nice to Harper, she used Harper all of the time, the season 3 episode 15 Third Wheel shows a good depiction of how toxic their friendship actually is (literally all of the toxicity coming from Alex)
@@growingupwithdisney Maybe Wizards of Waverly Place was a bad example but I can think of other good female friendships on Disney Channel.
Even in the original show, Penny’s friends were toxic. I know the writers were trying to show that’s what most middle school friendships are like. However, it would have been better if the show (and the reboot) wasn’t promoting or glorifying toxic friendships. They should have had Penny learn what friendship is a la My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic style, by deciding to befriend people who may not be popular but are really kind (like that nerdy boy, the Chang Triplets, that Muslim girl whom she wrapped houses with, etc.).
Yeah that has always been my biggest issue with this whole thing, they say they did it because they wanted to show what real middle school friendships can be like but never try’s to confront it. In the end it comes off like “what’s that your friends turn on you like a dime, use you and have no respect for you, well suck it up that’s what friendship is you whiny baby, so if that’s happening to you that’s perfectly normal and you should be ok with it”.
Besides, some people, not everyone, but some people have had healthy or real friendships in middle school or younger. Not every single middle school friendship was shallow, fake, or backstabbing. Definitely some. But not all of them.
@@christopherauzenne5023My exact thought when people try to defend the toxic friend group because "that's how middle school kids are!" Which, yeah, realism, based on real life, early 2000s wacky shenanigans that aged like milk, all that, but then what? Like you said, there's no long deserved payoff for the girls being spiteful and rotten to one another, like Zoey getting attention from that actor? "Well its because he likes white girls and SHE should apologise! We can all go back to being "friends" again!"
Amphibia tackles the toxic friend group and BUILDS on it, giving the gang consequences if they refuse to see that what they do to one another isn't okay, there are STAKES when lines get crossed and disrespected. It teaches kids/whoever's facing this situation that "just because it's your reality doesn't mean it's okay for you to just accept it".
PF has a second chance at improving their writing (keep up with the current audience) and they still fumble the bag? Yikes.
I think what 'worked' for the OG was it acknowledged it's own pettiness and wasn't afraid to show off how awful the characters could be because it didn't take itself so seriously.
The reboot acts like it's this big important thing yet somehow doesn't improve on anything and often times makes things worse, and that's because it's trying to fix something it never understood.
The og show has a LOT of whackiness that as an adult I suddenly remember from a lot of adult sitcoms during the 90s and early 2000s. If you watched shows like Martin, a lot of the same weird ass tropes pop up (but are written better) and remember the Creator's original theatrical debut; Bebe's Kids. You watch that and the OG Proud Family and it clicks. Dijonay and Lacenega (sp) are essentially Dorothea and Vivian, the two antagonist from the film, in kid form.
The og show was written by someone who got the tropes and toned them down to kid friendly levels. The new version is someone who doesn't get it and trying to act smarter than they are. It's like the show was taken over by someone who thought the original was offensive only because they refused to see the jokes.
@@jessoliveiro8975Amphibia is leagues better in regards to tackling friendships.
I think you’ve nailed the problem. They want the girls to be in Penny’s main friend group, but also be the ones to create much of the conflict. Now I’m imagining a version of the show in which Zoe is Penny’s singular best friend, and Dijonay and LaCienega are just some other girls from school. They could play the same role in most episodes and it would work just fine. The show already has a built-in excuse for Penny and LaCienega to interact a lot despite not liking each other: they live across the street and their parents are all friends. But for some reason, the show wants LaCienega to be both the mean girl and one of Penny’s best friends, which leads the viewer to repeatedly ask “Why do these kids keep choosing to hang out together?”
I always saw LaCienega as more of an acquaintance/semi-friend to Penny. Like you said, LaCienega was Penny’s neighbor and both their parents were friends, so it made sense why they saw or were around each other a lot. Also LaCienega became apart of Penny’s ‘friend group’ because she was more friends with Djionné, Penny’s ‘best friend’, and befriended Zoey too.
I’ve been in a similar situation where my best friend was also friends with around girl that I wasn’t close with. We weren’t hostile or antagonistic towards each other, but we didn’t consider each other friends neither (acquaintances at best); we only hung around each other because we were both close friends with my best friend, and when she wasn’t around, we had nothing to do with each other. When my best friend ended up moving after Sophomore year, me and the other girl just stayed casual acquaintances and generally stopped talking/interacting with one another; we never became friends.
Yeah, I'd have preferred if Penny was just freinds with Zoey cause the others are just the worst.
@@trika91 The problem with La Cienega is that she shows that she dislikes Penny. She's not just an acquaintances to Penny, she constantly cause problem to her. It makes me confuse how Penny still hangout with her
Them despising each other may work if they had a close friend there (pick whoever you want) and decide to make a truce whenever she's around, and go back to hostilities when that's not the case
Exactly, the want to have their cake and eat it too, but it just doesn't work here.
Maya doesn’t like Penny and she thinks she’s shallow but she’s literally best friends with Lacienaga…like make it make sense🤣😭
That's why I didn't like Maya's character. I'm all for standing up for what is it but if you're harshly judging people right off the back then you're just kind of dick. And Lacianaga is the fakiest person I've seen in my life. How do you even become friends with someone with her being how she is? Make it make sense Maya
True. Lacienega is as shallow as the baby edge of the kiddie pool at a water park.
Exactly!
Fr, but I'll give the show props it saved me from befriending people who reminded me of Penny's friend group
I think Maya is secretly jealous of Penny. Penny is more authentically herself and Maya is a try hard virtue signaler. So she befriends LaCienaga because she’s pretty much her frenemy. I think she acts closer to her to spite Penny.
Dijonnay is the fakest out of all of them
REAL
She's literally just the worst black stereotypes wrapped into one character. Without ANY redeemability.
@@cloberlobster2276 She's the kind of person you don't want to be friends with
I hate her, her personality, her STUPID ONION HAIR!!! Who does she think she is!?
As Sugar Mama said “She’s faker than your fake friends”
It’s crazy how the Gross Sisters, her supposed to be bullied, treats her better than her supposed to be “friends”
The Gross sisters are less toxic with the rest of the cast than Penny’s friends
😮.Wow
And they're set up as the bullies of the school.
For real
Frfr
I think it’s her parent’s fault. Penny was raised to be a people pleaser, and she seeks out people (like Oscar) who are more toxic and troublesome than they are helpful. That’s why she works so hard to make everyone happy, she has a lifetime of experience trying to meet her parents unrealistic expectations and navigating through their drama.
Fr And every time she tried to drop them as her friends her mom would always get on her ass like imagine seeing how your daughters friends treat her and you still want her to be friends with them like hell no
I never even thought of it like that, omg...
I agreed.
Maya is a good idea for a character, but she’s been kind of annoying. She judges Penny right off the bat, and likes to stir the pot. In that episode about colorism she gets the ball rolling saying Noah only likes white girls. Which I never understood why the girls hated Zoey and said she ‘doesn’t get it’. What is it she didn’t get? Why is she at fault for a boy asking her out?
I couldn’t get what message they were trying to do. It looked like it was a ‘don’t let a boy get between friends’ message comparing to suga mama. But they tried to make it sound more about skin color.
Isn't maya the trans one or the one who has gay dad's?
Maya is one of the worst, at least the others don't pretend to be "holier than thou".
Maya is a "SJW" that pretends to be level headed so she can feel morally superior. But she's just as bad. I had someone like that as a friend before, she sucks
@@skootergirl22she’s the one with the two dads
@@skootergirl22I’m assuming the “trans one” you’re referring to is Michael? He’s not trans, he’s a cisgender man who identifies himself as gender-nonconforming which basically means he doesn’t conform to the social standards for him being a man. That’s why you’ll see him wear makeup, wear nail polish, cosplay as Pocahontas, etc. Even in his concept art he is shown dressing feminine at times, and sometimes masculine. Gender non-conforming also can be identified by trans individuals as well though!
@@mlkywine6852 sounds like they're trans
Those AREN'T friends.
zoey isnt her friend either
No zoe is fake too
Nah, Zoey ditched Penny a handful of times in the OG series too.
@@TheMedicatedArtist even in the new series shes such a follower its irking
I wouldn't call her 'victim', she's more of a follower of the ones 'at power' (Dijonay and LaCienaga).
Like other comment said, Zoey only follows and doesn't do anything to help Penny either.
Penny's "friends" & Oscar were the reasons why I'm not a fan of this reboot nor the original.
Same, i only watched that peanut movie because they actually act like real friends in that
The original did tackle racism better then the reboot
SAME. Trudy too. She's just as controlling, unfit, and unhinged as Oscar, but in her own way. I feel SO bad for Penny having both toxic "friends" AND toxic parents. Poor girl can't catch a break... The hilarious moments don't make up for all the toxic abuse and gaslighting portrayed in the franchise as a whole.
with how unlikable alot of the character are it really makes me question why people like this show in the first place
@@jskywalker58Honestly same
Unfortunately LaCienega's actions aren't unrealistic. I had actually had a high school friend that stole not one, but two boyfriends from her best friend and a friend's sister. She also once tried to make an ex of her boyfriend jealous- said ex was her best friend. It didn't make her jealous, but disgusted and confused. No one talks to her since we graduated
I genuinely don’t understand why most girls do crap like that, like what do they even gain from doing that other than looking like a massive snake it’s just weirdo behaviour.
I loved the episode where LaBrea was putting her in her place.
I had friends like penny's. M: Spread rumours, F: Stole my boyfriend, K: Dated the guy i liked, S: Dated my ex knowing he was horrible to me, T: Went after my crush Millly: Constant backhanded compliments like "youre pretty even if youre not white".. Theyre all fat an ugly now so 🫰🏽
And what makes it even worse... Her parents are just as toxic to her than her friends are. And yes, that includes Trudy, she's just as awful and controlling as Oscar is, but in her own way. I hope they get fully called out for their abuse and terrible parenting (that they try to mask with their wholesome teachings and tender family moments)...
Let's never forget episodes like "Strike!", "Grandma's Hands", "BeBe", and the HIGHLY hated "Twins to Tweens"...
Okay, I won't say you're wrong about some of your sentiments. Her parents do get it wrong at times. But her parents aren't all the way bad. They have standards for her. Thats what parents are supposed to have. They don't want her to be rude and disrespectful. What's wrong with that? Oscar sees her potential in a lot of areas, and yes does get carried away, but he doesn't want her to struggle like he does. What's wrong with that? Oscar and Trudy want people to see Penny for her ideas and personality, not her body hence why they both get on her for what she wears. What's wrong with that?
In episodes like "Strike!" Everyone learned a lesson. Her parents realized that they need to give her more because 5 dollars wasn't cutting it anymore. Penny and her friends learned that A) They can be replaced by other kids willing to do their chores (An important life lesson) and B) There are more important things in life to be grateful for.
@@storygirl747watts4 Yes, they're not all the way bad, but they're bad enough that it's alarming. They basically made their daughter into a parent for THEIR kids instead of hiring a babysitter (which they could very clearly afford, looking back at the Rene episode), giving Penny no time to live her life while they go and do whatever the hell they are, from bowling to shopping for armoires. And yes, they have standards for their daughter, but their standards are too high and expected for a girl who's already well-behaved, raised, and educated. LET HER BREATHE! They suffocate her with her rules and expectations. Sure, Penny has her episodes, but Oscar is too overprotective of her when it comes to who she hangs out with, and Trudy takes advantage of her being the oldest kid to look after her own kids, not often, not even half of the time, but ALL of the time. Oscar may not want her to struggle, but he SUFFOCATES her with his expectations and never hears her out full-term enough to make any changes. The only time that happens is in the movie (which got retconned in the revival as a dream, which is asinine in and of itself).
And it's one thing for them to forbid Penny from wearing anything skimpy, but having her wear the SAME outfit... IN LAYERS...?? Even Suga Mama agreed with Penny that that was ridiculous in that Credit Card episode, because Trudy keeps giving her the SAME outfit without any sort of compromise before or after the episode. In the reboot, Oscar even had Penny dress up in ARMY GARBS!! WHO DOES THAT?! And who can even defend that?!
And as for the Strike episode... NO. You don't KICK OUT YOUR MINOR CHILDREN because they refuse to do chores, you GROUND them at the most. And they only stopped doing chores BECAUSE their parents were too cheap to give them more than just $5 using that tired-old "it's not a privilege, it's a right" bs to defend their actions (especially after Oscar had Penny do all of HIS OWN chores too). Replacing them with other kids... Just saying those words and using that as a life lesson for your kids shows you just how messed up that logic is and how messed up they are as parents. Yeah, there are more important things in life to be grateful for, but it doesn't matter if you're not respected as an equal or have the freedom to be yourself and live your life.
And don't even get me started on "Twins to Tweens" or "Grandma's Hands"... Those episodes made me wanna call Child Services for a FICTIONAL character!
@@StarWolfDragon Fair points. Culture changes as time goes on. As does parenting. I had parents similar to Penny's. Our culture and ethnicity are the same. My parents whom as you described as controlling, actually just wanted me to be successful. Most people of color I've known, know that in order to be successful or to get ahead, you have to work twice as hard as most people. Its not fair, just or right. But it is still to some degree true.
Not all families can afford babysitters or to give kids an allowance. Older siblings looking after younger ones is pretty common. Trudy is a vet yes, but she also has a husband who's work income is iffy. Plus we don't know what her parents sacrifice for her or the twins. Sure, they got a line of credit for Penny to buy clothes with, but that didn't end well. They go on fairly cheap dates. Bowling being one example.
Moreover, Kids are hardheaded at times. They don't always listen to reason even when given several that make sense and on a level they can understand. I work with kids her age, I would know. Now that I'm grown and have a chance to look back, if my parents hadn't had those values, suggesting that my friends might not be a good pick for me, telling me what I could or could not wear and explaining the ramifications of the outfits, I would never have gotten to where I am now. Life is full of hard lessons, some of which I find are better taught in a safe environment with parents. Trudy in "Strike" flat out said she wanted her home. She wasn't going to let Penny stay out there. They could have opted to not let Penny learn that lesson with them. She could have learned that lesson waaaayyyy further on in life where it would hurt her more. But they didn't. Those lessons may seem harsh but without them, you end up with a bunch of spoiled, entitled kids who think they know how the world works. Look at La Ciénaga. She got 50 dollars and she blew through it! She has no concept of the value of a dollar. She's spoiled and somewhat entitled. What happens when she no longer has that safety net? Parents are supposed to guide, protect and support yes, but to also raise kids to be able to stand on their own when they are gone. Penny has it hard. True. But there is no doubt in my mind that she will be able to make it on her own and make sound decisions because of how her parents raised her.
@@storygirl747watts4 OK, I'm not going THIS personal. We're talking about the Proud parents, not yours, no matter how similar your upbringing is to Penny's. I didn't describe YOUR parents as controlling, I described the Proud parents as such. If anything, it seems that you're just reflecting now, defending the Proud parents' actions because you've lived a life similar to Penny's and you're mostly seeing the positives that came from your parents' parenting and hate seeing any similar kind of parenting being attacked despite any blatant abuse being shown in it. And again, I'm ONLY referring to the Proud parents and NO ONE ELSE. This topic is ONLY about the Proud parents.
Everyone's entitled to an opinion for one's upbringing, but you're completely disregarding the abuse Penny went through, HER feelings, and how SHE dealt with it.
Yeah, not ALL families can afford babysitting or give kids an allowance, but the Prouds CAN. Not only did they hire Rene in "There's Something About Rene", but they even gave Bebe & Cece EXTRA (AND DOUBLE) allowance in "Teens to Tweens", and it was even Oscar that gave them the allowance. PLUS, Trudy even bought CeCe new clothes, a new bed, etc., so whatever sacrifices the Proud parents make for the twins CLEARLY does not affect their income as it's perfectly clear that they could decorate an entire room, give extra allowance to their children, AND hire a babysitter (and a literal perfect one at that), so there's NO excuse to shortpay Penny or leave her to care for the twins EVERY TIME. And yes, older siblings looking after younger ones IS common, but the Proud parents have Penny look after them ALL THE TIME, disregarding her life in favor of theirs. THEY decided to have more kids, NOT Penny. Why does SHE have to give up the best years of HER life to be a parent to her own siblings while BOTH of their parents are alive and kicking AND the grandmother (AND UNCLE) is almost always at the house and could watch them instead?
As for "Don't Leave Home Without It", yes, it didn't end well (for Penny), but she had the conscious to return the clothes and cut up the card, knowing what she'd be returning to. She finally had a taste of freedom but was still being responsible. She was coerced by her toxic friends to go nuts with the card, and when you're that young, peer pressure can affect your better judgment at times (hence why she hallucinated her card talking to her in Steve Harvey's voice). And whatever dates the parents go on shouldn't matter. If they want to go out, they should hire a babysitter so Penny don't have to cancel her plans ALL THE TIME. She already has a curfew and banned from dating, she's a Straight-A student, and she doesn't go out as much as the parents, so what's the big deal?? You can still insert values and morals onto your children without controlling their entire life.
In "Strike", yes, Trudy said that she wanted her back home, but she had just as much power (if not more) to stop Oscar from kicking her out in the first place, and just ground her for her disobedience. Kicking her out, even as a joke, is child abuse towards a minor (no matter how you put it), which was heavily touched on in "Grandma's Hands". The only reason LaCienega is spoiled, entitled, and can waste money is because her family is rich, and she had no conscious despite being raised by a cop with morals and a dad with Oscar's mindset, able to fake being a "good girl" just so she can have her way. Even when she gets scolded and grounded, she never learns. Give Penny the same allowance, and she'll both be grateful for it AND spend it frugally just as she intended to do with the credit card (before her friends corrupted her). Comparing LaCienega to Penny is like comparing apples to oranges.
And yes, parents are supposed to do all that, but the Proud parents go over the top at times when it comes to Penny (and ONLY Penny, because they didn't treat BeBe and CeCe like that when they became teenagers in "Twins to Tweens"), and some episodes LITERALLY show her being mistreated. Trudy let CeCe (a teenager who was JUST an INFANT a couple of days ago) wear a MIDRIFF for Christ's sake (literally saying she never let Penny wear one because she was too "plain" for one; there was no morals or anything in her words here) AND she gave Penny's room to CeCe, fully redecorated with her own stuff thrown away and only gave Penny a sleeping bag in the corner! And before you try defending THAT too, Roker's wish ONLY aged the twins, it didn't affect anyone else, so how EVERYONE treated the twins and Penny respectively were them being GENUINE. There is no defense for the Proud parents (JUST THEM, NO ONE ELSE). Yes, they are good-enough parents for them to have raised such a well-behaved daughter, but they (JUST THEY) are also abusive, controlling assholes who need a good talking to from Child Services in regard to their treatment of Penny (JUST PENNY).
@StarWolfDragon You're right about her parents. My apologies for missing a lot of details! I Totally forgot some of that happened!
"These are some Dragonball-ass names." In honor of the late and great Akira Toriyama, I've been binging a lot of Dragonball Z stuff, and he's not wrong, especially in the original Japanese. Imagine naming your kids Radish and Carrot, even if you're from a race of beings that would put teenage boys to shame with how much you can eat.
Yeah but with Dragon Ball if you understand Toriyama, the naming there makes sense. The names in Louder and Prouder don't make any sense at all.
@@mechajay3358With Proud Family, it's that LaCienega means swamp, and LaBrea is a tar pit.
The only real friends Penny had were Sticky, Micheal and The Gross Sisters, the ladder of whom being a group of bullies.
tbh this is why i could never commit fully to the show, evry episode would always bum me out seeing how badly everyone treated each other.
Same. Couldn’t even get past the first few episodes
Pretty much lost all motivation after the "Homeless teacher" episode. They framed it for the teacher to be an absolute B*itch to everyone around her, even Penny's family after they took her in. Then they have that lesson on how everyone is deserving of charity.....
hell no XD. If you are a complete A-hole then you don't need the dang help, I swear XD.
the original show was funny
With friends like them, Penny doesn't need enemies.
I don't really mind that Penny's friends drive a lot of the conflict. What bothers me more is that they don't seem to support her in any form a lot of the time. Like, there's no reason all of them have to be partially driving the problem when it could be just one or two of them. I think that's what makes it so much more noticeable in The Proud Family. Typically it's either balanced so they have good moments and bad moments or all the characters are consistently similarly flawed. And I definitely think Oscar getting punished plays a big part into why his antics are less focused on. He also has a mix of good moments where he admits to being wrong.
I'm glad people are calling out her "friends" now
ppl were calling out her friends in the og show, its just becoming relevant again. there were episodes i liked but by and large, i couldn't stand a majority of the show and it was almost all to do with her friends being hot garbage
My personal theory is that Penny is far too picky and materialistic to put herself out there and make better friends, which in a way, does make her slightly toxic too. Dijonay and LaCienega specifically have similar dilemmas, because one thing they all have in common is some strange desire to be viewed as popular, so they put themselves in bad situations to achieve their goals, which 9/10 times backfires on them and ultimately leads them to turning against each other. They’re all a bunch of pick-me’s with a plethora of internal problems they continuously neglect to resolve, and Zoey is no different. The low self esteem and poor self confidence is written all over her! So now the only reason Penny puts up with them is because she’s basically doomed herself to having no one else’s company except theirs and she has no choice but to rot in the hell on Earth she inadvertently created for herself unless the show gets better writing and she finally gets over her own bullshit.
I've actually had a similar friendship group in highschool and I had to learn to seek out new friendship in college. But they weren't nearly as bad as Penny's friends. And we were the geeks.
Dang! Hit the nail on the head with this comment.
Imagine if there was an episode where the Gross sisters became Penny's new friend group for a day.
They actually did that in the old show once...Penny even went as ashy as them...and then went to boot camp.
Even in the original proud family they were all so fake and it made me mad 😭 Penny deserves better idk why disney made her friends so toxic
I don’t really have a problem with people like the Chang Triplets, Zoey, Sticky, Micheal, KG, Kareem and Duke. I do however, have a problem with Dijonnay and especially LaCienega. These two girls are the worst and LaCi is somehow worse in the reboot than she was in the original series. At least in the original, she didn’t try to steal a boy she knew Penny was into. I am glad that Dijonnay told her off like that. I hope that by season 3, Penny cuts ties with both of them for good because she deserves better.
To be fair, at least LaCienega didn’t try to hide the fact that she didn’t really like penny. Everyone (including penny) not only knows that but also feel similarly towards her. We know why she and penny have to hang out, and because of how often they have to be around each other there will obviously be some good moments. Those don’t overshadow the bad, but (in my opinion) make for a more realistic relationship between the two. Not while Dijonnay over here pretends to be really sincere and close with penny, while also being an awful friend. I feel like this is more obvious in the original, but Dijonnay is very rarely seen being a good friend yet still tries to pretend to be close and supportive of penny. Which makes their good moments feel a lot less genuine and more so the writers trying to give reasons why these two still hang around each other.
@bbxlyn I do like how Dijonay gave Laci crap for trying to move onto Penny's boyfriend. I swear hell froze over when I watched that scene.
This cartoon is encouraging young black women to act like a bunch of bullies. And I hate that. Penny and her "friends" are aggressively stupid. These are the type of women who would laugh at you for being quiet. The only character I trust in the reboot is Penny's new boyfriend. I don't know how they met, but he doesn't deserve Penny Proud.
The reboot could’ve kept the friends but replaced them as background characters, & have Penny have new friends! It’s so frustrating to watch
Nah. Not every character needs to get along all the time in every show. You can watch any other Disney channel show with more functional friendships. You can turn on Hailey's On It, Molly McGee, Big City Greens, etc.
@@icecreamhero2375So you're saying it's okay for Penny to have pieces of shit for friends who regularly treat her like dog turds because it's funny. Got it.
@@mitchfletcher2386 I would be more concerned if she was a real person.
@@mitchfletcher2386 he doesnt feel like she deserves better because shes black, and to the eyes of many she doesn't deserve much
Maya is an AWFUL character. Pompous, preachy, gas lighting, hypocritical and just unlikeable. She calls out people for being superficial yet she constantly judges people and even instigates Penny the most. Such a misuse of tackling black related issues in the show really hammers home how little the creators took from the original show’s writing and what made it sincere.
She's the worst! Initially I was going to describe her as a Bad Stench that won't go away only a Bad Stench would be much better than her!
I mean Maya is adopted. Doubt her birth parents would've wanted her because of how much of a train wreck she is.
Honestly when watching the series I noticed that Maya is usually the catalyst or the coward of events. She causes the drama and dips since she knows she'll be called out. The colorism episode especially!
She's a pot-stirrerr
One of the reasons I started hating Maya
She loves to stir the pot
I mean it's no wonder she's adopted 💅🏽
This show tries to normalize toxic friendship and abuse... Almost as if the people making the show don't want people to resist how they treat other people.
So that was my initial thought, yes, but seeing this essay explaining the structure of the show having basically build this trap I do not think it goes as far as advocating for this behaviour to be seen as normal. The writers however do push Karim and try to 'keep him pure' - possibly also because he is Penny's BF, her supposed support, and then another build is required, but then they erase him from engaging. The writers are juggling with problems, and that makes for questionable content, but I do not think it is immediate propoganda.
Dijonay for sure is the worst. At least LaCienega is open about her dislike for Penny and the writers make it clear they aren’t friends, they’re rivals. Zoey, Michael, Kareem, and KG are honestly the people Penny should hangout with more often since they’re the least toxic. Maya is eh, she was horrible to Penny at first for no reason but at least got a little better towards her as the series went on, but she still can be a catalyst for a lot of the drama. Dijonay is just the fakest, most selfish, and awful friend anybody could have. I really want (even though it might never happen) there to be an episode where Penny and her friends get so sick of Dijonay and ditch her, leaving Dijonay to finally face the consequences of her selfish actions and better herself in the end
Honestly, they may have bever been perfect, but Sticky and Michael seemed like the most real friends Penny had.
Shame they had to get rid of Sticky instead of just recasting him, as for Michael, I'm pretty indifferent towards.
In the original show when Penny blew up as the breakout star of their girl group and she finally kicked them to the curb, the show was for once actually better because Penny was thriving without her toxic friend group. And then she goes back to them and it is so forced because how can you be invested in this group of friendship given how badly they all treat her, especially DiJonay?
Mostly-girl friend groups in cartoons have an ongoing problem with being written like they don't actually like each other, but it's especially egregious in Proud Family when Penny's single white girl friend is usually the innocent one while the black girls are constantly bitter and spiteful to each other.
In most cartoons with girls who are friends I've seen in cartoons are pretty good friends. Proud Family is more of an exception. The characters get along well in My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, they get along well in Moon Girl, Molly and Libby get along well in Molly McGee, Candace is nice to Stacey in Phineas and Ferb, Wilma got along with Betty in the Flintstones. In the live action Disney Channel shows they are usually pretty good. In Ant Farm Chyna got along with Olive was instead kinda mean to Fletcher.
I recommend watching more anime. There are a ton of slice of life anime where the girl characters are great friends. Misobochi Colors is a good one. So is Zombieland Saga.
Except for Usagi always arguing with Rei the Sailor Moon friend group is great.
@@icecreamhero2375I tried to watch some of those anime but there is just like egregious sexualization sometimes… just weirds me out
@@icecreamhero2375not specifically those anime, but slice of lifes in general I mean. Obviously there isn’t much sexualization in sailor moon 😂
They got rid of Sticky and then there was no balance
I thought it was normal for friends to be mean and insult me every-time I was with them.
I have ADD and because of that I felt the brunt of lots of discourse between “friends” and bullied for everything I did wrong.
I realized they weren’t my real friends after crying over and over but it was harder with others that gaslit me and made me feel bad for trying to stay away from them. I had to completely distance myself from this person. I cried every time I was with them and finally had the balls to tell them no more… shows had an influence on me as a kid and honestly I thought that kind of toxic behavior was just normal for all friends, sometimes.
It isn’t normal and don’t put up with it because it will damage your self confidence in the end. Everyone deserves kind friends, that don’t make them cry after each visit. ❤
I think this is simply the exact same thing that happened with Velma. You assign hacks who can't write characters as lead writers. So they fall back on self inserts, projection and personal stereotypes to fill out the roster.
It also explains why the boys are basically just props in the plot.
Lots of girls have to deal with this sadly. Nowadays, many girls will ditch their friends to protect their reputation at any point.
I’ve experienced it, and many other girls have as well.
The older girls get, they think they have to start doing shit like this. They realize later when they’re grown up that they were being horrible to their friends.
I myself have experienced this in my school for years. People might make fun of me for hanging out with 7th and 6th graders when I’m in 8th grade but the little kids are the only ones that don’t give a shit about drama.
does anyone else find it jarring that the characters from the original show are still cartoony and stylized but all the new characters look like super detailed fashion illustrations
Yes
It amazes me that Penny even puts up with her so called 'friends'. They shouldn't be considered friends with how toxic they are, even in the original show. I mean, they have ditched Penny in the past a couple times. Like the time Penny and Lacianica were having birthday parties at the same time, and they straight up ditched Penny on her birthday. That's straight up cold. Sure, they show up eventually, but that was only some famous singer didn't make an appearance at Lacianica's party like she promised. Both Lacianica and Maya clearly hate Penny for no reason at all, it's a mystery why she even hangs out with them. Zoe comes off as a follower, and Dijonay has straight up hung Penny out to dry numerous times in the past. Michael is the only one who feels like a real friend to Penny as they actually seem to have each other's back. Heck, even the Gross Sisters act more like Penny's friends than her toxic so called 'friends'. Sure they would take her lunch money, but they never really did anything to Penny and in the reboot, they started making their own money as youtubers. The Gross sisters actually came to her birthday party and even hung out with her at one point. Remember when the twins became tweens, Penny's 'Friends' didn't even acknowledge her and would literally push her to the side.
They needs a straight man to balance them out. I miss sticky
And that’s honestly the only reason KG exists imo. But they don’t even utilize him much outside of him doing something with his tech.
@@devegas4910 KG is no Sticky, just need a new voice actor
@@QTcomicsPOP really if what was going on with Orlando Brown never happened at all, I don’t even think KG would exist as there wouldn’t be a need for Sticky to be written off
@@devegas4910 uh huh, I miss him and the main guys of the show who showed up every now and then
Michael is probably the realest friend Penny has
Cough cough zoey
@@goawayplease6456 Zoe just a sheep. She's like Dejonay if she was quieter in the sense that she goes after what's convenient and popular.
Don't forget Sticky even if he isn't part of the show anymore...
The only one of her 'friends' i do think could be an actual friend is Micheal, and that just because from the fact he's that friend that'll make fun of you in the typical friend style
They feel like a ragtag group of kids becoming a group of friends, but still hang out as they grow up, even when it's obvious they can't stand each other
They're "friends" just because they seem to believe they don't have anyone else who wants to hang out with them (and perhaps it's true)
Penny needs a new friend group yet she can also be racist towards both asians and whites
Honestly it gets kind of old after a while like you can have a few episodes like that but when the past series and the new series doing the same thing over again with her friends it's like all right now y'all again boring. Because they didn't learn their lesson from the criticism that people had of the show in the past which was Penny's friends Penny springs was a problem what should have happened is with the reboot she should have lost some friends honestly and gained some new friends some real friends who will support her because in high school you need some friends that are supportive or middle school or whatever the hell they at now and her not having that many supportive friends around just kind of old after a while
A better question is why do the writers insist on bringing it up and not doing anything with it. They keep on pulling the status quo. It's even weirder when suga mama even says penny's friends are fake. Still status quo. What is the point of bringing it up and not giving it a proper sendoff
The thing is that I really enjoy friend and relationship dynamics in fiction that are messy or toxic or just bizarre, but it has to be like, written a way where you would still call them friends? There should be some kind of balance between "friend" and "enemy" that kind of makes you understand why they all still stick together.
I can kind of get the "well, no one else would put up with them" angle, but that doesn't really work with Penny, because when the writers aren't forcing her OOC, she's generally kind and pretty and talented and would have no trouble making better friends, realistically. So every time I see them being awful to each other all I can think is, "you can do better, so why aren't you?"
My issue is that when Penny's friends aren't the main obstacles there still aren't many instances of the girls being genuine friends in any way. The number of times they're horrible to her as a group outweighs any time one or more of them support her. Characters are either for or against Penny in any episode, instead of having the group divide into more equal parts.
I actually think it’s ok for Penny’s friends to be occasionally toxic or drive the problem - nobody is perfect and at some point you’re going to hurt someone you care about. That’s normal! What makes a good and strong friendship is being able to deal with and move past this, which ironically creates an even stronger friendship.
Which is also why Penny herself isn’t problematic - she has imperfect moments where her short sightedness or emotions gets the better of her, but she realizes this when called out and tries to make things better.
The biggest sin of her “friends” is that they don’t have redeemable qualities. They don’t try to make things better when they screw up (this responsibility almost always falls on Penny) OR they don’t have good qualities to balance out their bad ones and to give Penny a reason to look past their bad sides.
If the show had more moments where her friends try to do good, rather than just have Penny do it, they would appear far less toxic.
Honestly, the only thing the remake has done has made me realize how the original wasn't all that good. Like i remember enjoying it as a kid, but now? The original is actually prettt damn frustrating, especially with how toxic Penny's friends were. Nothing had changed, and i think that's what makes it so frustrating. No lessons were learned, and honestly, i have come to dislike Penny too. The fact she sticks by her toxic friends make her toxic too, especially with the new episodes showing how willing she is to get with other guys, while also having a boyfriend. Like i know Middle School relationships don't last long but Penny could try at least.
Worst friend group ever.
Not the first time I’ve seen a video of Penny’s fake friends.
After the colorism episode, it makes it really hard to sympathize with Penny.
I think this is a symptom of when the original Proud Family aired. Cartoons were different in the early 2000’s just like they differ in every generation. For better or Worse Louder and Prouder is very loyal to the writing of the original Proud Family. The difference is that audiences have changed, original fans are adults now likely with their own kids and even younger viewers are used to a different style of cartoon storytelling. So you start to question the logic when in truth there purposefully isn’t much. Proud Family is an episodic sitcom. You made a lot of great points about how her friends are terrible to drive the story but I don’t think that makes the show bad. I think it’s just tough to actually develop characters when they have to revert to their template the next episode.
The gross sisters were better friends to Penny than her actual "friends".
Penny's friends were the reason I couldn't stand the original, specially Dijonay, I despiced her with my soul just like Bloo from Foster's Home, even La Cienega acted more as a friend from time to time than her who's suppossed to be her best friend, sad to see even her turned to be awful too. The only character I felt for was Oscar, Penny and the dog, always wondered why she didn't just stop being friends with her.
Probably because the people writing this don't understand friendship themselves.
Because we all wind up with the friends we really deserve.
I just wish the show would have them actually learn a lesson and become better instead of just continue having them be toxic with no actual repercussions.
This is basically why I could never get into this series. Heck, this sort of series with fake friends always has me wary about possible fake friends in a lot of shows I watch these days.
My friend tried to show this series to me and one of the three episodes he showed was the colorism one.
Black people barely have any shows centered on their culture, specially nowadays and these assholes make toxic friends so accurately that I legit got triggered from my high school years. Ridiculous. The team should be ashamed
You'd think when they announced the reboot they would make Penny's friends healthier (particularly Dijonay)! We don't need to promote toxic friendships in this day and age. Louder and Prouder oughta make an episode where Penny has enough of these terrible kids and unfriends them all WITHOUT being shamed by her parents (Trudy was always a horrid parent, never showing sympathy and demanding Penny forgives her "friends")
It's not the characters fault It's the writers we can see What kind of people the writers are By the actions of the characters
When narcissists make "relationships" with other narcissists.
No real friends act like this except Discord and Instagram
Not even I’d say. People online have more boundaries than others think (in my experience), and even if they do it online, it’s usually in a joking manner and at least they learn not to continue rude behaviors with a person who didn’t like it. Penny’s friends are just flat-out awful people and I wish they had made an episode or something where Penny left her group and found new friends, which would have allowed for new episodes with better lessons than this garbage.
@@AvoKiwi_1252
And parents use to say Bratz were awful just because of the way they dress. But back when Bratz had their first show they dressed alot decent than the proud family girls and I've not once seen either of the Bratz throw one another under the bus for no reason.
I really wish the creators would acknowledge how many of its fans hate pennys friend group.
Again.
Maya hated Penny for being fake, but she decides to hang out with the most fake person in the show.
The white girl episode is stupid. It's like they make it Zoey's fault
Yknow. You just also pointed out something to me. The Gross sisters, who had more presence in the previous series are barely around in the reboot. And we often see them in the old series whether they were the main antagonists of the episode or not. This time, I can count them on one hand as to how often they were there. Same with the Chang Triplets, Peebo, Omar, Frankie, and a few others who were around even if for comic relief. I think with those factors gone that drove the already present focus on how fake penny’s friends are further up.
And honestly, maya and KG really don’t serve a fundamental purpose to the show aside from being a reason to introduce their dads, that subplot with their white dad being called out for how he approached slavery topic, or to replace sticky (KG). Because when Maya isn’t engaging in her activism plots, she doesn’t really do much aside from be an additional person in the group.
damn i understand zoey is supposed to be slightly tall, but they made her FREAKISHLY tall and over did it lol
Ya see, her “friends” are the reason I could never get into the original show. I’ve only had like three or four friends growing up and they usually ended up moving away or backstabbing. Watching Proud Family really only hurt and not entertained. I just though it was only a few episodes and not a plot point but ooooooh was I wrong
The thing about this friend group (if you can call it that) that irked me the most was when Zoey had to apologize for being white just cuz the new boy has a certain type of girl he’s into and it was something that wasn’t even her fault to start with just cuz she was born with a specific skin tone. This reboot will only call out racism when it’s direct at poc and not the other way even though the racism/discrimination card works both ways y’know.
It’s especially upsetting because this was a recurring (and warranted) complaint about the original The Proud Family series.
I would have hoped that when remaking this series, they would have listened to that honest criticism and made it their priority to address it properly from the get-go with the reboot.
I hope you not talking about me. I'm the REALEST of them all! I've told Proud straight up that we are not friends!
Stand proud. You are the most entertaining at not being friends.
Aw, go back with them mutant feet of yours, girl. 😂
Is this a jjk refrence 😭@@JesseGolo
At this point, Penny needs to just be friends with KG. He's the only one that isn't any kind of messy.
I remember watching proud family for the first time and the toxicity of the friend group was one of the things that rlly caught my attention
I didn’t even know this came out with a second season I seen the first season, but not the second
3:38 who's the baddie? Great video also
Lacienega’s mom, Sunset Boulevardez
I may have an explanation for this
OK dijonay is a consumate liar because like penny she is forced to watch her siblings and her parents lie about what they are doing so that is where she gets it from.
Lacienga is spoiled by her parents who let just about do whatever she wants.
Zoey since she has low confidence just goes with the grain to not be singled out.
Maya is a wnnabe social crusader who if you are not on her side of the argument than she denounces them. Michael is not as bad but there are some moments
Penny's friend group is one ofmany that embody the phrase "with friends like these, who needs enemies?"
I’d seen cartoons with horrible friends like Rocko’s, Jimmy Neutron’s, Spongebob’s , Timmy Turner’s, Mac with Bloo, Grim’s (force being friends), Ginger’s, Mordecai and Rigby’s, but out of all of them, Penny’s friends or at least that she think they are are just awful to the max.
Stereotype is a helluva drug in the proud family
As a possible conclusion: Penny should've ditched her 'friends' and start hanging out with the Gross sisters long time ago. 👏😌
Zoey is Penny's only actual friend. I mean yeah she sometimes capitulates to the rest of the 'friend' group but its clearly out of insecurity and not out of malice, if it weren't for how toxic and manipulative everyone else is, Zoey would be fine.
But you can't think like that, though. Zoe needs to grow a backbone not just for her but for Penny because she's going to find herself hurting Penny out of insecurity.
Because the entire show is, next question.
I think the problem is the answer, "So the plot can happen" is generally speaking a poor reason for anything to happen in a story/movie/etc. Penny has horrible friends to make the plot happen is a reason. It doesn't exactly say why Penny is friends with these people, or why they are friends with each other. It's especially bad in a show that is trying so hard to push various social messages but also have plots so bad they basically tell the viewers to "not think about it" so the plot can happen.
The this reminds me of my old friend group who were just so toxic to one another
I think it’s because they couldn’t find any other way to creat conflict?
From what i learned from this "friends" group was that, when one of them is doing better than any of them they start hating. Like they can't be happy for their friends success, unless they all get to share that winning moment.
It really was never penny’s fault in that 1st episode of the new show
I could never get past the first few episodes of the original. I was thinking it would be a nice show with good friends and nice lessons that build their friendship or whatever idk! But instead they were all toxic. I distinctly remember screaming at them in the episode about spreading rumors. Like her friends were singing along all like “yeah no don’t spread rumors that is bad” YET SOME OF THEM WERE THE MAIN RUMOR SPREADERS!!! Like seriously what the heck?! I just kept getting too frustrated so I just decided not to continue. Especially considering I have had issues with friends before (some of it was my fault and some of it was there’s) so this whole toxic friend situation was just too much for me to enjoy any of it.
Also it rubbed me the wrong way how in the first episode Dijonay knew about the conflict Penny had with Lacienega and still was like “I see no issues with including her in everything I do with Penny” like seriously WHAT THE HECK‽ Wasn’t she supposedly her best friend or something?
It would be okay if they were awful but the series presented them as terrible
But no, we its like the series wants us to see them as good people!
The show shouldn't justify the actions of horrible people
Why show is good because it’s real. Toxic people do exist
Hell, it’s sad when even The Gross sisters are better friends to her on their good days.
The fact that the gross sisters ( and sticky) are better friends then any of them 💀
Dijonay is the biggest fake friend of them all. LaCieniga was never Penny's friend. Maya's annoying and judgemental towards Penny. KG was a cool friend, he's the new Sticky. Zoey hasn't changed, still following others to be school. But Michael? Michael was a real friend in the old show and this show. Sad that Sticky had to leave but at least he was a decent friend. If they ever make a Season 3, the creators better give Penny some real friends but keep Michael as her friend.