Allow me to break down my favorite scene in the entirety of Danny Phantom! This is from My Brother’s Keeper and I’m not exaggerating when I say that this is probably my favorite scene to ever relate to a superhero’s identity being exposed.
- That music at the beginning.
- The fact that Danny’s going through a really hard time. Jazz didn’t see her brother be revealed in an epic, victorious, win, like so many other superhero’s identities are revealed. She saw him in an average everyday fight and she saw him lose that fight, thus making him all the more human.
- A quick side-note: Sam and Tucker looking sad that Danny’s so down on himself. Great detail.
- The fact that Danny, being depressed, isn’t eating. It’s little details like this (details they forgot to add into later episodes) that fanfiction writers pick up and just maximize to their fullest potential.
- That MUSIC AT THE BEGINNING.
- The way Jazz awkwardly enters the room and the conversation, showing that for all of her psych-related studying, she’s still a 16-year-old who is in way over her head but trying her best.
- The fact that Jazz saw Danny Phantom get hit in that shoulder, so she instinctively touches that shoulder.
- The fact that Danny is sustaining injuries that are clearly hurting him hours later. Again, fanfiction writers have flourished.
- Jazz starting off by trying to compliment Danny, to make him feel more comfortable around her. She doesn’t just blurt out that she knows. In fact, she never blurts out that she knows.
- Literally the whole conversation is her telling him that if he ever needed to talk about something, she would be there and understand.
- The fact that he was actually about to talk to her.
- The fact that it shows very clearly that the reason Danny didn’t come out to his family was because he was afraid that they would hurt him. I cannot believe that they abandoned this subplot later on, it’s one of the things that made this show stand out from the other superhero stories. Danny trusted the villains to know how identity but not his own family.
- Jazz not pushing because she can understand why he doesn’t feel safe coming out.
- Seriously that score at the beginning has to be my favorite score in the entire show, I literally get it stuck in my head at times.
I just cannot believe that this scene was written, storyboarded, animated, acted out, and put into the final episode and Butch Hartman still has the audacity to dismiss any fans who see Danny as being a queer/trans icon, like my dude, you literally have a scene where the character’s sister tells him that he can come out to her when he’s ready and the only reason he doesn’t is because he’s terrified of his family, and this scene changes the entire dynamic of the show AND this scene begins, and I cannot stress this enough, with the most beautiful score! What did you think was going to happen? This scene has so much code that Tucker wouldn’t be able to hack it!
But seriously, the fact that this has always been my favorite scene, even as a kid, should have been an indicator…
It’s just such a great metaphor and such a great piece of development for every character and such a mature way to handle an identity being exposed and such. a. great. score.
