Okay, I think I’ve finally managed to put my complicated feelings about Danny Phantom into words
So right off the bat i’m gonna say there is good in the show, and I’m glad so many people have found enjoyment and community in the phandom space, absolutely love to see it. But at it’s core, this is a white show. And i’m not just talking about the lead character is white, i mean everything from the character design to personalities to even the vibes it puts off if you think about it for more than 30sec at a time, it just screams WASP and as someone who is very much not that makes it harder to look past it’s flaws.
Again, I like making content for the show, some of my favorite people I’ve met on this hellsite have come from this circle, but there’s always a part of me that thinks: I keep doing it because it’s the easy road. At it’s height Danny Phantom was damn near a global phenomenon and there are still tons of vocal fans so the engagement is easy and since it’s fanwork there’s not as much pressure (to me, I know some others think differently and that’s why y’all need to be reblogging and communicating with creators more if you want them to continue to create for you). It’s a lot easier for me to go “well i can fix that” with someone elses recipe than to go through the trial and error of building from the bottom, and tbh I’m leaning on that heavy. That only goes so far though, I have tons of fics about Maurice and Angela and Tucker and Damon and Valerie but then i’lll look at the source material and there’s always a flash of “actually, that’s more work for black characters than this show deserves from me” which is a WILDLY self destructive mindset if I want more content for said black characters.
Also like... there are so many other shows that do more with less and better with the same building blocks, shows I love and want to talk about WAY more and have much more of a connection to but unfortunately didn’t manifest the following DP did (three guesses why)
The Secret Saturdays? Does the “monster hunter parents with monster adjacent kid” thing much better, better character dynamics and comedy and an A to B plot that doesn’t walk back things every other episode
Generator Rex? More consistent worldbuilding, much better creature design, amazing three seasons with fantastic payoff.
Tutenstein? I’m even throwing in Tutenstein since i know you could make the argument than DP is supposed to be more episodic than the other two series but even Tutenstein handles it’s mythology better, often with a much better comedic timing and the episodic flow because it doesn’t try to bite off more than it can chew with a bloated cast.
I could go on (special shout out to El Tigre, MLAATR, ATLA, and Static Shock who also fit in this lil chunk of my brain) but the point’s been made. I love the skeleton of the show but my god is the meat a mixed bag to me.
