PenVic: The Key to Destruction….and Salvation? (Part 3)
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We've come to the final part of this retrospective.
As I said in the last part, it was revealed that Penny and Victor would still be couple in 320 Freleng Avenue.
As you would expect, people braced themselves for cringe.
Given they were still suffering from the PTSD that Matthew gave them from everything he previously did with them.
And the funny thing is......
This is actually the best the couple has ever been in their entire history.
They're still not good mind you, but when compared to how they were in the original CartoonMania and especially the planned reboot, they're a considerable improvement.
For starters, a lot of the problematic elements of the original have either been removed or heavily toned down.
Now there are still moments of Penny either ambushing Victor and/or smothering him with kissing.
But this is to a considerably lesser degree than it was before.
It also helps that this time around, Penny and Victor actually feel like equals.
So we're not being forced to watch something that while technically not pedophilia or incest, does give off those vibes.
Also, I do kinda like how here, Penny is shown that she can be flustered by Victor herself, which never happened in the original.
So it's not just him constantly being flustered.
Plus, the couple are actually shown to be able to be causal around each other instead of just constantly lovey dovey all the time.
But even with that, there's still a few issues.
We still don't quite have a good grasp on their chemistry, but at least there's an attempt at actually having some.
And then there's Penny herself.
Now Penny is far better than how she was in the original and especially the planned reboot.
She's no longer a damn predator, and her status as a magician is actually focused on!
However, there's stuff like this.
In 320FA, Penny is deliberately antisocial due to being a sheep (and the stereotypes surrounding the animal) and doesn't like to be around really anyone in general because of that.
Which isn't inherently bad for a personality.
But then you look at her relationship with Victor and this whole thing starts to become contradictory.
And while Penny isn't nearly as obsessed with Victor when compared to her original counterparts, she's still very head over heels for him.
Though Matthew did explain why he made Penny and Victor a couple and gave an in-universe backstory on how they even got together in this version.
And it's thankfully much better.
But while we understand why Victor loves Penny, we're never given a reason why she loves him.
Which is strange since.....
1#) Given what Penny's personality is like now, it seems strange that she would even hook up with....anyone in general, let alone be head over heels for them.
And 2#) It's also a stark contrast to the original CartoonMania, where we're given an explanation why Penny loves Victor but not the other way around.
But besides that, another reason why people still don't like this couple (besides trauma) is also because of just how much Matthew constantly talks about them.
It's pretty clear that Penny and Victor are his favorite characters.
And it's understandable for any creator to have their favorites.
But Matthew constantly takes every chance he can to utterly GLAZE these two!
Not helping by the fact that he hardly talks about or give anything to the other CartoonMania characters, including the actual main characters.
Top that off with how much the couple's reputation was already well into the damn toilet thanks to what Matthew did with them in the past.
On his BlueSky and Instagram, most of his 320 Freleng Avenue content was either about PenVic or random fucking background characters.
Which Matthew has really put a huge emphasis on for this series.
I understand it's because he wants to actually make the world actually feel alive this time and give it some personality, but you know you still gotta focus on your actual major characters, right?
Another major point of contention was in regards to the age of the couple.
Remember, in the original, Penny was 5 and Victor was 4.
Which made the NSFW content Matthew notoriously did with the two.....really fucking bad.
And then in the planned reboot, he made them (and everyone else) ageless.
While this change was largely pointless due to the fact that only 4 of the 321 characters had actual confirmed ages (and those 4 characters just so happened to be single digit minors), it also really felt like a desperate attempt to save his own ass (given he was drowning in controversy during this time) and justify his infamous NSFW antics, which he was still doing at this time, given his history of making excuses for his terrible actions.
But in the info on 320FA, from what I've seen, Matthew has yet to give them any official ages.
And given how Penny and Victor don't look too drastically different from how they did before.....
Hell, Victor's design is literally pulled straight from the planned reboot.
Many people believe that they are still the same ages as before.
And while they don't bring the same level of visceral disgust as they did before, Penny and Victor are still doing some things that they really shouldn't be at their age.
Like going on dates or going to make out in the closet.
Plus he also gave them sexualities, like both of them being pansexual, and Victor himself being non-binary.
However, that may not be the case.
You remember how I've been saying that it seems like Matthew actually aged up his kid characters?
Well, this actually kinda proves it.
Here, he doesn't refer to Victor as a boy.
He clearly refers to him as a man!
So it appears that Matthew is actually aging them up to be actual adults.
How old they are specifically, as far as I know, he hasn't given them specific ages yet.
But if I had to guess.
Even though Penny and Victor are adults now, they're still pretty young.
Penny would probably be like 19, and Victor would be 18.
To wrap this up, I want to talk about two things.
The first is what I believe is the ultimate reason why people don't like or vibe with PenVic.
You know, beyond how they're written and everything Matthew had done with them.
That being that the couple (and Penny and Victor themselves as characters) are reflections of Matthew as a person.
In a way, Penny and Victor were both sort of self-inserts of Matthew.
Just not as obvious as literally Matthew fucking Littlemore!
A lot of the traits of Penny and Victor and how they were depicted correlate to aspects of Matthew's life (going off archived posts, forums and DMs left by people who personally knew him).
The reason why Penny and Victor are so creepy and have so many problematic elements was because Matthew was very sheltered and naive to the world around him.
Plus a lot of the social cues Matthew got throughout his life largely came from movies and TV shows.
Which I don't think I need to explain how that's not exactly a good thing.
Since they're either not really true or are wholly exaggerated.
Not helping was how Matthew had multiple mental conditions like ADHD, and most famously, autism.
The reason why Matthew constantly gushes about PenVic is because of his massive ego, as he was known for taking any chance he got to glaze himself.
The reason why Penny acts more like Victor's mother than a normal girlfriend and constantly tickled him was because Matthew was very much coddled growing up (once again, very sheltered) and he's definitely never been in a romantic relationship.
It's also the reason why Victor is so infantilized as well.
And the reason why Penny is depicted as being antisocial and why Victor himself is a social outcast....
While I initially thought this was done out of pettiness and spite towards his old friends, who remember, left him because the nasty things he did to his characters and them, along with treating them like shit.
I also realized it was because Matthew had spent most of his life being a social outcast among his peers and had a hard time getting along with them.
Largely thanks to his mental conditions and upbringing.
Now we come to the second and last part of all this.
That being my hopes on how PenVic will be portrayed when they eventually make their debut.
Even though I would prefer them to just be friends, if they're still gonna be couple, I'd like to see this.....
1#) Make it clear that they are adults, even if they are short.
2#) Give them actual chemistry.
3#) They can still be in love with each other, but just don't do it to an over the top fashion.
4#) Have them feel like actual equals, even if Penny is more confident while Victor is more timid.
5#) Explain and show in-depth on how they even got together, and more importantly, what Penny even sees about Victor that allowed him to even break through her "I don't need anyone" mentality.
And 6#) Maybe have this led to a character arc where Penny learns that being around others and relying on them isn't inherently bad.
Well that's finally it!
I'm finally done with this retrospective.
Let me know what you guys think about this, and I'd like to hear what you guys hope to see from Penny and Victor when they eventually appear.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually have faith that Matthew will portray them in a way that's actually decent.
I know people still have their reservations about Matthew given everything he's done.
But given how 320 Freleng Avenue turned out and the comments from the voice actors, it does appear that Matthew is trying to be a better person.
Now it's understandable why people still don't trust Matthew, but I do feel like that it often feels comes from people that don't believe anyone can ever change.
Which is complete bullshit.
You may not be able to change your past, but you can still change yourself to be a better person.
Now I do wish Matthew will acknowledge what he did in the past and FINALLY apologize for it, but it does seem like he is starting to put in the effort to better himself as both as artist and a person.
