If it hasn't become clear as of yet, I-your host Raffi-am very young. While my time reading the core of most comic series is limited, I was fortunate enough to be alive during the rise of comic-based television shows. One of my favorite shows was a cartoon based on The Teen Titans, a group of teenage superheroes trying to establish their own identities and save the Earth. It was through this show I gained an appreciation for lesser known heroes and further my favoritism for Robin. However, after five seasons of impressive content, Teen Titans hit a bottom that fans loath to recall. Today on Rants & Recommendation we will take a look at both 2003's Teen Titans and its lack-luster successor 2013's Teen Titans Go.
Ten years after its predecessor premiered, Teen Titans Go decided to take a more comedic view at DC's most popular youth oriented super-team. This show retains the same characters and voice actors as the original cartoon but lacks everything else that made the original great. Teen Titans Go features more sitcom plots and excels at using modern media to fuel its comedy. Unlike the original cartoon, this show lacks the character progressions, over-arcing plots and general tone featured in its predecessor. Further more, I felt this show used liberties the original set out not to use. For example, in Teen Titans the origin of Robin is kept mostly under wraps. No mentioning of Batman was allowed and frankly it wasn't needed. In Teen Titans Go season one, however, there is an episode where Robin is asked to watch over the Batcave. Batman appears, Commissioner Gordon is seen, Batgirl's uniform is worn by Starfire and all of Batman's gadgets are on display. Rather than watch five dimwitted downgrades sully the Batman lore, I would've much more enjoyed an episode where Robin confronts Batman and they burry any resentment between each other, ending with Batman being proud of Robin and his team. Sadly though this show not only wastes story potential the original wasn't allowed to use, but it also takes the diverse team members and turns them into stereotypes of what they used to be. Take a look at the character of Raven, she was bleak, monotone and devoid of expression. The reason being her demonic powers are directly linked to her emotions. If her temper becomes challenged (as it is with most teenagers) her powers could tear reality apart. In Teen Titans Go her stoic personality is far more deadpan and sarcastic and seems to mock her original conception. What's worse is that when she is alone she watches a cartoon about cheerful ponies and expresses child-like giddiness, being a very obvious joke on her usual mopey disposition. Cyborg and Beast Boy are annoying meme-machines, Starfire is a scatter-brained dope and Robin-and this hurts the most-is displayed as a bossy, stubborn, oblivious gloat. These characters are not the heroes seen in the original shown, rather tweaked playthings developed for attention and not admiration.
Alas, the idea behind this show is most infuriating for me. Rather than continue the masterful theme of the original show, Teen Titans Go was clearly developed to fit a child demographic. Childish jokes, bright colors and a lighter tone take away the best elements of the original show and create another example of ratings and merchandise dictating over solid story and rich characters. And that, readers, is this week's Rant entree. Now on the the fun stuff.
No comments:
Post a Comment