I hate to admit this (and I'm rather embarrassed); but I had no idea that March was Women's History Month since 1987--until March of this year. I watch as much TV as the next person and I don't recall ever seeing any sort of Ad Council/Bicentennial Minute/PSA sort of media in its regard on the airwaves. Until this year. That year being 2021. Curiously, I've been writing about women all month...I guess that's what you call synchronicity. So, for this blog, I thought I'd "mindfully" write about women's history, which got me to pondering what I would write about. An old episode of Charlie's Angels came on the tube the other night and it was one featuring Cheryl Ladd. That got me to thinking about one of my very favorite childhood TV shows: Josie and the Pussycats. And the more I thought about this seemingly disposable piece of Pop-fluff (that wasn't very well animated) the more radical an endeavor it seemed to me.
Why would Cheryl Ladd put me in mind of Josie and the Pussycats? Well, I'll tell you! Cheryl Ladd was cast as the singing voice of Melody, the band's drummer; but before I get into that, how about a quick recap for those who are a little fuzzy about these particular pussy cats. Now, in doing a little research, it seems they all had last names; but I don't recall ever having heard them uttered on the show except for Alexandra and Alexander Cabot. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Josie and the Pussycats were a rock group consisting of three young women: Josie, the girl next-door lead singer with the red hair. Melody, the ditzy drummer who was blonde (although, not necessarily dumb). Finally, there was Valerie. She was the second lead singer/percussionist/bassist. The band's manager was a young hep-cat named Alexander Cabot the Third. Alan is the group's roadie: a strapping and handsome blonde (who is not necessarily not dumb). Rounding out the group is Alexander's sister, Alexandra. There's really no necessity for her being there except to be the foil to Josie. You see, Josie and Alan kind of have a thing going on. Not boyfriend/girlfriend; but definitely more than just friends. Alexandra, who crushes hard on Alan, is always trying to steal him away from Josie. These attempts often forwarded the plot, and the attempts always failed, leading to wacky situations from which the gang had to extract themselves.
A typical episode went thusly: Josie and the Pussycats are booked to play a concert in some far-flung exotic locale. Some event, usually triggered by Alexandra's meddling, put the gang into jeopardy. Often the clutches of some mad scientist or megalomaniac. The kids escape and thwart the villain, almost always with the help of a scheme that super-smart Valerie has devised. These schemes often involve Rube Goldbergian style apparatuses. Often, these apparatuses will fail due to more meddling on the part of Alexandra. A crazy chase scene will ensue set to the strains of one of the band's bubble-gum Peace and Love songs and then all is set right. Oh, did I mention there is an actual pussycat named Sebastian who is in cahoots with Alexandra but plays both sides of the fence? Well, there is.
Why would Cheryl Ladd put me in mind of Josie and the Pussycats? Well, I'll tell you! Cheryl Ladd was cast as the singing voice of Melody, the band's drummer; but before I get into that, how about a quick recap for those who are a little fuzzy about these particular pussy cats. Now, in doing a little research, it seems they all had last names; but I don't recall ever having heard them uttered on the show except for Alexandra and Alexander Cabot. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Josie and the Pussycats were a rock group consisting of three young women: Josie, the girl next-door lead singer with the red hair. Melody, the ditzy drummer who was blonde (although, not necessarily dumb). Finally, there was Valerie. She was the second lead singer/percussionist/bassist. The band's manager was a young hep-cat named Alexander Cabot the Third. Alan is the group's roadie: a strapping and handsome blonde (who is not necessarily not dumb). Rounding out the group is Alexander's sister, Alexandra. There's really no necessity for her being there except to be the foil to Josie. You see, Josie and Alan kind of have a thing going on. Not boyfriend/girlfriend; but definitely more than just friends. Alexandra, who crushes hard on Alan, is always trying to steal him away from Josie. These attempts often forwarded the plot, and the attempts always failed, leading to wacky situations from which the gang had to extract themselves.
A typical episode went thusly: Josie and the Pussycats are booked to play a concert in some far-flung exotic locale. Some event, usually triggered by Alexandra's meddling, put the gang into jeopardy. Often the clutches of some mad scientist or megalomaniac. The kids escape and thwart the villain, almost always with the help of a scheme that super-smart Valerie has devised. These schemes often involve Rube Goldbergian style apparatuses. Often, these apparatuses will fail due to more meddling on the part of Alexandra. A crazy chase scene will ensue set to the strains of one of the band's bubble-gum Peace and Love songs and then all is set right. Oh, did I mention there is an actual pussycat named Sebastian who is in cahoots with Alexandra but plays both sides of the fence? Well, there is.
Sebastian is a rather radical character himself. You're never sure whose side he's on (other than his own). He plays all the angles as to what's best for him. How many people (or cats for that matter) like that have you known in your life? Funny, but these shows really did teach you about the way of the world, didn't they?
Shows like Josie and the Pussycats trafficked in stereotypes, certainly. Melody is the dumb blonde. Alexandra is the scheming she-devil. Josie is the good girl. Sebastian, despite being male, represents the myth of female deceptiveness and duplicity. A cat is a female archetype. A witch. But Sebastian's double-dealing always backfires on him. Another life lesson? Valerie is the smart one. But wait a minute...Valerie was much more than that. Valerie was one of the first black characters in the world of Saturday morning cartoons. She was certainly the first black girl. And she almost wasn't. Misters Hanna and Barbera wanted her to be white and the man who had put together the real-life version of "Josie and the Pussycats" held out to keep her black. Eventually Hanna and Barbera caved. Which begs the question, were Hanna and Barbera rascist? Thinking back on things like "Hong Kong Phooey" I guess we'd have to say yes to that. Valerie also functions as the voice of calm and reason. She is the group's diplomat. Never losing her head. Saving her friends asses over and over again. And she can play a mean two-fisted tambourine!
Yes, a group was put together to record the music for the cartoon band, put out an album, and make public appearances. Cheryl Ladd was Melody. It was extremely meta.
Shows like Josie and the Pussycats trafficked in stereotypes, certainly. Melody is the dumb blonde. Alexandra is the scheming she-devil. Josie is the good girl. Sebastian, despite being male, represents the myth of female deceptiveness and duplicity. A cat is a female archetype. A witch. But Sebastian's double-dealing always backfires on him. Another life lesson? Valerie is the smart one. But wait a minute...Valerie was much more than that. Valerie was one of the first black characters in the world of Saturday morning cartoons. She was certainly the first black girl. And she almost wasn't. Misters Hanna and Barbera wanted her to be white and the man who had put together the real-life version of "Josie and the Pussycats" held out to keep her black. Eventually Hanna and Barbera caved. Which begs the question, were Hanna and Barbera rascist? Thinking back on things like "Hong Kong Phooey" I guess we'd have to say yes to that. Valerie also functions as the voice of calm and reason. She is the group's diplomat. Never losing her head. Saving her friends asses over and over again. And she can play a mean two-fisted tambourine!
Yes, a group was put together to record the music for the cartoon band, put out an album, and make public appearances. Cheryl Ladd was Melody. It was extremely meta.
Yes, it had stereotypes; but stereotypes are often shortcuts to storytelling. Especially in a twenty-two minute cartoon. But even within the stereotypes there were subtle thwartings of said stereotypes. For example, Melody. She is depicted as being not particularly bright (in fact, she often suffers verbal abuse courtesy of Alexandra who has no qualms about telling Melody she's an idiot) but she often provides the gang with a heads up. Her ears wiggle when she senses danger. So Melody is smart in a different way. She's intuitive, if not psychic. She is in touch with her natural surroundings. Her intelligence is soul based. And she is kind to all. Or Sebastian. His/her duplicity is often shown to be for the greater good. His/her conniving often saves the collective ass as well. Just when you think Alan is nothing more than a set of muscles with a pretty face, he comes up with a good idea. Alexander Cabot is at heart a coward; but he will do what he has to to help out: even if that means grappling with a giant man-eating plant. Alexandra may be a raging "B" but the girl knows what she wants and will not give up trying to get it. She's not just strong willed. She's iron willed. She's kind of scary. And yet, she's inspiring. You never get the sense that it's Alan she really wants. What's she's doing is fighting to assert herself. She's an unforgettable character. She's kind of radical. Perhaps TV's first radical feminist. Josie, our lead, is perhaps the most unformed of the group; but I guess we can infer that she put the whole act together. And here she is, traversing the world fearlessly. Josie is not going to stay home, warming up baby bottles. The women are in charge in Josie and the Pussycats. It is Valerie who unapologetically does the mansplaining.
A year before Josie and company began their globe-trotting exploits, the above two young women were doing their own gallivanting without the benefit of parental supervision. They are of course, left to right, Velma and Daphne from Scooby-Doo Where Are You! (1969). If Scooby-Doo was the template for Josie and the Pussycats, then Velma became Valerie and Daphne would be Josie. Daphne and Velma (again, the last names of the all the characters are never uttered) are part of another gang of teens: Mystery Inc. The Mystery Inc. gang includes the two young women and also a goofy stoner-dude named Shaggy and an ascot wearing muscular blonde (again) boy named Fred who could be the twin brother of Alan, the Pussycat's roadie. And of course the titular Scooby-Doo (a talking Great Dane with an eating disorder). They drive around in a funky van known as "The Mystery Machine" solving mysteries, that, more often than not, they stumble into. There is pretty much zero back story on Mystery Inc. and the kids who make up its ranks. They seem to be high school age. But if they're in high school, when do they go to class? Are they drop-outs? They're out at all hours of the night, driving around all parts of the country seemingly at all times of the year. They're never hired by anyone, so they're not getting paid to solve the mysteries/crimes that they investigate. They never seem to wear outer-wear unless they're in the coldest of climates. The girls don't have purses. How do they pay for gas? How do they pay for food? How and where do they acquire Scooby-Snacks? What exactly is a Scooby-Snack? Are they mail order or can they be purchased at any local grocer?
And what about the sleeping arrangements? Sometimes they're seen in sleep-wear, the girls in one room of the spooky old house and the boys in the other. But what about when there is no dilapidated house to crash in? What are the sleeping arrangements in The Mystery Machine? That in itself is a mystery. The implication is that Daphne and Velma are even more emancipated than one could imagine. None of them ever speak of their parents or families. Of course, this was done so as not to bog down the narrative. But even a child, who can go with the flow of suspended disbelief, begins to question these things. The freedom that Daphne and Velma have is a little too much. Watching the show, you're concerned they might run into a Charles Manson type and run off with him. Not that they would. I don't know them like that.
Ultimately, the point is is that young women were being portrayed as bright, assertive, intelligent, independent people who didn't have to answer to some male authority figure. They are equals with the men they work with. In many cases, they are calling the shots and solving the problems. It is extremely pro-intelligent women: Velma and Valerie are the real linchpins on both shows. And this was for little kids to watch!
And what about the sleeping arrangements? Sometimes they're seen in sleep-wear, the girls in one room of the spooky old house and the boys in the other. But what about when there is no dilapidated house to crash in? What are the sleeping arrangements in The Mystery Machine? That in itself is a mystery. The implication is that Daphne and Velma are even more emancipated than one could imagine. None of them ever speak of their parents or families. Of course, this was done so as not to bog down the narrative. But even a child, who can go with the flow of suspended disbelief, begins to question these things. The freedom that Daphne and Velma have is a little too much. Watching the show, you're concerned they might run into a Charles Manson type and run off with him. Not that they would. I don't know them like that.
Ultimately, the point is is that young women were being portrayed as bright, assertive, intelligent, independent people who didn't have to answer to some male authority figure. They are equals with the men they work with. In many cases, they are calling the shots and solving the problems. It is extremely pro-intelligent women: Velma and Valerie are the real linchpins on both shows. And this was for little kids to watch!
Which brings us to Ms. Penelope Pitstop. She came the year before Velma and Daphne on a show called Wacky Races. That show dealt with a global car race, the participants behind the wheels of fantastical vehicles with various themes and appearances (I think one was like a haunted house on wheels?). Penelope, seemingly the only female in the race, drives a pink roadster called "The Compact Pussycat" (there's that word again. What's up Hanna-Barbera? Sexist too?). My sister and I loved Penelope! Of course we would. She was a little girl and I was a little gay boy. Penelope was the only reason to watch the show and she wasn't on nearly enough. Her car could do the most amazing things, like apply make-up while driving or convert into a roadside tea service. Perhaps Penelope's concerns focused more on vanity and leisure than winning the race; but yet, there she was--in the race. Another independent, self-sufficient young woman in a traditionally masculine role: race car driver. My sister and I must not have been alone in loving this dazzling girl. She got her own show. Unfortunately, when she did she went from being enigmatic to merely cliche. She was now the archetypal damsel in distress; getting tied to rail-road tracks and such. She said little more than "Help! Help!" in a southern fried accent and was always being rescued by a group of men. Really short 1920's gangsters. Hey, don't ask me. Penelope's solo vehicle was definitely a step backwards. Why couldn't she have been a crime fighter or secret agent or what have you? I guess you can't win them all.
The gentleman above is Iwao Takamoto. He designed Penelope Pitstop. He had spent four years of his life in a Japanese internment camp; so perhaps his yearning for freedom carried over into the spirit of Penelope and Velma and Daphne and Josie and Melody and Valerie and Alexandra. And perhaps too Dee-Dee, Brenda and Taffy. Wait, who?
By 1978, the liberation and independence was still there but it was beginning to devolve into a kind of sexism. Dee-Dee, Brenda and Taffy were three teen-age women who solved soft-serve crimes and mysteries along with "Captain Caveman"--a pre-historic hominid whose wooden club was also an all-purpose sort of tool-kit.
By 1978, the liberation and independence was still there but it was beginning to devolve into a kind of sexism. Dee-Dee, Brenda and Taffy were three teen-age women who solved soft-serve crimes and mysteries along with "Captain Caveman"--a pre-historic hominid whose wooden club was also an all-purpose sort of tool-kit.
A sort of spoof of Charlie's Angels (and now we're really getting meta) while simultaneously a mash-up of Scooby, Josie, and The Flintstones; Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels was a high-concept that must've been conceived when somebody was actually high. If you can get past the absurd premise, what you have is a show about three comely young women hanging out with a dirty old man. He's not dirty in the sexual sense; but he is a bit on the skanky side. And there is a sort of prurience about the Teen Angels. They go through all the tropes of the one's who came before them; but now the emphasis is on their curvy figures, tight clothes and playing second fiddle to a male who is literally a throw-back to the archetypal cave-man. I mean, "Cavey" is kind of cute and he's certainly the Teen Angels' protector...but it somehow seemed that things had taken three giant steps backwards.
So, let's ask the questions again: were Hanna and Barbera sexist and/or racist? Well, I think the answer is yes and no and no and yes. Their young female characters were more often than not eye-candy, yet, they were still independent women. Perhaps they originally didn't want Valerie to be black; but they eventually gave in. And then Valerie was sort of resurrected as Dee-Dee (another level-headed brainiac). They also hired Mr. Takamoto and had the faith in him to create dozens (maybe more) of their most beloved characters. Hanna and Barbera lasted a long time as a team. They met and began working together in the 1930's, a decade not particularly known for political correctness. Racism and sexism couldn't help but work its way into their output. I guess we should be thankful that there's as little of it as there is. But, yes, they gave the go-ahead for all of these projects. They had the final say. And they gave us Josie and Velma and Daphne and Valerie and...
Hanna and Barbera, proto-feminists? Maybe? Who knew? But I'm glad they brought these young women into my living room at an impressionable age. I still want to hang out with the Pussycats and Mystery Inc. A road trip with Penelope Pitstop? Where are my pink goggles? These characters were inspirational. Who knows, maybe Danica Patrick watched Wacky Races on Saturday mornings and Penelope P. inspired her to get behind the wheel. Maybe Joan Jett and Belinda Carlisle watched Josie and the Pussycats over a big bowl of sugar frosted cereal and said to themselves. "Right there...that's what I wanna do."
So, let's ask the questions again: were Hanna and Barbera sexist and/or racist? Well, I think the answer is yes and no and no and yes. Their young female characters were more often than not eye-candy, yet, they were still independent women. Perhaps they originally didn't want Valerie to be black; but they eventually gave in. And then Valerie was sort of resurrected as Dee-Dee (another level-headed brainiac). They also hired Mr. Takamoto and had the faith in him to create dozens (maybe more) of their most beloved characters. Hanna and Barbera lasted a long time as a team. They met and began working together in the 1930's, a decade not particularly known for political correctness. Racism and sexism couldn't help but work its way into their output. I guess we should be thankful that there's as little of it as there is. But, yes, they gave the go-ahead for all of these projects. They had the final say. And they gave us Josie and Velma and Daphne and Valerie and...
Hanna and Barbera, proto-feminists? Maybe? Who knew? But I'm glad they brought these young women into my living room at an impressionable age. I still want to hang out with the Pussycats and Mystery Inc. A road trip with Penelope Pitstop? Where are my pink goggles? These characters were inspirational. Who knows, maybe Danica Patrick watched Wacky Races on Saturday mornings and Penelope P. inspired her to get behind the wheel. Maybe Joan Jett and Belinda Carlisle watched Josie and the Pussycats over a big bowl of sugar frosted cereal and said to themselves. "Right there...that's what I wanna do."
