Act Your Age

                  

I haven't watched Disney Channel's cartoon Phineas and Ferb in a while, but when I saw that a new special had aired and showed the wiz-kids as teenagers, entitled Act Your Age, I just had to check it out. Phineas and Ferb is a smart show. This episode was not smart. 

The show itself focuses on step-brothers Phineas and Ferb, who are somewhere between the ages of 8 and 12, who are spending their endless summer with their friends building contraptions and doing extraordinary things. This episode takes place when they're teenagers, and they're at the end of their summer before college. This is something I think fans had wanted to see for some time, but it turned out to be very cliche, forced, and rather sexist.

This episode is mainly about Phineas and Isabella, one of Phineas's best friends who has had a crush on him since they were kids, getting together. Their friends try to force them together, which is creepy and weird. It's full of John Hughes/ 80’s boy-girl dynamics. This episode hardly focuses on any other characters. Ferb is going to study abroad and he and Phineas are shown with little interaction. The episode is literally all about forcing Phineas and Isabella together. 

The sexism and gender stereotypes run rampant in this episode. For example, Phineas laments to his male friends that he is the "friendzone" (ugh) when it comes to Isabella, when his friend Baljeet tells him not really, since she's liked him since they were kids. Baljeet says Isabella's crush was obvious. Phineas says he never knew and why didn't anyone tell him and Baljeet replies "We are guys. We do not talk about feelings." Ah, the stereotype that men don't have feelings. The other example I find even worse. Ginger, one of Isabella's friends, is dating Baljeet. She is trying to get Baljeet to see the movie she wants to see (via text) so her friend Adyson tells her to "manipulate the situation" to get what she wants, and worse, it works. So this episode teaches the young kids that are watching this that boys have no feelings and girls are manipulative.

Maybe I've changed or maybe the show has changed, or maybe both, but episode tried way too hard. It was like watching fanfiction. A very sexist, cliched, forced, 80's-movie-esque, alternate universe, dull fanfiction. It was certainly not the smart Phineas and Ferb I know and love, but fans still love it anyway, all because Phineas and Isabella got together.

The Mystery Twins!

Disney's Gravity Falls is a positive show for children when it comes to gender. Of it's 5 main characters, 2 are vastly different females. Mabel, pictured above with her twin brother Dipper, is feminine, girly, quirky, and shown as very confident, however she thinks that if she lost her 'cuteness' she'd be nothing. Wendy, pictured below, works at the twin's great uncle (Gruncle Stan)'s store, The Mystery Shack. She is a laid back, somewhat tomboyish teenager who loves to have fun. Wendy lists off the list of guys she's dated to Mabel, who is seeking relationship advice. Even though Wendy has a long list of guys, some she can't even remember, this never makes anyone viewer negatively, as shows/the media usually do when a girl or woman has dated many guys.

Besides positive portrayals of female characters, Gravity Falls also has episodes dedicated to tackling topics like creepy boys, the 'friendzone', girls don't 'owe' boys, what true manliness is, being true to yourself. 

Creepy Boys, The 'Friendzone', and that Girls Don't 'Owe' Boys

Gravity Falls accurately shows a creepy boy who feels he is friendzoned in The Hand That Rocks the Mabel. Lil' Gideon (shown below with Mabel), a 10-year-old psychic who is the twin's Gruncle Stan's arch-rival, befriends Mabel. He is adorable and pampered, and falls in love with Mabel. They start off as friends who really seem to hit it off; they do makeovers and somewhat girly things, but Gideon starts to make things weird and makes Mabel uncomfortable. She doesn't want to date him, but feels as though it's against her nature to turn him down. He asks her out in front of the whole town, where everyone loves Gideon (one old woman even says she'll literally die if Mabel doesn't say yes). Mabel can longer stand it and asks Dipper to tell Gideon she doesn't want to date him. Dipper says of course he'll do it; he doesn't like seeing his sister in great pain. After Dipper confronts Gideon, Gideon tries to kill Dipper. Gideon believes Mabel owes him because 1) he always get's what he wants and 2) he did nice stuff for her. After Gideon tries to kill Dipper and get his revenge, Mabel puts her foot down and uses Gideon's powers against him,. This episode, however, is not the only one that tackles the topic of girls don't 'owe' boys.

The other episode that tackles this is Boyz Crazy, where Dipper proves to Wendy that current boyfriend Robbie was hypnotizing her. She is sad and heartbroken, and breaks up with Robbie for lying to her. Dipper, who likes Wendy, asks her if she wants to get ice cream or something and she gets angry because she is still heartbroken and does not owe Dipper even though he did the right thing. Both of these examples are good for young girls as it teaches them that they do not owe boys anything for being nice.