My reaction to Maya from The Proud Family Louder and Prouder. Was she too woke? Was she a joke? From the colorism to the slave owner episode, there is so much to discuss!!! #proudfamily #theproudfamily
Didn’t his husband also insult him with ‘white fragility’ stuff? That feels like insulting someone then expecting them to do do something for you screams hypocrisy and entitlement. Not to mention, like you said, ‘white privilege’ had nothing to do with that situation. It was a scenario that was going out of control.
@@knowledgeseeker4614 eh I think the white fragility part is justified he was denying that his ancestors couldn't have POSSIBLY had slaves and got kinda defensive You can point out stuff like that and still love the person and he did accept that he did have white fragility
@@strange0130 if we can use black fragility fine but we all know we can't. ether it is wrong to use black Fragility then, it would be wrong to use white fragility
Another moment I didn’t like with Maya was when she was being buddies with LaCeinaga trying to steal penny’s boyfriend….like girl why are you so miserable 😂. She disliked penny for being “superficial” but end up being friends with the most superficial one in the group. Like Make it make sense.
I dislike Maya as a character. She's supposed to be this woke person, but she just comes off as someone who just wakes up pissed off at the world and looking to make everyone else miserable
Maya is basically Huey Freeman, but more of a jerk and she's also hypocritical She's also like those annoying activists who say that they want to change things but don't actually do anything I was in between liking and hating her at first but after the colorism episode and other terrible moments now I just mostly hate her Also yes Huey is an amazing character
I used to see maya as a annoying character Controversial and stars up drama But bullied for having two dads That's where I draw the line No one should be bullied even if they are controversial figures
@@abdullahibouraleh6919Women thinks that white people are evil just because they're all the bad things caused by them. But that's not entirely true they're really taught to hate and that Ideology about white supremacy has always been denounced and heavily removed Why people aren't evil just misguided But the same thing can happen to Africans who can become misguided and en. D up becoming the very thing did They oppose
It really says something when they were making Maya to be “Woke.” Only they used the urban dictionary term instead of the literal definition. Maya is just rude, abrasive, holler than thou, and a absolute hypocrite. She’ll fight for the rights of a panda. That doesn’t even want to be fought for. Yet won’t lift a finger for her own family. She’ll bring in a rumor that she doesn’t even know is true or not about Noah only liking white girls. And joins in with the other girls icing out Zoe. But then come in at the end with the “we girls gotta stick together,” line. She’ll demand other people check there privilege. Yet is completely tone deaf of her own. Maya is just another terrible cringey addition to the terrible friend list of penny proud.
I miss Sticky … they didn’t even bring in another funny, cool guy they brought in a Discount Boondocks character and … what was the other one called? … I wanna say … Larry? 😒😒😒
@@LadyLeomon They did have Micheal but his only personality is just being "The gay boy" of the group. I mean it's cool if he's gay but why does that have to be his whole personality?
if Maya was really woke she would've told Penny how fake her friends really are and would've told her to cut them off & go make some "real friends" instead!!!
@@mizv4043fr, nor do they speak about how it’s kinda fucked up that they portray the only dark skinned girl of the friend group as a predator towards him. While I think it’s good to show men can be victims, they played his harassment and abuse as a joke, and demonized dark skinned black girls from the hood. Like, Maya could’ve asked Dijonay about Sticky, and through context clues could’ve confronted her about how gross she was acting. Hell, she could’ve called PENNY out for simping for that celebrity and trying to cheat on Kareem! Like, they did both the dark girls so dirty, and trivialized real world problems.
Maya is basically the "social justice warrior" archetype that incels and alpha male geeks think how all queer people and feminists act. All she needed was short blue hair lol
@almightytallestdarrow2009 As a geek, I'd appreciate if you didn't affiliate said incels and fake alpha males with people like me. I mean sure I'm miserable but that's because I'm busy holding a job, pursuing a writing career, and looking for a new apartment to move into. Not like those guys who are miserable because they keep looking in the wrong places for the kind of woman they want...
Everyone thinks that. Mainly because most interaction on the internet is with that kind of activists. You can easily notice, if someone fits the stereotype and increases the statistics, because they group all who're "against" them and put them under one umbrella.
Why did you need to involve the word "incel" or "Alpha geeks" for that matter??? I find many SJW's to be very obnoxious and judgemental people who place to themselves high on a pedestal all because they can at least read at a 3rd grade level and believe they're the better part of society all because of where they stand politically. When in reality they're just as grimey as the next person. Maybe worst in some cases.
I feel Maya is more fake woke? It feels like she will be the type to jump onto the newest social issue but only have surface-level knowledge. I wasn't sure if that was the intention of making a character who isn't really an activist but making it look like she is? I feel like the writers missed the mark on her from the beginning. Like why hate Penny right off the bat if she's genuinely trying to be nice?? Where was the "activist" mindset? How is Makeup Boy "woke"? For wearing makeup? Penny makes a better activist than Maya, which doesn't make sense to me. Then she's a background character in that one episode with Penny having a deep singing voice -- wouldn't the "woke" person in her refuse to sing a song about being cuter than someone????
That’s actually pointed out IN the show itself. When LaCienega and Maya are at Kareem’s music practice, she excitedly talks to LaCienega about a famous misconception about Beethoven being a quadroon. Instead of actually supporting a black musician - Kareem - and paying attention to his practice, she’s on her phone spreading misinformation about another musician clearly thinking it means something.
She definitely strikes me as being the sort of person who reads one article on a subject and thinks it makes them an expert. Real activism needs to be informed by an understanding of complex issues, but like you say she's only working with surface-level knowledge, so she's more talk than substance.
The way Randal started talking to Barry about him having "white privilege" and whatnot strikes me as icky. Maybe it's just me, but it's weird how they were married for years, in a relationship beforehand for who-knows-how-long, yet Randall springs this stuff on his husband out of nowhere and rubs it in his face. Surely, they should have settled their differences long beforehand and, surely, there are better ways to handle this kind of thing with your spouse. The way I see it, it's an awful precedent to set in a marriage, and I'm not sure if the writers intended to showcase what would realistically be a hostile domestic life.
yeah it was never shown as a problem before and now hes being racist towards his own husband?? seriously messed up, yet the show plays it completely straight.
A VERY LONG RANT INCOMING: I can't stand Maya. She doesn't feel like a character at all, she feel more like a talking piece for all the people to spew their politicial nonsense. Also she doesn't really feel like a parody of the "Woke Activist" trope, but instead just feels like a quintessential example of that trope. Like the show never treats Maya or the stuff she says as a joke, like they play it completely straight. As for her character, She's a rude, arrogant, and delusional know-it-all who constantly looks down on the rest of the friends, which isn't a problem in and of itself, the issue is that the show doesn't treat any of those negative traits as wrong or bad, or does she get any comeuppance for the things she does like she did things like break into a zoo and tried to kidnap a very dangerous animal(She was lucky Shuggie was so chill otherwise this would have turned into an animated remake of the Revenant) to spreading around what was essentially a unverified rumor across the friend group and didn't bother looking into it to see if it was true(Ik this applies to the whole group but Maya was the obe who brought it up, so the burden of evidence is on her). In general, Louder and Prouder suffers from writing(Both a storytelling perspective and a character perspective) and Maya is one of the worst examples of that flaw
I really hate Maya, she gives activitist a bad man. It really annoys me when a fictional activist character is portratyed as always have to find somthing wrong with the world to complain about it. The reason why most activist characters don't work for me is writers aren't able to show the hardships and risk of being an activist. Maya literally broke into a zoo and never got punished for it. One of only times I've ever liked an episode or show that displays activist is in the The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in the episode Those Were the Days (S2E20). In that episode it showed the reality and risk of being activist instead of making seem like an activist can get away with anything.
Maya doesn't give activists a bad name, the activists that she exemplifies do. Like Maya is like ACTUAL people that exist in real life, real activists act this way. Not all of them but don't blame the bad rep of activists on fiction and writers when the reality that inspired them is right there
I know which episode you are talking about. I recently got into Fresh Prince and saw that one, with Phil and Vivian's old activist friend. Honestly, I could see both sides. On the one hand, I get the activist lady for trying to do more in her work of fighting for what she is believes in. And often times, protesting and raising up signs is not always going to be enough to spark change. But on the other hand, considering the crimes that lady committed that could have hurt many people, I ask myself if it was worth it for her? Especially when she had given up so much only for her actions to not have a positive impact on the world? The thing about Phil is, while he did stop being an activist, he traded his profession for something better: Law and order in becoming a lawyer and later on, a judge. Sure, he is no longer actively protesting, but he seems to be making actual change for the black community by being in a position that gives him the power to change. Meanwhile, the activist lady is going about her protests in an extreme way to the point it becomes a legal issue. And it also caused her to lose her friends and not have a family as a result. In the end, Phil tells her that he is happy with what he has and he is making changes, just not in the way she agrees with, but that's the whole point. My takeaway from that episode is that, if people really want change, then they need to do more than just protest. You can take action, but there is a right and wrong way to do it. If you feel that strongly about what you believe in and want to fight for those rights, you could go into law, because that's the best way to ensure it. Of course it's not an easy route, but nothing in life is easy. That's the theme of the episode. Change doesn't happen over night, it takes time and effort. Which is a concept lost on today's activists, especially the more extreme ones.
Yeah they clearly made Maya “woke” in the pejorative sense of the word. Being “woke” is her character flaw in the eyes of the writers ✍️ I hate that she’s another stereotype of a dark skin girl with a chip on her shoulder.
It's funny how she says she wants to be the change of the world and yet she's just another stereotype of not just one thing but many things! The dark skin girl with the chip on her shoulder, the archetype of what people think queer and minorities act, the archetype of a hateful feminists that hates all men. I wanted to like her when they first announced her but she is the most unlikeable new addition. In fact, I think she's possibly the worst character in the series period!
I think you got it wrong because you feel some type of way of criticisms being made about “wokeness” so you refuse to see the bigger picture. I’d like to preface this by saying that you shouldn’t be surprised that Maya is a stereotype. Since the original show, A lot of characters are exaggerated stereotypes of people you meet in life, so Maya would obviously be no exception. Dijonay, for example, is an exaggerated version of the fair-weather friend that a lot of people have had growing up. She also comes from a bad family with a lot of siblings, another stereotype. Lacienega was a mean girl stereotype, at least until she got some character development and became a little less mean and more of a frenemy. There are, unfortunately, a lot of people like Maya in real life who make being woke their entire personality and pride, and then don’t practice what they preach. Back on Maya’s character flaw, though, it isn’t being “woke,” her character FLAWS are being arrogant and hypocritical, or basically “fake woke”. She shits on others to make herself feel morally superior, but doesn’t follow through on her own preachings. Her character feels more like an exaggerated reflection and criticism of the very real “fake woke” people who act like her, rather than a criticism of “wokeness” itself. It isn’t saying that being “woke” is inherently a bad thing, to me it’s saying that people like Maya aren’t helping the cause because they become so annoyingly preachy that no one wants to listen to some of the very valid points they make, but also that they ditch adhering to their cause when it’s convenient for them. These are bad things, and that goes without saying. I’m surprised the new Proud Family was “brave” enough to portray “wokeness” in a critical light knowing that people would take offense to it not being deemed universally a positive thing.
Babe how is it a stereotype when there are women out there exactly like this today? Like the one girl who for an old statue torn down, or basically ruined an white woman’s life just by twisting her words around? Hate to break it to you, but this character is emulating some people today.
My problem with Maya is that she isn't a character, she's a plot device. In the original Proud Family there would be episodes based around issues like discrimination and learning your history, sexism, sexualization, learning about other cultures and integrating them into your own life, Islamophobia, etc. but each of those episodes had different character teaching Penny and her friends about those problems. Because Penny isn't much of an activist and didn't take much notice of social issues (as do most teens), but if there's something that the writers want the main characters to learn about, they just stick Maya in there to act as an incentive for the other characters to take action.
Have you also noticed how the newer characters are all drawn to be more 'serious' like Maya is drawn with detailed hair- but still a more in-line design. But then other characters who are meant to be taken seriously are purposefully drawn with more features, chiseled jawlines on some, more detailed hair, complex clothing patterns. Meanwhile Penny's dad is just a stringbean with legs.
I like the way Mayas black father shouted out to his husband during that riot like "Do something with your white privledge!" as if him being a white person in this scenerio means he is basically superman.
Kiwi is a baby omg 😍 I think the writers used maya as a vessel for their grievances with woke folk… which sucks. They already have dijonay as the token dark skin girl, and of course her parents are gay. I wish they wrote more episodes with her brother, he seems more levelheaded
honestly I’ve only seen clips and summaries of the new proud family but from what I hear, Maya’s a classic example of somebody that uses her political standing and understanding of social issues to act like she’s a better person than everyone else. She always talks about opinions that make her look like a good person but that’s all it is, talking. Cuz she knows damn well she barely even understands the nuances of hot button social issues. She’s also super judgmental of people she doesn’t even know. Like on her 1st episode penny literally went outta her way to introduce herself to maya and welcome her into the neighborhood and this bitch said “bye, yo ass look privileged” LIKE BITCH SHE WAS BEING NICE SHE DIDNT DO NOTHING. Like ain’t she supposed to not judge ppl based on how they look like she straight up was calling penny a Oreo and she don’t even know her like that’s mad racist to me personally. she and her brother was getting bullied for having two dads, she didn’t even do shit. Like if she’s supposed to be woke and defending lgbt ppl like wouldn’t she defend her own PARENTS. like that’s yo dad, AND YO DAD. especially that colorism episode which by the way was literally not even about colorism it was just abt bitches being jealous even tho they already got a man OKAY. Like maya was talkin shit abt Zoe just bc Noah likes Zoe and not the other girls. Talkin bout how Noah only likes white girls even tho there’s literally no evidence. Like use context clues. ANNOTATE BITCH. And even if he did only like white girls, why’s that Zoe’s fault? Like she didn’t know he was gonna like her. It makes more sense that Noah likes Zoe bc Zoe was the only girl who didn’t like him so he was tryna chase her. unpopular opinion but people should be allowed to have preferences. As long as Noah treat black women with as much respect as he treats white women, why does it matter he likes snowbunnies. Like you can prefer a certain type of women and still treat women who aren’t that type with respect. Plus, her parents are literally a interracial couple. She outta everyone should know interracial couples are good. Like ain’t that what white ppl did in the 1800s where they wouldn’t let black ppl marry white ppl? if she’s supposed to be woke wouldn’t she realize how racist shaming interracial couples is?? I’m not tryna be condescending but I’m just saying bro. She talkin bout white fragility when she got black fragility cuz she can’t even stand the thought of people of different races fornicating. in general, I just hate ppl like maya. People who are so holier than thou who use movements or religions to make themselves look better even tho they don’t understand the true beliefs behind those movements and religions but claim to be this amazing person and thinks it gives them the right to judge others based on the tiniest things. Especially since who takes the fall? The people who actually believe in the movement/religion. The actual teachings, beliefs and nuances of the movement or religion get overlooked because outsiders just see haters like this and disregards the actual good stuff abt the movement or religion.
Preach it! My is beyond fake and should’ve been dealt with for all her actions especially for the colorism episode (which I am still angry at all of them for) and the LGBT and Autism episodes! The show definitely needs to improve on its writing and developments.
You know one thing that's especially obnoxious was when they announced this show, the magats who for some reason follow Disney's facebook page were complaining when they announced this character because you know, woke. Can't have a black person who wants social justice in a show like Proud Family! But then the show comes out and she's even worse than the magats assumed she'd be, so it's like... way to prove literal racists right, writers.
@@FrenkTheJoythey aren't racists and we're proven completely correct because that is the political bs Disney has been shoving into almost everything. Disney politicizing or black washing crap does not make the person refusing to watch it racist. Quite the opposite actually
When I watched the early season one episodes with Maya in them, she felt like a spitefully made character. She's like an amalgamation of some of the criticisms the original show received for the past 20 years.
@@nueshb4797 oh. Without spoiling anything . . . the last few episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion were not well-received by fans, and some of said fans harassed the creator of the series. He responded by making End of Evangelion, a movie that is basically "the events that happened in the world while Shinji did his thing in the final episodes" out of sheer spite for the entitled people that demanded that he read their minds and write _their_ Evangelion finale instead of the story that he was trying to tell. And it is painfully obvious that it was made out of spite.
Honestly, it feels like the show's writers don't know what they're doing with the characters anymore. Maya, while interesting, is just another wishy washy friend. I honestly wish they could have done more with her and give some background for her and KG. And honestly, I'd rather KG get more focus than just being the replacement tech guy that Sticky used to be. But then again this show hasn't been doing right by the male characters. Myron, Kareem, and Darius are more examples of this too.
Hi Kiwi! Some people don't know the real definition of being "woke." Plus, idk why Maya disliked Penny for. Can someone explain why Maya disliked Penny?
I agree @adrianalasprilla27 that episode where Maya was introduced and on top of that having a stank attitude towards Penny is just ridiculous. But I can say this. I experienced this first-hand when I was in middle and high school. It made me feel uncomfortable and hard to even approach or introduce myself to people. ☹️
@@nightingalewednesdaynightmare I'm sorry that happened to you. Plus, she had the absolute nerve to call Penny shady or shallow and befriend LaCienaga when LaCienaga is exactly what she called Penny. Plus, LaCienaga is a th0t.
Her character would have been infinitely more interesting if she was called out for her flaws shortly after her introduction. Imagine an episode where she proposed a protest and got on the group's case for not being privy to a specific issue, but flaked at the last second so she could attend a different movement. She just gets caught up in making change that she doesn’t commit to anything fully, and she can even reveal that she gets overwhelmed by it all
Or have her called out for her bullying Penny and hanging around her friend group, just to cause a problem. Would've been nice to have someone like Michael tell her off for causing tension in his friend group which is his only safe place. Admittedly, I hated that the one episode where we could've had some good characterization for her (episode 4) and show that maybe that woke side was a reaction to seeing her dads having to deal with discrimination like they were dealing with.. instead, we get a lot of cringey humor in a serious storyline.
I think a way they could develop her is for her to challenge her own activism. Realize a lot of the issues she faces are not all black and white (no pun intended). Help her learn some nuance, because kids nowadays really need to learn that there is nuance in every situation and that not every issue is one side or the other. If they could show her confronting her own biases and growing from them, while still remaining passionate about causes she cares about? That would be amazing.
Maya was truly a hypocrite. I was fine with her being “woke,” but she just seemed to flip flop all over the place. And she did not seem like a kind person to be honest
That's literally every woke activist I've ever encountered. Blatant lies and hypocrisy to just push power and demand others to bend the knee to them. They can literally say A one second and B the next
I feel like the creators purposely wrote Maya to be the way she is to make fun of woke people in real life. When I think of the term woke, I think of it for people like Maya, who are hypocritical, mean but won’t admit it, judgemental, rude, and talk a lot with no bite. However, wokeness isn’t a bad thing but is seen as a bad thing when you have people like Maya who are performative activists. They don’t care what they’re truly fighting for; they want to boost their ego and have an excuse to be nasty to people. They could have given Maya this character arc where, because she’s so young and not knowledgeable in what she’s “fighting” for, she doesn’t understand how activism works. Then, when she gets these new experiences when she’s with the group, through them and her own experiences, she develops into someone better.
Why can’t there be a soft, dorky, confident, cool dark skin girl ever? Like people are so scared to give it us. Which doesn’t matter, we will just create it on our own.
That 'white fragility' shit was offensive, sorry. Especially when his husband was bringing up that his ancestors had slaves, like what do you want bro to do??? I do not practice ancestral worship. They do not dictate who I am as a person.
Like fr. Why did you even married that guy if that bothered you. It was like he just waited for the day to bring such crap up to him for whatever reason.
Maya may have a lot of flaws, but I relly love the episode where she helps the ghost girl. It showed that she can be a nice person 2hen she tries and her actions throughout the episode were completely selfless. It was also heartwarming seeing her be so happy at the end. I hope season 3 continues this development by having her be q well adjusted person who genuinely wants to make the world a better place.
Except the ghost "girl" lied to her and even faked her age to sway her. There were no slaves in that state and her narrative was more like slandering the man than anything.
In my opinion Maya should have been the fashionista of the group, like Maya should have been into fashion and modeling, she would have been into black models and black fashion, not to mention her VA is a model herself, both her and Michael would have been a good duo when it came to styling and fashion.
It seems strange to me that Maya's dads wouldn't have had some tough convos about race before this ep, especially having adopted 2 black kids. I haven't seen the ep so idk if they explained anything about their relationship, but like,,, they're married, and probably have been for a while if they were able to adopt (depending on the circumstances of the adoption). Even if the black dad was one of those "colorblind" folks and avoided talking about race before this ep, his behavior in the clips still doesn't make sense
@@bobtheball5384 Yes, necessarily. A lot of “woke” people DO act like Maya and they are not only deeply unlikeable, but they are harmful to their own cause.
yeah I gotta agree about the inconsistencies. I thought she'd be a hypocrite who would slowly learn to have more self-reflection, while still standing up to her core beliefs. Despite her rough start with Penny, she could have been her realest friend. Stand up to the fake friends, like Dijonay. But instead, she's just an annoying woke character who just complains. But even that's not consistent or unique. Most of the time, she's just a fake friend who fades into the background. She doesn't stand out from the group or do anything memorable.
Exactly...she definitely fades in the background most of the time. Ig in the writers eyes they felt they needed another darker skin girl whos mean jaded and always has attitude. 😂
Leave it to Disney to never explain what happened to the biological parents of these two characters in question, like we're supposed to believe interracial gay men adopted two black kids who are brother & sister with explaining their background origin. Not to mention bad writing of this cartoon revival.
I was looking forward to Maya when I saw her design. I thought she would be the straight man of the group. Like Penny can easily get too "I need to help everyone" or "I need to get this done or everything will go wrong", Dijonay is self centered, Lacienega is mean, focus on herself and a friend bully, as Zoey is shy, blends into the back, and quickly joins in with what the group wants. I thought she would be the one who calls them out. Sadly, she is another version of Lacienega. She is mean, self centered, and super focused on only what she wants 'if it causes issues oh well, that is another person's problem' type of personality (only difference is reading (to try to make her look smart) and the 'woke' which is not really woke more like what is the popular woke. She is boring. Penny does not need another 'friend' who is an enemy.
There is more truth than poetry to the saying, "Go woke and go broke." Not only is Maya's character largely hampered by being woke, but woke is pretty much all she is, with nothing much in the way of other personality or character traits. The concept of Maya getting in touch with her birth family likewise is a very clever concept that might have opened up new possibilities, as well as new facets to Maya's character.
What would be hilarious and challenge her is if she met her birth mom and it turns out her birth mom is white. Have Maya, try to shame her, the way she tries to shame everyone, after seeing KG instantly take a shine to her and then, instead of the way everyone in her friend group bows to her word, her mother actually gets *hurt* and upset with how she's being treated. Make Maya try to walk it back and have her bio mom ask her what she really meant. Maybe it builds up because Maya sees her mother is young-ish and has what she thinks is an ideal life, maybe Maya has a half sibling who is clearly getting all the affection she felt she lacked. "Well... you gave up two little black babies... Clearly there's something wrong there. Maybe some bias you weren't' aware you had!" "Maya, I was a baby myself... I was sixteen... My parents said adoption or we all wind up in the street. I couldn't keep you, even if I wanted to... even if it killed me to give you up that day... You think I wanted to!? You think I wanted to spend fourteen years not knowing my first borns? And not having ANYONE call me-" "They what?" Have Barry and Randall also admit, maybe they did look down on Maya's mother as well... to them, she was the key to getting their kids, but past their goal of becoming parents, she didn't exist to them after that. maybe she was supposed to have an open adoption and they decided instead to cut contact fully... maybe Randall himself, admitting it's his own bias and Barry finally asking if he was proud that he made their own child a proud BIGOT.
@@KathyHarrington I wish they'd do something like this, to try to develop them past the "Woke points" especially since there's a LOT of stigma around adoption as well and Maya maybe realizing prejudice isn't as (pun not intended) black and white as she thinks... Having her dads admit they looked down on a teenage girl who only provided them with what THEY wanted and make her question her motives. Have her mom, reveal that she was a lot like Maya, marched in rights rallies, protested and fought the good fight , even admit she got sent to juvie overnight once for one
I haven’t watched The Proud Family reboot/re-whatever, but is Maya supposed to be written as a joke on the SJW stereotype or written to actually be like that and come across as serious or unironic? Cause I would think there’s a way to write such a character like that without thinking the show or movie is being “woke”. It has been done before as opposed to these days where it’s hard to tell.
There was an episode where a popular boy of color asked Zoe out to the school dance rather than the other girls (and Michael). Everyone was cool about it at first, before Maya randomly walks by and mentions the boy only dates white girls. Then suddenly there's a problem with the situation.
Not that I've ever watched the show but from the clips I've seen, the girls ditched their dark skinned boyfriends because they wanted to go out with the popular boy (who is lighter skinned). It's fine when they do it but when there's a rumor with no proof that he only dates white girls, suddenly it's an issue
I find it funny that in this reboot, hardly any of Penny's friends or Penny, ever had a problem with anyone until Maya stirs the fire (or pot in this metaphor?) and then they all turn to the white people as their scapegoat. Like as a white woman, I understand I have white privilege and all that but why does Maya have to put her father, Barry on full blast just because he was descended from a white slave owner without realizing his ancestor was a slave owner. I mean that has nothing to do with Barry since Barry was merely celebrating the founding of the town and he adopted Maya and her brother and loves them immensely.That really pisssed me of because Maya was shown to be close with him. And don't get me started on that whole stupid famous boy who chose Zoey over Penny and the others and all of them blamed Zoey for that just because Maya mentions her cousin telling her that boy prefers white girls or lighter skinned girls or whatever. Surely there was a better way to go about that story cause that was absurd and Penny let Maya stir up trouble instead of sticking by Zoey, who is the least mean spirited one of her friend group (I mean how many times as Dijonay and Lacienaga dumped Penny for a cute guy or some other cool girl or whatever in the og series? A lot. And Zoey only did so due to peer pressure but Zoey was almost always the first one to apologize and stand up for Penny. Sorry for my rant, I grew up watching Proud Family and while i can't ever truly or fully understand all the struggles POCs go thru, I do enjoy my character arcs and seeing characters in shows like The Proud Family going thru thier own arcs and development and becoming better character for it. Want to have a character that's an activist, woke, or whatever? Go for it but they can't be hypocritical or hateful because if I remember correctly Woke means being aware of political and social issues and trying to fix them for everyone! (well that's how I see "being woke" as. Not bringing up an issue and forcing your opinions down others throats and harassing them and bullying them). If the creators wanted to make Maya their mouth piece for speaking on woke issues, than that's fine but that one episode where Penny and the girls ganged up on Zoey over a man's preference for white girls just made me put myself in the shoes of a white pretenn girl who may have enjoyed the show. That white girl may have thought that she doesn't deserve to date that cute black guy (or cute hispanic guy or asian guy) in her math class because they're two different races and she'll be racist in the eyes of other girls if she tries to. That's a fucked up message to send to your audience esp when you step outside and you see lots of interracial couples walking around in the world.
I'm like super late to the party here and I hope you don't mind this reply. I agree with everything you said. I feel like the Proud Family reboot is just unnecessarily cruel to white people.
I'm woke myself but even i have to admit how horribly written maya is. If anything, this character is doing more of a disservice towards everyone who actually cares and fight for causes.
The thing about Maya is. That she is herself is fake. She claims to be an activist of sorts yet fails to follow through. Take the time she tried to free the panda. Her plan was to just get him out of his cage. But she had no means of getting him back to the wild or knowledge of if he could survive. And she's openly causes rifts between friendships. And has almost no impathy for other peoples pain. Sure maybe some people in history don't deserve to be honored. But is it really right to condemn people for not meeting certain ideals.
I never really watched this show, but I've seen a few reviews of the show, and from what I can tell form what i've seen and the comments, the show about Penny, her terrible black girlfriends, and the one white friend who gets bullied/peer pressured into following the group. The Founder episode is the one that turned me off to the idea of watching the show in general, because Maya's dads, who I assume married each other due to actually loving each other, are practically in a miniature race war, with the black dad trying to shame the white one simply for being white. That would be such a shitty thing to do in real life, and it makes me question why the black dad would marry a white guy if he holds so much prejudice against white people. Plus, I'm just personally sick of "white people bad" plots in media. I still say that the best race related story ever told in cartoon media is that one Static Shock episode, and no one is ever gonna top that cause it was told so well, and didn't say "all people of ____ race are irredeemable racist", just that there are some racist people out there, and some of them just need to be show that their point of view is wrong.
I like characters who are different. A example i love is the addams family, the family is seen as wierd to outsiders. And the addams family thought the outsiders are wierd. But despite that they were kind to others. Despite being different. Its okay to be different and like different things. But be kind. And maya, if she was different and was a activist. But if she was kind. I would of liked her more.
Which is exactly the point of her character. Just like how Lacienega is absolutely everyone’s idea of a mean character, Zoey is everyone’s idea of the nerdy white girl, Dijonay is everyone’s idea of a fair-weather friend, etc. etc. the show is filled with stereotypes.
It make me relieved to see someone criticize something as woke without being homophobic or judgmental. Cus most of the time when people call others "woke" It's in an insulting way but this is a justified criticism. Cus the woke character is actually a bad character cus they're mean
The biggest problem with this show and mayas character: Show! Don't! Tell!! Dont have her say she's a woke activist, actually just show her doing activism!! Don't shout "use your white privilege!" And just toss him a book or whatever, show don't tell! Show his journey of doing something ignorant, coming to realize how that ignorance hurt his family, and then take steps to help advocate and be an ally for his loved ones!! Show us! Don't spoon-feed us a superficial nothing sandwich!
She has such a BEAUTIFUL design too, it was the first thing I thought when I saw her. That's so sad that this amazing design isn't connected to a good character.
Great video bro! Why is it darkskin black women/girls characters have to get the short end of the stick? Maya is BEAUTIFUL and intelligent. Her design is too "masculine" and the creators are full of sh*t. Where is her femininity? That hairstyle is just.........-_-. C'mon I've seen BETTER cornrows. Butterfly locs would looked very good in her. I swear everything about this reboot is trash. Seriously, the creators need a whole NEW perspective on things. Maya is too damn "authority" type which leaves a negative stereotype on darkskin black women and girls. She needs to have her BUBBLY personality with her serious personality. She needs a whole new ENTIRE look. Keep up the amazing work!!!
Forreal ‼ Them cornrows they gave her are a disgrace. There was so much opportunity to use her character for great plots and development but once again they dropped the ball.
I find Maya’s character to be extremely annoying, but I get the writers intention behind her character. Like most characters of the show, she’s a stereotype meant to reflect and shed light on the very real people who act like her. It may not be fun to see “wokeness” being portrayed as a bad thing, but it would be being purposefully obtuseto pretend that there aren’t real people who act like Maya and give activists a bad name with their hypocrisy and empty preachings.
She was not my most favorite even before the show came out. Like she's literally woke in literally the worst ways possible 🙄 she called Penny out for being superficial when she's literally superficial herself! Especially when she was all buddy buddy with LaCienaga when she tried to steal Penny's boyfriend.
No wonder she’s adopted, some magic force must’ve let her biological parents see what a terrible hypocrite she was going to grow up to be and they said NOPE not us. 😂
The original proud family came across as a passion project from someone who was happy in life and wanted to positively share their life experiences in a way everyone was welcomed into. The reboot reeks of being written by a bunch of bitter, angry people who wanted to beat people over the head actively telling people, you're not welcome here because you're different.
Is it me, or do these creators have issues with dark-skinned black girls. The two main characters that fit the descriptions are rachet and uptight. Penny's relatively chill, LaCienega (although Hispanic but still light-skinned) is relatively chill, Zoey's relatively chill when she's not the token white punching bag, and the guys are mostly chill. Like, dang, what did I used to watch?
Maya is THE definition of performative activism. Everything she does is superficial, she does nothing but starts disputes. Her words are often empty and she jever stands up for the others. One like that really got me is when Penny was being weird with the asian kids and then said "black ppl couldnt be racist" and she agreed and said only ppl with prejudice and power can be racist when thats is NOT the case! Anyone can be prejudiced against any ethnicity, its just sad and i think if they wanted to represent someone from the younger generations this was not the way. I think your review of her character was SPOT ON very good video ❤
I miss old proud family. What happened to those writers. There was nothing that wrong with rep growing up it felt more natural. We had The Pround Family, Sister Sister . Susy Carmichael, DeeDee's best friends in Dexter's lab, Thats So Raven was THE biggest Disney show, The Wild Thornebrries showed so many cultures, Kim Possible, Danny Phantom, Fairly Odd Parents, Rocket Power, and so many more I can't even think of- Main AND side characters.. Our country isn't 50/50, and I felt like despite us being not even a quater of the population we had alot of GREAT representation in media for me growing up as a 90s baby, and it felt real. And they DID have episodes about racism and stereo types etc, but it wasn't the whole show. The characters had lives and identities outside of their race and it felt good. Now it just seems like the media is trying to convince me of what they think the world and racism is, vs everyone's individual realities, which may be better or even worse. But its not THIS.
I think maya as a character deserved better. i love her design, and having her be "woke," isn't even a horrible idea. it all comes down to how the writers interpret what that term means.
Actually, she's pretty accurate to real life. Obnoxious, annoying, overly aggressive, ignorant of history, unlikable and inconsistent in her beliefs. Yep, sounds woke to me.
They purposely undercut her because the writers don't understand current activism past Twitter discourse and also they made one of her dads a fucking cop. That's such garbage.
I'm really gonna have to rewatch the original Proud Family and then start in the reboot to really get a feel for this subject for sure. I think it would be awesome to see a teenager who strongly advocates issues that mean a lot to them, so I think Maya is a huge missed opportunity to bring that advocacy voice to younger viewers. Teens get pressured all the time into doing things they don't really agree with (source: i was a teenager once and did things I regretted to appear cool or to please others) so hearing the words, "No, I'm not comfortable with this. I dont believe what im being asked to do is right...etc." would have been a great thing for me to hear when i was younger, y'know? That's just me though. I completely agree with you that they seem to have made her joke woke rather than an actual strong activist. Like, yeah don't make her without flaws, as a stubborn person myself, me running my mouth has gotten plenty of trouble brought my way. You could definitely bring that sort of trait out abd that would cause plenty of conflict. Making her joke woke is really distasteful in my opinion, especially now when advocacy for all types of minorities is extremely important.
So looking at the show as someone who’s old enough to see it originally air 20 years ago, I think it could have been more interesting to make maya the Daugher or niece of penny proud, with penny being 20 years aged up. That way you have the Feel of the original cast, but make sense of any changes that might have occurred during the twenty years the show was off air. Like the ordinal show had spirts and ghosts, you could she grandma as a ghost with her doggies doing some mischief in the ghost grandma kind of way.
Is it just me, or did Maya suffer from severe internalized misogyny? I mean, the way she assumed Penny and her friends to be at first appeared extremely negative and unfairly judgemental, especially with Penny (well, except for her scepticism towards Dijonay since she is, hands down, unlikable). She is very hypocritical and petty as well, going so far as to bond with LaCienega, who is 1000 times worse than Penny who actually made an effort to include Maya, in stealing Kareem away from Penny. She also has some narc tendencies, believing that she's always right and having a holier-than-thou mentality (the incident with the panda) without being able to accept even the tiniest bit of criticism (her being a narcissist would also explain her inability to relate to people/make friends, her behaviour goes beyond misanthropism).
I find it very interesting that they picked a homosexual couple to try to do the whole "white fragility" thing. Like, that's a topic -- regardless of what side you're on -- that can break apart friendships, they're bringing it into a whole family dynamic. Now, I'm not an ally or anything like that (I'm actually against homosexuality as a concept/practice, though I don't "hate" or "fear" any of them) but could this be construed as homophobic on the creators' end? Just curious.
It feels like they wanted to use Maya as both the true woke character AND the fake woke for identity character at the same time and in the end just made her a very confusing and frustrating character with no real direction I think if they had written her as more genuine and consistent, if not misguided at times that would have worked better. She's a teenager, it makes sense her views on activism and such would be simple at first. Then they could have her grow and develop into real, serious activism. She could have been a great lesson to kids on the whole thing.
That’s exactly what woke people are like though 😂 at least in this generation they are inconsistent and have double standards. They nailed that aspect PERFECTLY!
The issue is that Penny was already a good person and for issues that affect people. I think a lot of doing what's right goes to penny rather than Maya. She is an activist in a way
I didn't mind the same sex parents, and them being mixed race and I find Maya is so bratty as she doesn't do her research when it is regarding history, and things around her and so judgemental towards those that are allies.
I was so disappointed with Maya's character I really thought that they were going to give Penny an actual friends that way she can realize that her friend group is trash.
Honestly inconsistenties regarding woke culture is pretty accurate. No one can support every cause. Because in a lot of ways it is countradictory. With making her so wishy washy it in my opinion shows a realistic portrayel of young activism. I hope season 3 exposes her for virtue signaling. That would intresting.
Honestly the best way to make this sort of writing more consistant would have been to add an overarching plot about how she started off as a keyboard warrior (Thus not standing up for herself or her family, and maybe seeing Penny stand up in person and fight for what she believed in, inspires her to begin doing the same rather than hide behind a screen) and over the course of the show getting more and more confident about her work and beginning to do things that ACTUALLY make a difference rather then getting into arguments online or signing petitons that never get off the ground. Show an escalation in her behavior. Show her behavior changing, becoming nicer and less inflammatory to the friend group as she realizes that while they may not be as politically correct as she may like, it's not like they're bad people for not using the same vocabulary she does or understanding the causes she's trying to promote. They could have also given her a running gag where every episode she's supporting a new cause and background information implies that the cause is succeeding like newspaper or a headline.
