Hi! Just want to say that the reason I hid a speech at the end with no indication of what I would be talking about is because the people who need to hear what I have to say are the ones not actively seeking out this topic. On a side note: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR AN AWESOME YEAR! 5k is crazy actually. I love doing this because its like I'm watching movies with friends.
The ONE counterpoint that I'd say in response to your speech (btw it was worth saying, and I agree!) is actually about the "Ariel" part. Not that I care what color a main character's skin is... but mainly that I feel that "recasting" characters (animated or otherwise) to be a different skin color/race/ethnicity, etc. is an easy way for big studios to get free outrage publicity. Almost no one batted an eye that the Prince's mother in that movie was black - at least not in a way "loud" enough to be noticed in the same way the "Ariel outrage" was. I agree that more people should be allowed to and encouraged to have representation in productions, but not at the expense of checking a box or being a marketing tool. Give me a Disney movie that gives me a new story where a character can portray their perspectives, culture, and identity - bonus points if that story is inspired by a culturally important or significant legend, myth, folktale, etc. Lilo and Stitch and Princess and the Frog are the only immediate examples of this that come to mind, albeit lacking the culturally significant story at their hearts. I hold out some hope that maybe this outrage marketing is a bad practice that could ultimately lead to a legit gateway for this casting to become more widely accepted socially across the board - but until then, I find the situation rather sad and, frankly, belittling to minorities. Still... I hold out hope for positive change someday.
@@Nala15-Artist Hey Nala! I always love your in depth thoughts on my videos - and you're absolutely right here! I mentioned this in a few other comments but want to highlight here again since this one is pinned. Corporate Diversity and representation are almost two different things at this point. I think that the current displays of representation for most non straight-white characters are two dimensional and lack depth. I agree in that its lazy and is entirely for profit. These executives DO NOT care at all. I want to highlight that when I say "stop arguing about ariel", what I truly mean is I really want people to look at the bigger picture here. I can absolutely see why the non bigoted critics were annoyed at Halle being casted simply because it messes with a classic IP. ANYTIME you change the source material, it gets noticed and whats worse is it fuels ignorant people. There is really no reason to change races or genders of original characters but to your point, create real and authentic characters of all backgrounds. Original characters that hold on their own. I want a Black woman to play a role with the same depth as Uma Thurman in "Kill Bill". I want to see a trans woman in a silly rom com that doesn't make her gender identity a big deal. I want to see more Asian men be depicted as a love interest in movies. Furthering your point, it feels backwards to say "we're only going to represent xyz as long is it fills the shoes of a historically white character".... sooo you mean to tell me minorities don't deserve their OWN characters? That is a huge problem. But not something I wanted to highlight in this video especially since I am responding to media that we grew up watching as kids. Going back to "stop arguing about ariel", even with aaaaaaall of that, this whole thing boils down to one major point: kids don't know what's going on. I think Disney should have came up with an original character that Halle could have played even better and go with that instead of Ariel. I don't like changing source material and I'll say this about any IP. But that is not the point. The point is that little black girls playing mermaids in the pool can pretend to be ariel and so can their white friend. I don't know how anyone can look at the viral videos circulating of little girls seeing ariel and getting excited that she looks like them and STILL want to argue about it. Two things can be true at once: we need meaningful representation NOT profitable representation & Halle Bailey impacted millions of girls self esteem in a positive way. Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment!
@@sassygrilledcheeseOnce again, I absolutely agree with you. I know that there is only so much nuance and info you can put into an outro speech, so I even more appreciate your in depth reply. I feel like the biggest takeaway I have from your reply is that it's 100% true kids don't know what's going on. And that further highlights both our points about having more diversity in fictional characters in popular media. I'm glad at least we live in a world right now where indie entertainment has a big enough platform to reach millions of eyeballs regularly and that they are filling that niche well and often with quality. Something that big, traditional media producers won't touch or treat as a box to check off. I had a friend point out recently that a lot of big media "representation" is often done in a way it doesn't affect the story. Like it can be easily edited out or trimmed down to fit the needs of releasing to international platforms that REALLY forbid/blacklist that content. (Without naming names, I think it's obvious what I mean.) Keep doing what you're doing! The internet needs more voices like yours! 🎉 And I'm here for it. ❤
I always loved this movie growing up because Madison was the lead. If Barbie was the lead, I don’t think this would’ve had as much of an impact on people’s childhood.
Madison was such a good doll too. Im sad they discontinuned her. Something about the plastic they used for her and the paint just seemed higher quality than barbies nowaday. Barbie just couldn't handle competition from her own line. So much that she moved back to Malibu then discontinued her New York friends.
MyScene was actually put in a grave by Bratz. There was such a big legal battle in the 2000s because the guy who was responsible for starting Bratz actually worked for mattel, and mattel alleged that he came up with the idea for Bratz while he worked on the Barbie franchise. So mattel sued MGA for that but MGA ended up countersuing for the My Scene franchise "stealing their ideas" of having a group of multicultural girls ... (WHICH IS CRAZY LIKE IMAGINE REPRESENTATION BEING GROUND FOR BEING SUED) and they WON. sooo.... that was the end of My Scene :( I love bratz but WTF!!!!!
@sassygrilledcheese I loved my scene I wish it continued. I loved the vibe and clothes. Bratz made my parents act weird. So myscene was the perfect balence. I loved the mermaid chihuahua that came with mascarade madness Chelsea! I wish they could have continued making toys like that 😭 Why did they remove barbie and replace her with her twin? That was so weird!
@tuffryda She was iconic! Her outfits were some of my favorites too! I loved putting myscene outfits on my normal and vintage barbies. It made them feel more modern and cool.
@WoodwindBuddies thanks guys for pointing this out! I'm really into the doll community so I'm surprised I missed these. I love Li Speaks videos I'll check out that one
I’ve never seen this movie. But as someone who resembles Madison, watching this review from the beginning, it immediately jumped out to me how Madison was the main character and I was honestly surprised…especially for it being a movie from 2005. And side eyeing Barbie HEAVY lmfaoooo. Thanks for your insights at the end regarding that, I really appreciated that! LOVE your reviews! ❤️
the girls stealing the banner in the gym without anyone on set noticing: NOT realistic the girls being randomly hired as extras after sneaking in: REALISTIC
It is actually not realistic at all that they would pass off as extras like this cause at least in the movie sets I've been on extras whose face would show on screen are under contract and the crew is actually concsious of who they hired so the whole movie plot probably wouldn't work in real life hahaha
@@linanafie8571 I think it really depends on the production. It’s more likely that they would take people from the crew if they were desperate in the moment, but I wouldn’t put it past some productions to straight up grab people from the street, in a desperate situation.
@@gothicanimeangel96 yeah probably! Maybe also depends on the country cause I remember they were shooting a Netflix series in my uni and ngl a friend and I wanted to sneak in with the extras lol but they took one look at us and were like "nah you're not part of our crew" and I felt like my whole life had been a lie 😂
Ok so I almost started crying wholesome tears at Taco Bell (where I am right now) because I thought you were playing with My Scene dolls with your 97 year old aunt. But I realize now what you meant. Still very wholesome 😂😂😂😂 but different
Ok, you were already one of my faves but after that thoughtful and totally not pander-y speech at the end you've solidified your place on the podium lol
I laughed so hard with the line: “at the end everyone goes to the big movie premiere, they meet with Lindsay Lohan and they get absolutely wasted afterwards because this is 2005” 😂😂😂😂
@@sassygrilledcheese I know, same here, I think she was mistreated as a child and only began to misbehave as a result of the trauma she endured. I’m so glad to see her back trying to make her comeback. If people like Robert Downey Jr., Rob Lowe or even Charlie Sheen had a second chance, she deserves it even more than them.
I’ve been watching your content for a while now, and I have to say, you’ve just become one of my favorite reactor/commentary RU-vidrs! That whole speech at the end? You absolutely COOKED!!
thank you that means a lot. Especially when you're referring to the end. I've been wanting to scream this since my camp rock video but I never wanted to come across disingenuous or that I'm not taking the issue seriously. But at a certain point, I really needed to prioritize what I needed to say over anything else.
Thank you for the speech. Representation is important. I hardly saw any main characters that looked like me while growing up in this era, and it massively massively affected my self-esteem, especially growing up in a predominantly white area.
I can assure you, watching these movies as a young black girl… it didn’t phase me lol. It’s different for everyone I guess. I knew who I was and that’s all that really mattered. I didn’t really think too much about race in regards to movies
Came across your channel today and you spoke nothing but facts in this movie. I was here for you gagging everyone. Although Madison did change when she started acting Hollywood but it was understandable why she didn’t want her friends around because they did embarrass her. And they were lowkey jealous of Madison especially Chelsea I could not stand her. Rewatching the MyScene movies as an adult you see so many issues. My main issue with this movie was that they villainized Madison for no reason & this isn’t the first time they’ve done that. They also did it in Jamming in Jamaica film. All Madison wanted to do was help her bandmates win a music contest but ofc Barbie had to make everything about her and tried to blame Madison for trying to steal her bf. It was so annoying because they made Madison feel like the bad guy even apologizing to Barbie when she did nothing wrong. Keep in mind Barbie wasn’t even supposed to be on this trip but ofc homegirl doesn’t know how to mind her own business.
I never saw Jammin' and Jamaica otherwise her being villainized in this movie would have stood out more for me - others have pointed out Madison being the sacrifice too always been painted in a bad light. Some parts in the movie (like her friends not acknowledging their wrongdoing at all) felt obvious. Maybe I just stan Madison so much that I REFUSE to see her as the antagonist in this film even though they probably put her on the cover to further her "getting lost into fame". They really tried to make barbie the "voice of reason" but the execution was bad. Even if accidental, Madison was the star and the one I wanted to defend all throughout . Her character DESERVES to be remembered as the lead of this movie even if that wasn't the intention. And she was always so kind, responsible, and she didn't have the same hair texture as the other girls (which cannot be said for other representation in other movies) so all around, I just love Madison. Simple character who I wish was treated better during this time.
@@sassygrilledcheese You should definitely watch the Jamming in Jamaica film when you get the chance. That movie was a hot mess. I love Madison as well she definitely deserves better💯
Thank you for your speech at the end. Im a metis/Filipino born in Canada in'98 and it sucked not seeing any representation in media. I remember the first time I felt represented was when brunette love interests and main characters started becoming a thing 😭😭 before that it was only pretty blonde girls
As someone who's black, your speech at the end really touched me. I really appreciate how much it feels like you genuinely care about this issue. You're right, when youre non white growing up you DO notice these kinds of things and it DOES stick with you forever. And it affects people a lot deeper than they care to admit. This is only tangibly related, but I personally stopped fw a LOT of people in a very specific community because I found it incredibly insulting that one of the big artists there implied that my art wasnt diverse enough even though she literally Never drew black people in her art,Ever. And how hypocritical it all felt to be like, invalidated as a black person by a non black person, ya know? And thats not even mentioning how the negative stereotypical portayals of POC in media like this goes on to influence people IRL. There's been an uncomfortable number of times ive been treated like the "mean ghetto aggressive black girl" for simply.... Not being light skinned and in a majority white school?? Ive had people casually say weirdly racis shit to me because of media kinda just normalizing it to them? Even friends of mine have headcannoned my black characters as slobby or overly aggressive or really lazy and it's like... If other WHITE people can see that thats absolutely insane and tasteless... What's *your* excuse? That is to say that when people, especially people who come from a place of privilege acknowledges this kind of thing head on, it really means a lot to people like me who's constantly told "ah youre just making a big deal out of nothing" or worse, just rolling over and taking it instead of calling people out for centering media on whiteness so heavily while doing characters of color incredibly dirty IF they even exist in the property at all (Riddle me this, FRIENDS, how are you set in NYC but there's not a single black person around? 🤨) I really hope to see more people like you using their platform and privilege to discuss something so important 🥹 and I look forward to more of your videos in the future
I literally never comment on videos, but i just have to say, your content is so funny and entertaining. You've become one of my favorite reaction youtubers. I hope you continue doing this for a really long time ❤. (Oh and, as a latin american, I loved your speech at the end)
you’ve genuinely become one of my favorite youtubers, you seem so kind and genuine. the speech at the end was so real too so like preach!! thank you for making content ❤
I loved MyScene as a kid! I grew up watching the movies and had a few dolls. I remember being really excited about Madison being the main focus this time. She was a favorite character of my sister and I. It was awesome to see a black female character front and center. She had the biggest picture on the DVD cover. I mean, it's a Barbie movie and Madison had a bigger picture than Barbie on the box of her own movie franchise. Such a thing was unheard of. That blew our little minds. There was one thing that the MyScene movies did that's always used to bother me as a kid. They have a total of three movies, and in two of those movies, they kind of made Madison the character that would be the cause of the problems that the group or someone in the group would have to face within the plot. In Jammin' in Jamaica, Madison was the cause of issues, in Masquerade Madness she wasn't which was awesome, so when this one came out, it was like, "Umm okay...this again?" It just never sat right with me as a child. Still kinda doesn't. It may may not have been intentional, but no other character had this issue, it was always Madison. I don't know if it was because her character was the closest to Barbie in the friend group, so it made for a good conflict for the plot. I love this franchise to this day regardless, but I just wish they didn't do that. It kind of sent a weird message, but that could have just been me. I also just recently found your channel and I love your videos!
I TOTALLY agree with you about Madison. She read as the sacrifice in the friend group. What's interesting to me is that she did seem to be painted as the villain in "my scene goes hollywood" but as a kid and even now I'm way more compelled to back up Madison. So maybe they didn't intend on making Madison the "protagonist" but rather the "antagonist" - who is constantly "called out" by none other than Barbie. But I'm still calling her the lead because that's what she she deserves and lucky for Miramix, their execution in attempting to do so was so bad because Madison was too likeable of a character and her friends were so UNlikeable. No, you're not crazy and its not just you. I personally believe it was intentional. They put Madison on the cover of this movie (i think) to make her the villain (because its supposed to make her out like fame is making her the bad person) but what they didn't seem to consider is that she WASNT the bad person and putting her on the cover MADE her the star. She went too far at a certain point but I stan Madison. Outside of that, its crazy how much impact ONE straight to DVD doll movie can have on children and that's why representation is so important. Never saw Jammin in Jamaica but I've heard it was dramatic. I'm less compelled knowing its at the expense of mattel's only black lead but still may cover it. Haven't seen the other one. Thank you so much!!!!!
Thanks for your comments at the end ❤ I'm native american and a lot of 2000's pop culture reviewers generally ignore/dismiss the weird race implications in 2000's media. Like that essayist who once argued Twilight werewolves werent problematic.
The speech at the end is so important! I think it's also okay to acknowledge that in some ways you didn't necessarily have any good representation either. As an LGBTQ+ person, I grew up with no representation of that kind. At least none that wasn't stereotyped/caricatured. Whilst representation for black and brown folks has gotten better, that can't be said for LGBTQ+ people in children/teen media, because we're seen as way more taboo. If, when I was a kid, there had been a teen movie with people like me, I might not have felt so confused when I realised I liked girls. I might not have felt so ashamed. And not only are LGBTQ+ characters never the main character (like black and brown girls still aren't!) we're still more or less completely absent because parents have a meltdown at the idea of telling kids we exist. It shows we still have a long way to go.
No that is so annoying. LGBT ppl are part of society, it's weird to erase whole segments of the population. Like Friends and SATC taking place in NYC and having 2 POCs and 1 bisexual between all the seasons of both shows.
As a gay person I feel the same way and it led me to have a very complicated relationship with my identity growing up. I would argue that black/brown representation has gotten kinda better but anytime there is representation, its done in a very corporate way. Same with female leads or the few LGBT+ leads we get. Their characters are always "I am empowering!" but lack depth. Anytime we see LGBT+ representation, the only interesting thing about them is their gender identity or sexual orientation. All for executive leadership in studios to get a new audience to sign up for their streaming services. The Acolyte feels like a perfect example for this. Give me a black woman playing a character like Uma Thurman in "Kill Bill". Give me a Gay man playing a character like Robin Williams in "Bicentennial Man". Give me a trans woman in a brainless rom com like "13 going on 30". I want the character to come first and their "whatever" to come second because that is the whole point that these studios are missing. Especially when their representation is replacing a character that was played by a white man/woman (I don't have a problem with Hailey as ariel, but I really wish they opted for a strong original character instead - but since its done people need to just let kids enjoy it) It just kind of seems most of the time when a minority gets representation, its to fill the shoes of a white person and that feels backwards to me. I didn't bring up my feelings about the lack of LGBT+ representation in this video because it really isn't about me. Representation was an issue in my life yes, like I as a kid could only identify with female characters in movies which led to me being very confused. Living a constant life of shame on top of it made it worse and I've taken all of that back by publicly covering these movies that I could only secretly enjoy. But it felt so much more harmful for RACE in the 2000s than anything else, so I really needed to put that at the forefront. Thank you for your comment
I LOVED myscene as a kid even more than bratz (funny enough 😂) played the games on loop, but never knew they had dolls and movies, the theme song was everything 😭. Ps : Now that im 21 and saw the three movies, it does not sit well in my soul how they made her a villain. In the movies, the girls were so mean to each other sometimes for no reason. Anyways, MADISON Bad B energy ✨️🧡👌😩
yea... I can understand to an extent why people were initially annoyed (not the full on bigots) since its kinda a touchy subject when you're remaking any IP and go off the source material, but what's done is done and I really wish people prioritized all the little girls who feel a new sense of confidence seeing that level of representation. Like how can people STILL be mad after seeing all the videos of little girls reacting to Halle for the first time!!
I don't know if you caught on but all of the characters except Barbie are named after places in New York, which is where the movies take place (explaining why they all live in apartments).
@@sassygrilledcheese I noticed that there's picture frames outside her door, which makes me think it's her parent's apartment, unless she just lives somewhere that's decorated well.
my scene jammin in jamaica 2010. we finally got portable dvd players for the back of the headrests. my baby sister would only watch my scene jammin in jamaica. for three years. i can still sing every song word for word.
I'm so happy you brought up the fact that they barely have an kids movies representing those of color. I think you're my new "lunch" channel. Been looking for one for over a month now. ♥(^⌣^ԅ)
I agree what you said about this movie. I, too, love the fact it was Madison getting the recognition and adoration in this movie instead of Barbie ( no offense to Barbie, of course ). this was a good example of good representation. on the note of the new Ariel, to me, its another bad example. its lazy. they just race-swapped an already existing well-known character and went "here ya go". what would be GOOD is to make an entirely NEW story about a NEW character for people to love with good representation. Disney is just being lazy right now. they need passionate writers again and create new things for every kind of person to look up to and enjoy or feel inspired by. race-swapping and remakes ain't it.
I have some recommendations like Radio rebel, let it shine, starstruck, 16 wishes, read it and weep, jump in, the perfect man, 13 going on 30, sky high, sweet home Alabama, how to lose a guy in ten days, the wedding planner, monster in law, maid in Manhattan and the proposal.
SGC back with another banger lol. Also thank you for the speech, you're so right about it not usually reaching the right ears and I love that you put yourself out there to talk about it, I try to only support creators who do the right thing so thanks SGC, see you in the next one!
Its hard for me to review movies that I legitimately can't make fun of and my entire channel kind of weighs on movies I can joke about! I'd say I would make a video essay on movies that DO have representation for minorities in a more serious tone (definitely bringing up that movie which was done so well).... but I really think someone who experienced that at the forefront should tackle it and there's so many newer creators who are black/brown who would do an amazing job.
I’m a black girl who grew up watching these movies but those stuff never bothered me as a kid. I knew that these aren’t real people so they shouldn’t portray us in the real. I don’t know that how I felt
OMG I've been so hesitant to do that one because apparently they did Madison dirty in that one & I haven't seen it. But I feel like I would think differently because she can do no wrong in my eyes lmaooo
Casey, your speech at the end was so touching. I grew up playing with Barbies, but it’s only now that I’ve started collecting as an adult that I can find dolls who look like me. Representation is important and I’m so happy kids today have more options to see themselves in.
I was OBSESSED with Byron Lars' Chapeaux collection of dolls in the 2000s. Especially his coco doll. My mom let me get the barbie collector magazine when I was a kid and I had all of those dolls (the prints) plastered on my walls - obviously i could never buy them LOL. That collection is SO expensive now but I'm buying all of them when I have a million dollars hahahaha. And yes! I am SO happy at how far we've come. Still some ways to go but we're getting there. I cried at all the reactions of little black/brown girls seeing ariel when it released. I just hope kids grow up into a world where it isn't an issue anymore.
Thank you for saying all this. I also like the new little mermaid film, and I’m sick and tired of people talking smack and complaining about it too. And I agree that representation was lacking in the 2000s. And we still have a long way to go
Sassy grilled cheese, it would have been nice when madison apologises to her friends at her apartment, the other girls could have acknowledged that they acted a little over the top at the party.
I really appreciate your speech at the end. It really means a lot to someone like me who’s only perspective of seeing characters who look like me as just stereotypes growing up.
The Mike drop after stop complaining about the little mermaid was so iconic! Imagine all major media catering to you as a default and then they remake one film with a black lead. People acted like they would destroy the original movie and replace it with the Halle version.
I have so much respect for you for the speech at the end. I love having fun and being sassy, but we need to acknowledge things like racism and representation if we care about social justice. I don't want to support someone who thinks that's unimportant because it brings down the mood. That's such a selfish, privileged view to have. I hope you keep being you and speak out when you feel you need to, because that is the kind of person I want to invest my time in. I'm sure that goes for a lot of us. Thank you for another awesome video.
I appreciate your thoughtful comment! and I agree. I do not consider myself an activist (a word that is thrown around often and diminishes actual activists) but this topic is directly related to what I do here and I felt it was needed to be said. I consider myself someone to be someone who cares and I think all people can be people who care. I want my channel to be an escape for the negativity in a very depressing time we're seeing. So I will continue trying to do that. But from time to time, we have to point out the obvious. Thank you for being here!
It has, admittedly, been a while since I've talked to any of my actor friends, but the Screen Actor's Guild would have shut this production down the second they learned that a non-member not only got speaking lines, but a kissing scene. Like, it's not up to the director who gets to speak and who doesn't, the SAG spent decades fighting for the right to vet the members they let in.
I'm sorry could you elaborate? I have no idea what you're referring to edit: wait you're talking about the actual plot lol I thought you were referring to the voice actors in this movie or something.
@@sassygrilledcheese Haha, yes, I'm talking about the part right at the beginning where the original actor broke her leg and so they just picked someone from the extras basically at random. I don't blame you for forgetting, it seems like the show itself wanted to drop it as soon as they could as well. But yeah, there's actual steps you need to take to become a registered actor, you have to apply and pay dues and all that, you can't just get lucky and have the director need a new cast member at the last minute.
Feels like I’m watching movies with a friend too… and what you say is awesome always love watching you videos you always make sense idk if that make sense but I love your content also amazing speech at the end people really needed to hear it
I haven't seen it and I plan on watching it, but I don't know if it'd be appropriate for me to talk about that movie with the vibe this channel has. I'll decide once I finish watching if its something I'd ever cover.
@@sassygrilledcheese i get it, it is a very serious subject haha. The film isn’t flawless but the plot is very timely and very political. Maybe you can do stepsister from planet weird, that film is a bit crazy lol.
Barbie was always "Barbie" in the MyScene franchise, probably because her name hold so much weight and to compete with "bratz" they needed to spark kid's interests enough to want those dolls instead of Bratz. But that's just my speculation. I can understand from a sales perspective why Barbie was included in this group of girls.
Well you see, I have been hired by big cheese to spread grilled cheese propaganda. So I am contractually obligated to say all my meals are in fact, grilled cheese.
