Fandom Fun: “I’m a Friend with a Flat Personality, and You’re Watching Disney Channel!”
Or a tribute to Disney Channel’s secondary ladies
by Aimée
Throughout elementary and middle school (and even into high school), watching shows on the Disney Channel was definitely one of my favorite pastimes. From Lizzie McGuire and Even Stevens, to Kim Possible and The Proud Family, to The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and Hannah Montana, I loved them all. As someone who is currently 25 in 2020, I think the last new Disney Channel series I really watched was Wizards of Waverly Place, and even then I did it begrudgingly. But up until then, we had a good run.
Even as a young teen, though, I noticed there was something off about the friend characters in these shows—especially those who were female. A lot of them started out as interesting characters with a lot of potential, but then...they just flattened out. Whether they became unbelievably ditzy, or they were pushed into a weird, chemistry-less relationship, or they simply just disappeared, it’s safe to say the secondary ladies of Disney Channel were done dirty. To try and remedy this tragedy, I figured I would dedicate this edition of Fandom Fun to these very characters. Be warned: much of what I’m about to say comes from my somewhat rusty memories of these shows. If I leave anything (or anyone!) out, please leave a comment or send us a DM on Instagram.
Miranda from Lizzie McGuire
Oh, Miranda. How did you go from being such a pivotal part of the show Lizzie McGuire to being completely nonexistent in the film?! Look, I know I’m straying into movie territory here, and I also know that Miranda’s exclusion from said movie was (allegedly) the actress’ choice...but still. Miranda had so many great moments on Lizzie McGuire. She taught us about Día de Muertos, she opened up about her body issues, and she pursued her dream to become a singer. And you know how Lizzie repaid her? By singing at the Coliseum on live TV and stealing their mutual male friend for herself!! All right, all right, I’m just teasing about the Gordo part...but it really does bother me that the show made such a big deal out of Miranda’s singing, only to have Lizzie (or really Hilary) go on to be a singer. It’s also strange how little Miranda is mentioned in the last few episodes of the show and in the movie. That’s fine and all that she’s “on vacation in Mexico,” but wouldn’t Lizzie and Gordo be somewhat more bummed about their best friend not being there? Wouldn’t they be constantly thinking of her and talking about her? I feel like that’s what every group of three friends does when one of them is missing. But oh well. Maybe Miranda just needed some better friends!
Bonnie from Kim Possible
Okay, so Bonnie is really more of a “frenemy” than a friend to Kim, but I still think she got shortchanged by the writers. I actually recently re-watched the first few episodes of Kim Possible, and in one of them, we see Bonnie wanting to take over for Kim as the captain of their cheerleading team. Honestly, the girl’s got some good points—the main one being that Kim is rarely around due to her *casual* international crime fighting exploits. I think it’s great that Kim is so mentally and emotionally dedicated to her cheerleading squad, but if she’s not physically there when she needs to be, then something’s gotta give. It takes her a whole episode to accept that Bonnie really could make a good cheer captain, though, which annoyed me. Bonnie’s got skills, passion, and time. Get over yourself, Kim.
It also bothers me that Bonnie is just constantly portrayed as such a bitch. Like, in Kim’s crime fighting life, she has a multitude of strange and interesting adversaries that the writers clearly had a lot of fun developing. In her high school life, on the other hand, she really only has two adversaries: the principal (who’s a dick) and Bonnie (who’s a bitch). It’s just such a simplistic and stereotypical take on “high school problems.” Sure, every now and then we get a more human moment from Bonnie, but by the very next episode she’s back to her bitchy ways. All I’m saying is, my girl deserves to be at least as sympathetic as the super villains.
Chelsea from That’s So Raven
And now we get into the “unbelievably ditzy” territory I mentioned before. From what I recall, Chelsea starts out as a totally normal high school girl in That’s So Raven. Sure, she has some quirks, namely her vegetarianism and environmentalism, but she’s perfectly capable of keeping up with Raven’s vivacity and wittiness. Until...she isn’t. Later in the show, the writers made Chelsea so dumb that it was painful. You may or may not recall that this was also the era of Paris Hilton—of dumb girls being “hot.” Some of my friends tried to jump on this bandwagon, suddenly acting oblivious and flighty all the time, desperately hoping to impress the boys. It was absurd. I hated witnessing that in person, and I hated seeing it happen to poor Chelsea on TV as well. It almost gave off the impression that caring about the environment and animals was stupid in and of itself, because it was something only a stupid girl like Chelsea would do. Looking back, I love that there was a show on Disney Channel in the 00s that featured a black protagonist and sidelined the white girl, but I feel like that could’ve been done without reducing the white girl to a total imbecile. Again, because of the “dumb = hot” trend of the time, it almost felt like a weird sexualization of Chelsea, which was just not necessary on a show meant for kids and preteens.
London from The Suite Life of Zack & Cody
London Tipton went down a path very similar to Chelsea’s. As a matter of fact, she was actually (not so subtly) based on Paris Hilton, which may have been a questionable choice for a children’s program. Though London’s character was established as being ditzy from the start of Suite Life, she grew to become so ridiculously unintelligent that I found her scenes difficult to watch. Her “affluenza” and naivety about the real world turned into literally not being able to breathe and walk at the same time. The humor was almost too absurd for a Disney Channel sitcom. It’s also upsetting that the only woman of color on the show’s main cast was characterized in this way. A little bit of ditziness and fun could’ve gone a long way for London (and often did, early on), but the writers just took it too far. As a young girl watching this show, I was annoyed and even repulsed by London. That sounds a bit dramatic, but I mean it! She became so helpless that it just wasn’t funny at all anymore. I mean, if her character was supposed to be a critique on “the 1%,” I guess the writers were successful in that. Sadly, though, I think she was just supposed to be another “dumb hot chick” to laugh at.
Lilly from Hannah Montana
Lilly is probably the most complicated character I’ve chosen to tackle today. We really do see a lot of interesting character moments from her throughout Hannah Montana. In the very first episode, she has to grapple with the fact that the celebrity she’s obsessed with and her best friend are the same person. Later, we see her deal with her parents’ divorce, the way she constantly compares herself to Miley, her boyfriend cheating on her, and more. All good stuff that’s definitely worth watching! But by the end of the series, I think the writers kind of didn’t know what to do with Lilly, or Oliver, the male friend. Well, if Miley wasn’t going to end up with Oliver (a la Lizzie and Gordo, Kim and Ron, Raven and Eddie), then Lilly must date him, of course! How dare we suggest that teenage boys and girls can simply remain friends. Look, I’m just saying...would’ve been cool to see Lilly date a girl. The signs were all there! Buttttttt it was Disney Channel, and they were at least six years away from making that move (which did finally happen on Andi Mack).
So basically, at the end of Hannah Montana, Lilly is dating Oliver and (spoiler) is going to be Miley’s roommate at Stanford. I guess what I’m getting at is, she didn’t really get to do her own thing. From what I remember, Lilly feels like such an afterthought when you watch those last few episodes. She only exists in relation to Miley’s conflict and decisions, and nothing else. Maybe I’m being unfair; I guess it makes sense that a series finale should focus mainly on the main character. I just wish Lilly had had a bit more agency at the end, like she did many other times throughout the series.
Harper from Wizards of Waverly Place
And lastly, we have the character I have the least to say about: Harper. Like I said before, I don’t have the affection for Wizards of Waverly Place that I have for these other shows. I was starting to grow out of Disney Channel’s target audience when it premiered, although I continued to watch the shows I already knew and loved for a few years after. Wizards came on so frequently back then that I almost didn’t have a choice other than to watch it, I guess. One major problem I did have with this show was—you guessed it—Alex’s best friend, Harper. She was just...annoying. I’m pretty sure one of her main “personality traits” was having a crush on Justin, Alex’s older brother? I guess that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I would’ve liked a little more from her. Or maybe I should’ve just given the show more of a chance. Regardless, I feel like Harper was probably set up for failure from the get-go. She’s the non-magical best friend of a girl with magical powers, so naturally she’s going to seem a bit flat in comparison. I believe other secondary characters were later revealed to be magical creatures/beings of some sort. Why couldn’t that have been Harper?!
Well, there you have it. I may not have been totally fair in my assessments of these characters and their respective TV shows, but I think we can all agree that we’re capable of handling more than one strong female character per show. Right? Is that so much to ask? I suppose I’ll have to check out the more recent Disney Channel series, see if they’re any better, and get back to y’all.
Shit We’re Loving: WATCH
Aimée’s Pick: The Proud Family on Disney+
You may have noticed I did not write about any characters from The Proud Family in today’s piece. That’s because I have no complaints about them! Penny, the protagonist, has not one, not two, but THREE female best friends, AND a male best friend as well. Dijonay, Zoey, LaCienega, and Sticky are all unique, entertaining, and often thought-provoking characters that I never grew tired of watching. Imagine my joy, then, when I learned that The Proud Family is coming back! You heard me correctly: The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder will be making its way to Disney+ sometime soon, blessing us all with more hilarious and socially relevant content. What better way to prep for the new season than by watching (or re-watching) the original run? Relive the antics of Oscar, Suga Mama, the Gross Sisters, Wizard Kelly, Uncle Bobby, and all the others today on Disney+.
Show Your Support: The Pink Fund and When We All Vote
The Pink Fund:
Kayla’s charity pick is The Pink Fund. The Pink Fund provides resources and financial support to patients and their families so everyone can focus on healing, not bills. They have a 90-day grant program for current patients that help cover non-medical cost-of-living expenses (think transportation, rent, utilities, etc).
The Pink Fund provides financial support to help meet basic needs, decrease stress levels, and allow breast cancer patients in active treatment to focus on healing while improving survivorship outcomes
In the ATF way, we have already donated $100 to The Pink Fund and hope you feel inclined to give a little too. With Covid-19 still a serious problem, many cancer patients are unable to return to their jobs because of being high-risk and therefore need our help even more. Let’s all make change happen!
When We All Vote
On November 3rd, the United States will hopefully come together and push change along. This is why I’ve chosen When We All Vote to showcase. Their mission is simple: WWAV is a non-profit nonpartisan organization dedicated to increasing participation in every election and, equally as important, close the race and age voting gap. They are working on changing the culture around voting to ensure every American has the resources to make an informed decision, whichever that may be.
“We’ve got to do a better job of speaking directly to the motivations and unique challenges that young and first-time voters face around voting. [We want] to spark important conversations, share critical resources, and make sure people get registered and get out to vote” -Michelle Obama, When We All Vote Co-Chair
In our fashion, ATF has already donated $100 to When We All Vote and encourage you to register, know your ballot, and show up!
Daily Intention
Today I will…
Embrace a childhood hobby of mine.
Here’s some nifty buttons for you to press, enjoy: