by Gaze » October 30th, 2016, 3:13 am
overall I really enjoyed this one. I just love Fuli and loved seeing her bond with the baby baboon over the course of the episode. was feeling more attached to her character as the episode went on, and by the end when she was defending the baboons against the vultures, I was wanting to go home and cuddle my Fuli plush tbh. the song was cute too.
still sad about Tiifu and Zuri. I love them because they have great potential, pretty designs, and overall are very cute. I'm just so sick of the way their personalities and interests are portrayed. it is sexist, there's just no other way to say it, honestly.
there's nothing wrong at all with having girl characters who love to do traditionally girly things. I support that fully. my issue here is that their interest in maintaining their looks and having a fun and soothing 'spa day' is shown as being inherently irresponsible and shallow. meanwhile Kiara is portrayed as essentially being the only intelligent, rational character of the trio. why does she seem to feel uncomfortable around her friends and uninterested in doing these activities with them? it's like the message is that the viewer is supposed to be looking up to her because she isn't as 'girly' as the others and can focus on more important things that actually matter. why are Tiifu and Zuri written as being so oblivious and shallow that they literally don't care at all that they're stuck on an island? why does their interest in looking pretty and feeling good mean that they can't also come up with their own plans to get off the island?
like......why can't Kiara have a fun time getting ready with her friends AND go to the buffalo wallow? it's just so disappointing and irritating how having feminine interests and characteristics, and being noble and brave and intelligent, are pretty much shown as being mutually exclusive things. with Kiara appearing to be practically unable to relate to her own best friends, and with Fuli being the only female member of the Guard, the show has a depressing lack of solid female friendships.
which reminds me that I want to see more of Zuri and Tiifu's friendship specifically! the part of this episode where Tiifu worries that her nose looks too big and Zuri responds "no, it looks cute!" was easily one of my favorite little tidbits in the show so far. so cute and so good to see these characters giving one another support, even in a tiny way like that.
scruffy, muddy Kiara at the end was adorable, and when the buffalo complimented her messy appearance, leading Kiara to give credit to Tiifu and Zuri - that was pretty sweet and did serve to provide a small bit of affirmation for the poor girls. sure, they didn't intend for Kiara to look the way she did, but hey.....turned out that her appearance did help her to connect more with her royal subjects.
additionally, there is significance in Kiara's "what's wrong with how I look now?" line, don't get me wrong there. I'm not saying that I think the show should be telling little girls they NEED to obsess over their physical appearance and look the way society wants them to. definitely not. it's just that if you want to pay attention to your appearance for your own sake, because it's fun and makes you feel good and you WANT to be doing it, you shouldn't be shamed for that. it shouldn't be seen as shallow, and those who don't care as much about their looks shouldn't feel like they are superior for it. it's all about balance, and fully examining the balance between these two things would be way too complex for a cartoon like this to address fully. but doesn't mean that can't be done in more subtle and simplified ways.
(another Kiara related sidenote.....since when would Kiara care THIS much about performing her royal duties? but I guess at this point we should all be accepting that TLG Kiara is completely different from SP Kiara, right?)
sorry for the long and critical tangent about an episode that I DID, ultimately, really enjoy. I think this stuff is important to address and still can be addressed while appreciating the characters and loving the show! it was a fun episode and Tiifu and Zuri's actions were fun and cute to watch! it's more just the overall context, and Kiara's reactions, that concern me.