The Story of How I Became a Dodie Bishop Hater...
This is a post originally from Ze Blog, published on January 24, 2015.
Now, I became a fan of As Told by Ginger last October, but even prior to loving that Nicktoon so much, I have always thought of Dodie Bishop as an "Expy" (as TV Tropes would put it) of Angelica Pickles from Rugrats. Initially, I just placed that opinion on the trivial fact that both Klasky Csupo girls had blonde hair in pigtails. Similarly, there's no denying that Macie Lightfoot is basically a female Chuckie Finster. In general, at a young age, I've always thought of Klasky Csupo as a studio who constantly has Expies of Rugrats characters in their other Nicktoons. Debbie from The Wild Thornberrys, for example, is a blonde B like Angelica (the two even met in Rugrats Go Wild), while Sam from Rocket Power is also a clone of Chuckie.
Anyway, resuming to focus on Dodie, I must say that, as I didn't care for As Told by Ginger until last
fall, I didn't care to learn more about her characteristics. Thus, I didn't thought there was anything that she and Angelica shared other than the hair, and for being rather girly. My current negative opinions on Dodie soon developed after viewing the season three episodes "Dodie's Big Break", and "Wicked Game". Before that occured, I was just watching some of the episodes that didn't had Dodie being a B or a nuisance of sorts. And because I haven't watched those episodes yet, I couldn't believe on the characters page on TV Tropes that she has been associated with such tropes as B in Sheep's Clothing, Chronic Backstabbing Disorder, It's All About Me, Jerk with a Heart of Gold, Manipulative B, and Token Evil Teammate. I thought this girl would be, character-wise, a nicer opposite of Angelica! But, no. As I watched "Dodie's Big Break" one Sunday afternoon, the epiphany occured in me. I was disgusted and angred when I watched Bishop faking a leg injury to be part of the pep squad, and trying to prevent Ginger and Macie from getting her to come clean. Oh, and when she cries, I don't feel sorry for her at all. Bishop deserves no sympathy for being such a self-centered, deceitful, nearly diabolical, fake witch!
Following that, views of episodes like "Of Lice and Friends", and "Wicked Game"were enough for me to label Dodie Bishop as one of my all time least favorite animated characters. She may be a funny character, but she certainly isn't a fully lovable character. I have a passionate hate for Bishop that rivals that I have for Lois Griffin, to the point where I did this pencil test in October, showing Dodie getting some karma:
And a month after that, I animated Bishop getting bit once again in the butt...or the eye.
And now, I'm working on a rant on this despicable girl to be posted on this very site in February!
The month of November was when my hatred for Dodie really escalated. Another look at "Wicked Game" (okay, I must tell you, if you haven't seen, that it has that jerk preventing the romance between Ginger and Darren from happening) was what had my blood pressure increased to possibly high levels! Yes, a cartoon character made me that angry. So, I drew up a cutout of Dodie on November 5, and used it as a punching bag to release much of my stress. I felt kind of good. I couldn't watch "Wicked Game" to the end, but I must dare to do so. "Fair to Cloudy" also made me incredibly ticked off with her, because in it, Bishop proves that she still has a problem with the whole adorable Ginger/Darren thing. And to add more hot sauce to the taco, we get this infamous bit after deliberately invites Courtney Gripling to the annual "BFF" county fair visit of Ginger, Bishop, and Macie, just to get on Ginger's nerves:
My God! Dodie! Is! A! Dang! Psycho! Overall, "Fair to Cloudy" is a very divisive episode of As Told by Ginger. Some people sided with Dodie saying that there is no need to bring Darren along to the fair, while others, including myself, were on Ginger's side, and think of Bishop as the bad guy of this thing.
As the days went past, while I still hate Dodie, I feel like my hatred for her has toned down just a little. Particularly, after reading an analysis by Mighty Morphin' Analysis, I was beginning to think that maybe Dodie isn't a totally bad person on the inside. The analysis defends her by asserting (or making the excuse) that Dodie is just "a normal albeit insecure teenager and she shouldn’t be punished for it." Well, whatever she is deep down, there is no denying the similarities she shares with Angelica. And that was the story of how I became a hater of Dodie Bishop. Be on the look out for My Big Fat Rant on Dodie Bishop, coming this February!
And here's the Dodie cutout/paper doll I've mentioned, with my paper doll character from Nigel and Friends, Sally McNoggin.