I got issues with a few things they've been doing with the reboot (reboots all together can ruin franchises), but one main thing is the colorism episode. It should've focused on Dijonay, or if they're gonna do the same storyline with Noah, have it be between Maya and LaCienega, especially since the episode also made Dijonay and Penny disregard their own boyfriends.
The scene of Zoey at lunch that was just ew. I never thought Zoey was ugly she was more like the awkward girl who hasn't grown into her looks or whatever.
The way every acted so entitled to Noah's affection made reconsider who the bad guy was. Also we never see Noah be colorist they just assumed because he wanted zoey he only wanted to date white girls ( honestly so what). If we got to see he maybe posting online say stuff like white girls are better then black girls or just posting nasty stuff about girls with skin color then yeah I would be more inclined to believe it. And yeah I get they say hes known to only date white girls but penny and friends just come off as I said entitled to Noah's affection.
Also if it was JUST cause she’s white, there was a more conventionally attractive girl he ended up going with. Also, Dijonay and Penny already HAD boyfriends and flat out blew them off to flirt with the lighter skinned celebrity. THATS the COLORISM.
All of them are bad friends. In the original it seemed like Penny ran with a bunch of girls who all hated/were jealous of her, minus Zoey. But Zoey would back up anyone she deemed the strongest of the group since she was so weak so I still didn't see her as Penny's true friend. But in the reboot every character feels like a bully. I don't like any of them.
They should’ve made maya lowkey colorist. I think this could’ve brought up something nice like how even an activist can be hypocritical at times or how performative some of them can be. Not saying every activist is fake nor are they perfect people, they’re like the rest of us who are trying to make the world a better place for ourselves and our community. Plus there were times where maya was a little 2faced with penny so I could definitely see this realistic happening.
The colorism was Penny and Dijonay dropping their darker-skinned boyfriends for the biracial boy. If the biracial boy's mother is white, it's perfectly natural for him to prefer a girl who looks like his own mother. And can't we have a story where black girls are real friends to each other?
If I were to do a rewrite of this episode, I would make it where Dijonay is auditioning to be in a play or movie or something (she needs some character development. However, this could also work for Michael or Maya). The character she is auditioning to play is based on a real life person who had a darker skintone and might even look similar to her. We actually see that she is absolutely perfect for the part, and is the perfect person to cast. But instead of Dijonay, a different person is picked. This person (could be a new character, could even be Penny) isn't quite as good at acting and doesn't quite fit the role, but more prominently, they are clearly lighter. Still Black, but on the lighter end. We also soon notice that all the other Black characters in the show are being played by lighter-skinned Black actors, despite various darker actors not only being perfectly capable of filling those roles, but looking more like the individuals they are supposed to be representing. This is the main conflict of the episode, showing how darker skinned folks are often losing opportunities to lighter skinned folks despite being talented in their own right. It would also need to be subtle, in which the bias slowly becomes obvious the more you think about it, but isn't intentional on the part of the casting directors. On top of this, we could have the casting director be Black, showing that there is an internal bias even within the Black community. A small moment in this that I would add is where Penny (if she's the one who gets the part) asks the casting director why Dijonay didn't get the part, and the director casually says that "Dijonay doesn't fit the look we're going for." This can help capture the subtle aspects of it, where the director doesn't outright say that Dijonay is too dark, but it is implied.
It really bothers me how Maya was the first to come out with the rumor that Noah was only dating white gals and the worst thing is that she isn't even worried about who is supposed to be her FRIEND. It seems that she said it out of sheer cruelty. She didn't care about Zoey or the situation in general. This whole situation was more like a group of resentful and jealous friends who became jealous that the ugly Betty of the group of friends was chosen instead of them.
Except this is not colorism in this episode, but racism because the girls are racist towards Zoey for being the center or attention by a black boy who has preferences.
my biggest issue with the episode is they never address colorism….at all? colorism is discrimination within one’s own race typically ones or lighter skin tones targeting one of darker skin tones. those of lighter skin tones are seen as more attractive or desirable. obviously i don’t agree with this at all. and colorism is different for each race and even depends on location. for example in the United States slaves with lighter skin tones go to be in doors obviously still slaves but treated somewhat better and did easier task while those of darker complexion did the hard labor outside in the fields. when i look at beauty stores and see beautiful lighter skinned african women like where is everyone else? we come in so many different shades. latin american was badly colonized and similar to race in america, the closer or more european you had in Latam, the higher up you were. so many of the afro latinos didn’t even know they were black until adulthood. it’s so sad and it makes me so mad that the world has done us so wrong for things we can’t control! and to here it’s happening on our motherland hurts me even more. instead of educating people on these issues within the black community and spread awareness. they chose to bully their white token friend because they’re clearly jealous the boy chose her over them. they instantly assume it’s because of their race and ethnicity but maybe it’s because zoey wasn’t a weirdo when he arrived at lunch. but then they team up on zoey even though it was totally out of her control. then she has to apologize at the end of the episode which is absolutely insane! these girls are toxic for each other and shouldn’t be friends. i feel like they’re trying to call this colorism when it’s clearly preference. I don’t think preferences are necessarily bad unless you’re purposefully excluding race(s) or see them as inferior. Then yes that is racism. Yet the boy never says that to any of the girls. Maybe he finds all races attractive just has certain preferences per race. The episode also has really bad and cringy writing.
I hated this episode so much, I wanted to give it a chance but the episode was everything I feared, it’s exactly how everyone was describing. I hated how it comes off less as a colourism episode and more about “Penny and her friends are pissed jealous that their nerdy least attractive friend gets attention” and “date someone your own league” cause I’m sorry but Zoe was always the “ugly friend” of the group, they had a makeover montage with her in the the original, she has a “glowup” in the college episode.
Yes, they very much missed the mark on the colorism episode, hopefully, next week they do better and listen to what people have to say and we got a fully in-depth and executed Michael episode in season 3. besides all this, I enjoyed season 2 for the most part kinda wish they put them in a high school or college setting instead of reverting them back to middle school because I think in the movie penny was turning 16 so she would've already been in high school so would've been easier to starter there. I hated the release format of the episodes too. mind I don't mind the whole binge-watching as I'm 22 so I'm used to that culture however I also know the weekly episode format and I like that better because it makes me look forward to next week's episode which is what season one did.
I disagree. Dijonay is no way at all an antagonist. She's never truly there for Penny and all she ever does is create drama for or side against Penny. But somehow they're friends. Dijonay is no one's friend and the way the show keeps pushing her toxicity as endearing and quirky is just infuriating.
I got issues with a few things they've been doing with the reboot (reboots all together can ruin franchises), but one main thing is the colorism episode. It should've focused on Dijonay, or if they're gonna do the same storyline with Noah, have it be between Maya and LaCienega, especially since the episode also made Dijonay and Penny disregard their own boyfriends.
Exactly. They could've explored the topic of colorism in this episode in so many better ways.
The scene of Zoey at lunch that was just ew. I never thought Zoey was ugly she was more like the awkward girl who hasn't grown into her looks or whatever.
Exactly. I hated how they tried to make Zoey seem undesirable. Zoey can be awkward and nerdy without being undesirable.
The way every acted so entitled to Noah's affection made reconsider who the bad guy was. Also we never see Noah be colorist they just assumed because he wanted zoey he only wanted to date white girls ( honestly so what). If we got to see he maybe posting online say stuff like white girls are better then black girls or just posting nasty stuff about girls with skin color then yeah I would be more inclined to believe it. And yeah I get they say hes known to only date white girls but penny and friends just come off as I said entitled to Noah's affection.
Also if it was JUST cause she’s white, there was a more conventionally attractive girl he ended up going with.
Also, Dijonay and Penny already HAD boyfriends and flat out blew them off to flirt with the lighter skinned celebrity. THATS the COLORISM.
All of them are bad friends. In the original it seemed like Penny ran with a bunch of girls who all hated/were jealous of her, minus Zoey. But Zoey would back up anyone she deemed the strongest of the group since she was so weak so I still didn't see her as Penny's true friend. But in the reboot every character feels like a bully. I don't like any of them.
Yeah, never thought they could make Penny’s “friends” worse lol. Spot on with Zoey being the “follower” friend instead of the “nice” friend too.
They should’ve made maya lowkey colorist. I think this could’ve brought up something nice like how even an activist can be hypocritical at times or how performative some of them can be. Not saying every activist is fake nor are they perfect people, they’re like the rest of us who are trying to make the world a better place for ourselves and our community. Plus there were times where maya was a little 2faced with penny so I could definitely see this realistic happening.
I agree. This would've been a better story line to explore.
Maya is a highkey racist.
Zoey should have gotten her college look and kept her dancing skills.
The colorism was Penny and Dijonay dropping their darker-skinned boyfriends for the biracial boy. If the biracial boy's mother is white, it's perfectly natural for him to prefer a girl who looks like his own mother.
And can't we have a story where black girls are real friends to each other?
If I were to do a rewrite of this episode, I would make it where Dijonay is auditioning to be in a play or movie or something (she needs some character development. However, this could also work for Michael or Maya). The character she is auditioning to play is based on a real life person who had a darker skintone and might even look similar to her. We actually see that she is absolutely perfect for the part, and is the perfect person to cast. But instead of Dijonay, a different person is picked. This person (could be a new character, could even be Penny) isn't quite as good at acting and doesn't quite fit the role, but more prominently, they are clearly lighter. Still Black, but on the lighter end. We also soon notice that all the other Black characters in the show are being played by lighter-skinned Black actors, despite various darker actors not only being perfectly capable of filling those roles, but looking more like the individuals they are supposed to be representing.
This is the main conflict of the episode, showing how darker skinned folks are often losing opportunities to lighter skinned folks despite being talented in their own right. It would also need to be subtle, in which the bias slowly becomes obvious the more you think about it, but isn't intentional on the part of the casting directors. On top of this, we could have the casting director be Black, showing that there is an internal bias even within the Black community. A small moment in this that I would add is where Penny (if she's the one who gets the part) asks the casting director why Dijonay didn't get the part, and the director casually says that "Dijonay doesn't fit the look we're going for." This can help capture the subtle aspects of it, where the director doesn't outright say that Dijonay is too dark, but it is implied.
It really bothers me how Maya was the first to come out with the rumor that Noah was only dating white gals and the worst thing is that she isn't even worried about who is supposed to be her FRIEND. It seems that she said it out of sheer cruelty. She didn't care about Zoey or the situation in general.
This whole situation was more like a group of resentful and jealous friends who became jealous that the ugly Betty of the group of friends was chosen instead of them.
Big surprise that a show written by men would blame girls for colorism and treat men like innocent victims of it.
Except this is not colorism in this episode, but racism because the girls are racist towards Zoey for being the center or attention by a black boy who has preferences.
my biggest issue with the episode is they never address colorism….at all? colorism is discrimination within one’s own race typically ones or lighter skin tones targeting one of darker skin tones. those of lighter skin tones are seen as more attractive or desirable. obviously i don’t agree with this at all. and colorism is different for each race and even depends on location. for example in the United States slaves with lighter skin tones go to be in doors obviously still slaves but treated somewhat better and did easier task while those of darker complexion did the hard labor outside in the fields. when i look at beauty stores and see beautiful lighter skinned african women like where is everyone else? we come in so many different shades. latin american was badly colonized and similar to race in america, the closer or more european you had in Latam, the higher up you were. so many of the afro latinos didn’t even know they were black until adulthood. it’s so sad and it makes me so mad that the world has done us so wrong for things we can’t control! and to here it’s happening on our motherland hurts me even more.
instead of educating people on these issues within the black community and spread awareness. they chose to bully their white token friend because they’re clearly jealous the boy chose her over them. they instantly assume it’s because of their race and ethnicity but maybe it’s because zoey wasn’t a weirdo when he arrived at lunch. but then they team up on zoey even though it was totally out of her control. then she has to apologize at the end of the episode which is absolutely insane! these girls are toxic for each other and shouldn’t be friends. i feel like they’re trying to call this colorism when it’s clearly preference. I don’t think preferences are necessarily bad unless you’re purposefully excluding race(s) or see them as inferior. Then yes that is racism. Yet the boy never says that to any of the girls. Maybe he finds all races attractive just has certain preferences per race. The episode also has really bad and cringy writing.
I hated this episode so much, I wanted to give it a chance but the episode was everything I feared, it’s exactly how everyone was describing. I hated how it comes off less as a colourism episode and more about “Penny and her friends are pissed jealous that their nerdy least attractive friend gets attention” and “date someone your own league” cause I’m sorry but Zoe was always the “ugly friend” of the group, they had a makeover montage with her in the the original, she has a “glowup” in the college episode.
Dijonnay didn’t forget. She just didn’t care. Don't forget, she has an eidetic memory. She would remember.
Yes, they very much missed the mark on the colorism episode, hopefully, next week they do better and listen to what people have to say and we got a fully in-depth and executed Michael episode in season 3.
besides all this, I enjoyed season 2 for the most part kinda wish they put them in a high school or college setting instead of reverting them back to middle school because I think in the movie penny was turning 16 so she would've already been in high school so would've been easier to starter there.
I hated the release format of the episodes too. mind I don't mind the whole binge-watching as I'm 22 so I'm used to that culture however I also know the weekly episode format and I like that better because it makes me look forward to next week's episode which is what season one did.
This seems like a weird thing to say but I wonder how they would handle and focus on a mixed character(black and white) like I am.
I disagree.
Dijonay is no way at all an antagonist. She's never truly there for Penny and all she ever does is create drama for or side against Penny.
But somehow they're friends.
Dijonay is no one's friend and the way the show keeps pushing her toxicity as endearing and quirky is just infuriating.
I was turned off as soon as I knew this show was promoting racism. They even include Robin DiAngelo, who is a well known racist.
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