Vic and Val are preteen half-brothers living in the town of Monte Macabre, where half the population has mystical powers and ancient gods and monsters are lurking everywhere. Vic is young, dumb, fiery, and mischievous, the one who says "Let's borrow Abuela's magic gourd to summon a spirit to do our chores!" while Val, older, portly, intellectual, complains "But we promised not to!"
Other than the ubiquitous paranormal, most plotlines are pedestrian and rather moralistic: some minor bit of mischief, disobedience, or shortcut-taking unleashes a monster. There is no plot arc from episode to episode, no building toward a final confrontation with ultimate evil. Instead, the boys learn a series of Valuable Lessons.
The supporting characters are somewhat more interesting.
1. Grandma Chata, who may be a supernatural being, and knows more than she is telling.
2. The boys' nemesis, Charlene, who has mystical powers, and her big, lumbering but soft-hearted sidekick Pineapple.
3. Guillermo, an autistic boy who refers to himself in the third person and can see things other people can't.
4. Dreamy Andres, a teenager who Vic and Val are in love with.
5. Xochi, the boys' babysitter, who is canonically lesbian.
1. Val tries to win a soccer game by inviting Juan, the ghost of a famous soccer player, to possess him.
2. The boys are desperate to go to Andres' pool party, but Grandma's fifth quinceañera (75th birthday) is scheduled at the same time, so they use a magic flute to travel between the two parties.
4. Val tries to impress Baker, the snooty head of the photography club, by getting a photo of the legendary chupacabra.
Plus neither Val, Victor, or any of the boys they like express any heterosexual interest, except in two episodes:
1. Val falls for a girl who turns out to be a malazihua, an evil succubus who seduces and eats her victims, so that hardly counts.
2. Victor disparages the Dia de Amor, until Charlene tricks him into going on a date with her. Then he admits that dating might not be so bad -- it's like hanging out with a friend.
Rather a gay way of framing boy-girl dates, isn't it?
I'm just wondering how they'll animate 400 boys if they're doing Mayan mythology. (Yeah, women appear later.) But there is a lot that can be done here, like lethal basketball games.
ReplyDeleteI just saw the episode where they combat the Lords of the Underworld, twins Mic and Hun. Mic introduces Hun as "my other half,"by which he might mean that they are married, or that they can combine into a bigger being, a la "Steven Universe." But "Hun" in English sounds like "Honey," a pet name for a romantic partner. That has to be deliberate.
ReplyDeleteOf course, thanks to Steven Universe, fusion (contra Jasper memes) is associated with romance. Even as Rebecca Sugar went out of her way to say any relationship could be a fusion. (And, you know, Steven fusing with his dad and forming a Jojo homage.)
DeleteLol, still say they're gay? Cuz it's pretty obvious they aren't!
ReplyDeleteFictional characters do not have a sexual identity. They do not actually exist. Viewers who aren't homophobic can find gay subtexts in their interactions regardless of whether they are shown dating, kissing, or having sex with girls, and regardless of whether the writer, director, or actors intended it. It's a matter of applying the tools of queer theory to the text. With a Ph.D. and five published books and over 50 journal articles on the topic, I believe that I am well qualified to evaluate texts. You could read some of the primary books on queer theory and look at the text again.
DeleteThey aren't gay. Lol. Val had a few girl friends.
ReplyDeleteFictional characters do not have a sexual identity. They do not actually exist. Viewers who aren't homophobic can find gay subtexts in their interactions regardless of whether they are shown dating, kissing, or having sex with girls, and regardless of whether the writer, director, or actors intended it. It's a matter of applying the tools of queer theory to the text. With a Ph.D. and five published books and over 50 journal articles on the topic, I believe that I am well qualified to evaluate texts. You could read some of the primary books on queer theory and look at the text again.
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