Who's Your Scooby Gang?
by Christine WellsOnce upon a time, before telephones and computers, email and blogger and twitter and facebook and myspace and whatever new piece of technology I haven't heard of yet, people were pretty much stuck with the community they lived in.
Some lucky, wealthy people traveled and enjoyed more varied society, but most stayed home, expecting that they'd live and work and marry and have children in the same place, often in the same house, as they were born. Local community was important, vital for survival.
Nowadays, we have more choice about where we make our friends. We still have the local community to draw on, but we're involved in all kinds of institutions where we make other circles of acquaintances. Now, with the internet, distance is no issue. If you have a particular passion, you can probably find an online community full of people who share it.It's fascinating to observe the characteristics of each community to which I belong, the mesh and clash of personalities, the give and take of opinion, each group's individual shape and colour. No matter how isolated we might be in a physical sense, we still crave that feeling of belonging to a larger group.
We also love that sense of community in movies, television and books, don't we? Harry Potter's Hogwarts, The Simpsons' home town of Springfield, Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Scooby Gang--a group of distinctive characters, working, fighting, falling in love, uniting together against a common enemy is something that speaks to a deep-seated need in us all.What community in fiction, movies or television, would you like to be part of?
Christine, I love the actual Scooby gang! *g* I adore any quirky bunch of characters, actually. When I was a young teenager, I desperately wanted to live in Narnia. Or Middle Earth. I felt much more at home there than in my actual neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteAs a so-called grown-up, I have fleetingly pined to live in Twin Peaks, WA and Cicely, AL (from Northern Exposure). Every once in a while, I get a hankering to live in Stars Hollow, CT (from Gilmore Girls). I told you, I like the quirky...and the funny. *g*
Great post, Christine! I loved Scoobie when I was a kid. I wanted to be one of them, solving mysteries and traveling to new places. Now, I much prefer my quiet community that is very near two big cities.
ReplyDeleteWhich brings me to your question, I'm really not sure. I'm certain I don't want to belong to the Desperate Housewife gang. So what does that leave me? I'll have to get back to you on that.
I LOVE the Scooby gang from Buffy, particularly in the first three seasons when they were all still in high school. And when Willow still liked Oz.
ReplyDeleteHey, Christine!
ReplyDeleteI've always wanted to be more talented than I am. I can remember being very young & watching the TV show FAME & thinking how much I'd love to belong to a place where the kids burst into song & dance in the hallways of my high school. Not that I can sing or dance. Not outside my kitchen anyway. :-)
As all the Romance Bandits know, I've spent many years looking for magical lands in the backs of wardrobes, too. The idea that I'm ordinary here but have a higher calling, a higher destiny in some other world is just universally appealing.
Hey Christine :-) What a fun post!!! I'd have loved to be a part of the Friends gang. They were just so fun and cool and FUNNY!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm also in love with the world of Harry Potter, so that'd be one I'd like to join - as long as I didn't have to be a muggle *g*
Hi, Christine--
ReplyDeleteI second Tawny that this is a fun post! As a kid, I wanted to be a Bobbsey Twin (unlikely, as I had no twin) or a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes or Justice League of America from comic books, though I had no super-power. Actually, I wasn't even very co-ordinated, due to that always-growing thing tall kids have to deal with. All super-heroes are coordinated at the very least. *sigh*
If I were picking today, I'd want to be a member of Stargate Command, Bujold's Dendarii Free Mercenaries, or Starfleet. Just not in a red shirt. :-)
What a fun post! Ah, the Scooby gang.
ReplyDeleteAs a kid I wanted to be either one of the "Bob-Whites" from the Trixie Belden series or part of the gang from the Land of Oz, *grin* they always had so much fun.
In later years, who wouldn't want to have a group of "Friends" which these days has morphed into the gang from "How I Met Your Mother" although Ross Gellar would surely fit right into "The Big Bang Theory."
Even shows like Star Trek: Next Generation reveal a group reality that's pretty darn revealing.
Hmmm, which one would I choose? These days I still feel the most fondness for the last show named, ST:NG. Crusing the galaxy for a mission to seek out new life and new civilzations, to boldly go where no one has gone before?
Sign Me Up, Scotty!!
Smiles,
Chiron
What a great post, Christine. Like many of the other commentors here, I desperately wanted to get pulled into Narnia - for real.
ReplyDeleteNowadays, I'd love to be 'on the grid' on 'Spooks' ('MI-5' in Canada.) Or to be one of Sharpe's chosen men, or aboard a ship of the line serving with Horatio Hornblower.
Christine, what a cute post! At first I thought you were going to ask me about Scooby Doo and sadly, I'm too old to remember much except for that questioning sound Scooby use to make. Unnnhhhhhhgggg?
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid, I desperately wanted to belong to one of Enid Blyton's crime-solving gangs. They were all such wonderful friends and they did such amazing things.
Hi, Christine! Great topic.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to be part of the Grey's Anatomy circle. They have such fascinating dilemmas and clever surgeons. I'm very impressed by that high level of skill, even though it's pretend LOL. Rubbing shoulders with people like that would be very interesting to me.
Hi, Christine! Great post! I always thought it'd be fun to be a part of Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls. Caren and I could be neighbors *g* I feel I would fit in well with quirky :-)
ReplyDeleteHmmmm, interesting question, Christine.
ReplyDeleteFrom fiction I'd like to be part of the Dark Hunters gang. Definitely love me some big immortal men.
From TV...CSI:NY or NCIS. I'm a science and anatomy geek. Autopsies? No problem. Blood analysis, I'm your girl!
Movies: X-men. Definitely. I'd want cool powers, one of which to never gain too much weight so I'd look great in the spandex clothes!
Hi Caren, thanks for visiting! Oh, yes, Twin Peaks. Loved that show! But I'd be a bit scared to live there, I think. Stars Hollow would be more my style except that the Gilmore Girls seem to have monopoly on cute guys!
ReplyDeleteChristie, heaven forbid! I'd hate to be a desperate housewife. I'm not nearly tall and gorgeous enough for a start! Thanks for dropping by.
ReplyDeleteTrish, I loved Oz! The actor who played him was great in Austin Powers, too! Yes, I would have liked to be in the Scooby gang as long as I could have some kind of power myself. Being a mere mortal in the face of all those demons and vampires would freak me out. Hmm, I'm really showing myself to be a scaredy cat today, aren't I?
ReplyDeleteSusan, that's so true. Every kid likes to feel special, don't they? You'll kill yourself laughing but I actually joined a Fame-style school when I was about 11. It actually turned out to be an expensive fraud. I don't think anyone actually got to perform. Sigh. But it was fun. We had a dance teacher who was very like the teacher in Fame.
ReplyDeleteTawny, ha, it would have been fun to be a 'Friend', wouldn't it? Although I think Phoebe and I might have come to blows after a while:)
ReplyDeleteOh, I'd love to be at Hogwarts. The setting alone is stunning, but to be able to do magic as well would be brilliant.
Snork about the red shirt, Nancy! I have heard of the Bobbsey twins but not personally acquainted. Can definitely identify with wanting to be a superhero. Probably Wonder Woman featured most strongly in that dream, but sometimes I used to do that Shazzam! thing with my brother. What were those twins called?
ReplyDeleteChiron, I remember reading Trixie Belden and wanting to be her, although i always preferred Nancy Drew for some reason.
ReplyDeleteBut group dynamics are so interesting to watch, aren't they? I think that's a lot of the appeal of those reality TV shows like Big Brother, although I can't bear to watch them, myself.
Oh, Julia!! I am SO with you on wanting to live on the Grid in MI-5. In fact, I would even do it knowing that they're quite likely to kill me off in the next episode. Have you seen the latest series. Richard Armitage!!
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, Anna! The Secret Seven and The Famous Five! I loved those books. I was amazingly envious of their cool clubhouse, too.
ReplyDeleteJo, I've never seen Grey's Anatomy but I'll take your word for it. You're not going for the easy alternative, are you? It sounds stressful!
ReplyDeleteBeth, I'd pick Stars Hollow if I could look like Lorelei Gilmore and eat as much as she does and not get fat!
ReplyDeleteSuz, oh, yeah, X-Men would be so cool, wouldn't it? I'd have to think about what powers I'd choose. On the other hand, the Dark Hunters sound very tempting also. Thanks for commenting!
ReplyDeleteFun blog, Christine! I love the Scooby Gang, especially Scooby Doo. In fact, I've dressed as Scooby Doo on three separate Halloweens. I think it's about time to retire the costume but it's hard to resist all the little kids with their big eyes saying, "Please, Miss PJ, please be Scooby Doo!" He's a much loved pooch. :)
ReplyDeleteI always wanted to be part of the FAME gang. I love to sing and dance but sadly was not given any talent in either field. I've put on some rockin' concerts in my kitchen though! Alas, the dogs were not impressed. lol!
Terrific post Christine! Loved to have been one of Carrie's friends on "Sex and the City"because I appreciate the sense of close female bonds that they have. And of course one of the gang on "Seinfeld" because I tend to focus on the minutiae of every day life. Lately, I wish I worked with the TGS gang on 30 Rock - just because I feel like my crazy would fit in well with their collective crazy. It's all good! :)
ReplyDeleteChristine - Richard! Oh, Richard...! He is magnificent.
ReplyDeleteIf Richard Armitage promised to protect me I'd go on the grid. LOL!
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