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Once those on the Left agree on the deplorable nature of a product “Velma,” then the Right just HAS to be the blame!

A new program has debuted on a streaming platform, and it is so wondrously horrid in the way it is steeped in the woke culture that it exposes all of the faults at play in Hollywood these days. Or Does It?!?!?! What is so remarkable to behold is that this new entry is so poorly received across all categories of viewers that some now posit that it is an intentional oppo-cultural release.

January has long been considered the dumping ground in Hollywood for failed movie releases. While the awards-bait films were given wider releases and the holiday smash holdovers were still doing business, the studios would also counter-program with the misbegotten titles they had no other ideas as to how to promote; these were not released into theaters so much as they were released on their own recognizance.

The pandemic, as many know, completely scrambled the studio release platforms, so these traditional rollout practices no longer are as prominent. But maybe we are seeing a shift in the January rubbish release over to streaming, where the content is far more flush and competitive these days. HBO Max recently debuted its animated fare, “Velma”, and the uniform reviled response has been impressive. 

As Brandon noted earlier it is a complete bastardization of the Scooby-Doo franchise, an adult-themed reimagining with the common elements tossed into a Cuisinart with numerous woke ingredients and set to puree. Allegedly an origin plotline of the Mystery Inc. players, all of the familiar names are completely unrecognizable from a character perspective, with all manner of contemporary virtue sensibilities injected and all plot points seemingly filtered through a DEI committee.

The end result: Everyone cannot stand the result – almost. Initially, the critics were on board with this new approach to the property. Early reviews were largely favorable from our arbiters of culture; if you think news reporters are a slanted industry, consider what journalists covering hyper-liberal Hollywood are as a group. Harkening back to my earlier days covering Hollywood, I used to do pieces where I reviewed movie reviewers and how their slanted agendas formulate their critiques of entertainment.

Behold some of the early raves this show was receiving:

• Velma boasts a well-structured narrative with jokes, suspense, interconnected plotlines, and evolving relationships instead of a case-of-the-week format and various monster antics.

                    – Solani Gajjar, A.V. Club

• I loved watching all the characters snipe at each other, and the best jokes are laugh-out-loud funny. The show also has some good digs at sexism and patriarchy.

                   – Julia Glassman, The Mary Sue

• Look past the copulating cockroaches and anatomy jokes that hinge on baby carrots, won’t you? Velma is a supernatural spoof at its most beautifully chaotic.

                  – Laura Mechling, The Guardian

• Velma is doing a lot — possibly too much — but there are emotional beats and comedic gags that do land amid a saturated creative canvas, including arcs for the future Mysteries, Inc gang that combine existing backstory with eclectic Velma flourishes.

                  — Proma Khosla, Indie Wire

• The hotly anticipated origin story of the brains behind Mystery Inc. is well worth the wait, with a compelling mystery and even funnier punchlines.

                  – Coleman Spilde, The Daily Beast

As the show was unveiled for the public, revulsion was widespread. On Rotten Tomatoes, the audience rating is below 10 percent and plunging. (The critics, sensing the public backlash, are beginning to follow suit as the show has dipped to 55 percent approval.) Now that the blatant flaws permeating this property have been shown, we’re seeing a new approach. A new interpretation has emerged, and it appears to be the result of seeing how much conservative mockery has arisen in regard to this program.

Forbes has come out with a piece about the show that follows a theory being floated that the show was crafted to be intentionally bad. Paul Tassi writes that one theory is that the content in “Velma” is so broad and groan-inducing that the show is actually a parody of leftist social mores made intentionally cringe-worthy so as to be a commentary on Hollywood – made on behalf of conservatives.

The farcical premise is shown by a Twitter user who states this was made intentionally bad so it would be a viral focus on YouTube, and then that ensuing attention would generate internet heat and traffic and deliver viewers. Making this suggestion all the more laughable, Tassi goes on to get on board with the concept that the show’s creator, Mindy Kaling, might have executed this precise plan.

Yet if that wasn’t the intent of the show, it sure feels like it in practice. On one side, it absolutely is working to spark mockery from the right, exactly as you might imagine it would. But on the other, it’s just not defensible at all by those who would normally welcome a progressive series. 

You have to love this. When a woke show is so horrid that even woke audience members do not like it, as conservatives roundly disparage the show, then it just might in fact be an intentional dig on Hollywood! Of course, you have to ignore many common sense realities, such as Hollywood performers being duped by this premise, and the owners of the intellectual property signing on for an intentional trashing of their product, to say nothing of a studio like HBO going along with a conservative plot to undermine the industry. Then Tassi makes another comment that brings out the laughter:

I heard the show described somewhere as a series written by TV writers who only ever talk to other TV writers. That’s a pretty good summary.

Now let’s summarize: “Velma” is so bad that it feels just like a bunch of conservatives did this to intentionally embarrass Hollywood. OR, it is just as plausible that it was created by some of the most left-wing people in a left-wing industry to appeal to the most left-wing people in said industry. When they are capable of producing something so terrible in quality it can be described as parody, one has to wonder if this will lead to anything approaching a dawning by those in Studio City.