the tick: leonardo da vinci and and his fightin' genius time commandoes!

so i've been watching a lot tick. as a kid i always watched this with my big brother on fox. the slow witted genius of the big blue super hero, that is nigh invincible, holds a special place in the my heart. therefore, in this game of blame i'd like to find fox with fault. just cause. so in this episode, as the title eludes, da vinci and other famous inventors are transported to the present (1995). there is ben franklin, the inventor of peanut butter, gutenburg, and some other guys. what i'm interested in is the two women who are transported from the past. one is mona lisa. she is of course only credited with being the subject of her painting--the villain even apologizes for involving her in this mess. the other woman is the the inventor of the wheel. firstly, mind you, this is the only woman inventor in the bunch, clearly she is added just so they can feel more diverse (like with the inventor of peanut butter being black). secondly, 'wheel' (her given name in this ep) is the one that gives da vinci's location away, after he's escaped and gone for help. therefore she is the weakness of the bunch, the honest one. aww ain't that sweet, a honest gullible woman. later when she escapes (by climbing over the side of the glass cage) no one else uses her route. it's not good enough for them. they have to invent there own way out, asking her to retrieve supplies for them. finally, 'wheel' does not get sent back to the past but rather stays in the present and sues for royalties on her invention of the wheel. clever yes, but a reinforcement of the stereotype of the greedy woman. now you could say i'm just an over sensitive cranky female who likes to make up feminist causes just to make a scene. this would be misguided on your part. the fact that this little difference in roles slips by nearly unnoticed indicates the depth of the gender related discrimination in our society. this kids program is subtly displaying where society places women. we are in service of men, retrieving items so they can make their own invention instead of just using ours; we're supposed to be meek and follow their lead or we will be seen as destructive and greedy. this message is ingrained in our culture so well that we really don't notice it and must put in the effort to see and then change it. we can return to the '60s. we can change our ways from the dark days of the '80s. think about it.

cartoons are so depressing sometimes.