Lessons of Life Live in Mystery Machine
I've only recently subscribed to "real" cable (the Scripps-Howard kind--in contrast to the wonderful VolVision where you are given a limited number of stations, including no less than eight C-Spans!) and have been enjoying the new found variety and excitment in my life. No longer am I limited to flipping through just thirty channels to find there's nothing on. Indeed, now I can flip through fifty or so channels (more if I'm willing to cough up an extra $15 a month) to find nothing's on worth watching.
At least most of the time.
I was flipping through the stations recently, when I stumbled across an icon from my childhood--the classic Hanna Barbara cartoon, Scooby Doo, Where Are You? I'm sure most of you know what I'm talking about--the one with the talking dog and the meddlesome kids who solve mysteries for fun and (surprisingly enough) no profit.
And wouldn't you know it, I flipped right by in time to catch that classic theme song. (Come on! Hum along with me here! I know you all know it!)
"Scooby Dooby Doo, where are you? We've got some work to do now..."
No longer was I merely an avid channel sufer; I'd come home to rest. I sat there for a half-hour, entranced by the show, reliving my childhood. I can remember watching the adventures of Shaggy, Velma, Fred, Daphne and Scooby every day as a kid--and for an entire on weekends! I even watched the episodes with Scooby Dum and Scrappy Doo (both of which signaled a great downturn in quality for the show, if you ask me!) and loved just about every minute of them.
And as I sat there watching Shaggy and Scooby running away from the hyponotizing clown, I began to realize there's a lot more to to Scooby Doo, Where Are You? than meets the eyes. After all, it was from this cartoon that I learned a lot of valuable lessons about life that I still use today.
1. Excercise daily and do you best to keep fit.
Think about it for a minute. Do any of the character appear to be struggling with a weight problem? Quite the opposite. Shaggy is so darn thin he looks as if he could slip between cracks in the sidewalk! And htye owe it all to exercising. After all, what do our heroes do for a majority of the episode? That's right! Run away from the villain of the day! It must be allthe running around that keeps the whole gang so think and full of life.
But the gang wouldn't be able to run from all those ghosts, ghouls and devilish monsters if they weren't in prime physical condition. They must work out on the side and keep in shape for those unexpected dangers in life--such as meeting a real life ghost or running from some strange guy in a voodoo mask!
2. If you exercise daily and keep fit, you can pretty much eat whatever you want.
What is Shaggy and Scooby's favorite food? Pizza. Where does the gang always hang out before, after or while solving a mystery? The malt shop.
Last time I checked, the cuisine the gang eats isn't exactly included on the "Lean and Lively" section of the diet chart. Shaggy eats entire sub sandwiches whole and he and Scooby demolish entire pizzas single-handedly, but they never gain a pound. Another testmanet to good exercise--it lets you eat whatever you want.
3. Encourage good deeds through the use of positive reinforcement.
In just about every episode, Scooby is asked to take on some potentially scary or frightening task in helping the gang solve the mystery. Nine times out of ten, Scobby isn't too thrilled by this arrangement--that is until he realizes that he will recieve positive reinforcement for his good deeds. This comes in the form of the Scooby snack. From this, we learn to encouarge one another and to be supportive in all things. After all, we've all got to our own fears to face and, although they might not be a flying clown bent on destroying the circus, they can be pretty intimidating. Learning to accept encouragement (as Scooby does) or give encouragement (as Fred does with a Scooby snack) is vitally important to helping us overcome those fears and face the demons (literal or figurative) before us.
4. Keep your eyes open--anything can be a clue.
It always amazed me how Fred, Velma, Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby can piece together such seemingly unrelated objects as glowing footprints, a scrap of paper and a piece of cloth to uncover multi-national conspiracies. (Man could Fox Mulder use these kids!)
In every episode, the gang puts together apparently unrelated pieces of information to come up with the exact solution to the mystery they are investigating. This comes from having the willingness and open-mindedness to look at things on many different levels. After all, how many of us would pick up a scrap of paper and discover that vital component to solving a mystery? And the gang always seems to find them in unsual places--whether it be at the bottom of the well or in a secret room off the west wing of the library. But you have to have your eyes and mind open or you'll never solve the mystery!
5. Teamwork is one of the best problem solvers.
It's rare that Fred ever solves the mystery himself. He usually relies on the help of his friends. Indeed, it takes the brains and brawn of the entier team not only to solve the myster but to capture the villain of the day.
Indeed, most of the time Shaggy and Scooby are sent out to lure the villain into their trap, while Velma, Fred and Daphne lay in wait, ready to spring it. It's only when the team works together that they get anything accomplished. Look at what happens if one person gets seperated from the team--they are lost, confused, disoriented or fall under some other kind of foul play. And they rarely, if ever, find the all-important clue that solves the mystery.
As you can see, there's a lot more to whta once appeared to be a simple cartoon than meets the eys. In fact, we can learn a great deal from Scooby and his exploits. And I'd love to stay here and discuss more of them with you, but I've got to go watch Scooby Doo, Where Are You?
Originally published in the University of Tennessee Daily Beacon on July 28, 1996
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