Something that had already been planned since 2001…
Velma has officially come out as a lesbian In the movie Trick or Treat, Scooby-Doo! and Google has decided to celebrate it with a little wink: if you search for “velma” or “Velma Dinkley” in the search engine, lesbian and LGBTQIA+ pride flags will pop up. But how did he come out of the closet? Hadn’t she shown interest in other men before? Well, the reality is a bit more complex.
in truth that Google said: UP THE LESBIANAAAAS pic.twitter.com/EKtjvRLb9v
— Eri the otter 💖💛💙 Girlfriend of adm1n and the influencer (@Erivlt) October 6, 2022
The first thing is to emphasize that Velma is officially a lesbian. Clips from the new movie “Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!”, showing the Mystery Inc. girl googly-eyed and speechless when she meets with costume designer Coco Diablo, in a clear crush.
This should come as no surprise when it’s long been an open secret among “Scooby-Doo” fans and creatives that Velma is gay. Even James Gunnwho wrote the first live-action movies of 2001, and Tony Cervone, who served as supervising producer on the “Mystery Incorporated” series, confirmed Velma’s sexuality. However, James was not as lucky as Tony and other writers.
Velma first meets Coco Diablo in “Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo”#Scoobydoohistory pic.twitter.com/TnWGS0B5GK
— Scooby-Doo History (@scoobyhistory) October 4, 2022
In 2020, Gunn tweeted that she “tried” to portray Velma as a lesbian in the live-action Scooby-Doo movies, something even mentioned by Gunn herself. Hayley Kiyoko, the actress who gave him life. “In 2001, Velma was explicitly gay in my initial script,” he wrote. “But the study continued to overshadow this ideabecoming ambiguous about her sexuality until she leaves nothing about it (in the released version) and finally having a boyfriend (in the sequel).”
During LGBTQIA+ Pride Month 2020, Cervone wrote on Instagram: “I’ve said this before but Velma in ‘Mystery Incorporated’ is not bisexual. she is a lesbian. We always planned for Velma to act a little bit out of character when she was dating Shaggy because that relationship just wasn’t right for her and she had unspoken difficulties with why. There are clues as to why in that episode with the mermaid, and if you follow Marcie’s entire arc, it seems as clear as we could make it 10 years ago. I don’t think Marcie and Velma had time to act on their feelings during the main timeline, but after the reboot, they are a couple. You may not like it, but that was our intention.”
About this Tony Cervone, production supervisor, commented that when Velma started dating Shaggy they wrote her as if she was always uncomfortable, so that she felt that this relationship was very out of character for her.
Velma had a time of confusion which is also canon. https://t.co/he8ig54QoZ— Nixarim -NEW LIGHTBRINGER PREORDER OPEN 🍎 (@Nixarim) October 6, 2022
Is Velma a lesbian?
As many lesbian and sapphic personalities have pointed out, even though Velma from Scooby-Doo (or Mystery Inc.) has shown an interest in men before, this doesn’t mean he’s straight. The aforementioned by Tony Cervone is proof of this, he wanted to show with her date with Shaggy that she looked uncomfortable, out of place, because it was not a relationship in which she felt happy. But then why did she go out with him? There is the term comphet or “compulsory heterosexuality” (forced heterosexuality or compulsive heterosexuality), it is a term popularized by Adrienne Rich for refer to the idea that women are assumed to only be emotionally and sexually attracted to menthis idea is forced towards women by the heteronormativity of society, placing heterosexuality as “something natural”.
According to Rich’s theory, it is believed that women in all cultures have an innate preference for relationships with men and this leads women to devalue and minimize the importance of their relationships with other women, even denying their own sexuality. This is an experience shared by other lesbian or bisexual women:
Velma from Scooby Doo is a lesbian!!!!! 🧡🤍💖 It makes me especially excited because they don’t become lesbians who have had comphet very often and that fills my little heart. We exist. 🌈 pic.twitter.com/zufzZvYmTp
— Commander Shepard🏳️🌈🌸Working @GameLastChance (@FemShepard) October 6, 2022
A woman who has been through this better explains Velma’s situation as a lesbian in Scooby-Doo (or Mystery In.) more clearly: It took me a long time to realize that I was a lesbian because it was very normal for me to like men and my family would constantly ask me if I liked any men and when I told them they didn’t always seem disappointed so I just tried to pick and choosing men I might like, not because I really liked them, but because I felt like I was letting them down if I didn’t and when I finally realized that I liked girls, I didn’t want to believe that I ONLY liked girls because I thought it wasn’t “normal”.
He continues recounting: “It’s honestly disgusting how many people are trying to invalidate Velma’s sexuality as a lesbian. and especially since this happens in real life”. That said, it is clear that “having dated other guys” not only does not deny Velma as a lesbian, but it reinforces her development as a character within this animated series, something that that we could explore in the next series that will tell the past of this girl from Mystery Inc.
invalidate Velma’s sexuality as a lesbian and especially bk this kind of shit happens in real life like SHUT UP. We KNOW ourselves better than YOU ever could why are you trying to mansplain OUR identities? And lesbians literally barely get any rep because y’all try to push 3/?
— not so daily lesbian posting (@anythinglesbian) October 6, 2022
Velma is a lesbian and will have her own independent series
According to the description of the new series, this account “the origin story of Velma Dinkley, the anonymous and underrated mastermind of the Scooby-Doo Mystery Inc gang. This original and humorous twist unmasks the complex and colorful past of one of America’s most beloved mystery solvers.”
The 10-episode first season of HBO Max’s “Velma” will premiere in 2023. Charlie Grandy serves as showrunner and executive producer alongside Kaling, Howard Klein and Sam Register. While Kaling’s show is not associated with the recently released “Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!” film, he alluded at NYCC that his version of Velma could also have a “journey of self-discovery” regarding her sexuality.
“We want to honor other interpretations and what we think feels really modern,” Kaling said. The “Velma” team also addressed why this spinoff of the “Scooby-Doo” series doesn’t, in fact, feature Scooby himself. In creating a Mystery Inc. show for adults, Grandy says they struggled to find a version of the beloved dog. However, the commissioning team didn’t make it, but maybe they got something better: A standalone Velma series.
“It seemed like the thing that made it a kids’ show was Scooby-Doo. That coincided with Warner Bros. Animation saying, ‘Hey, you can’t use the dog,'” Grandy said. “So we said, ‘Great, this other idea works fine.’ However, we will have to wait a little longer to see this series.