Hey, this is Gordon003 or Gordo for short. Now our first debate blog wasn’t as successful as initially planned; but our minimal expectation was met (which is get at least 100 views in DeviantArt) and we actually had a good time discussing with each other on those questions. Therefore, we decide to continue discussing about Total Drama in the future. If you want to discuss with us or have a question in your mind then make a note to me via my user page or comment below. Other than that, I hope you enjoy and have a new perspective/view on Total Drama!
Gordon: Hey guys. Welcome to the second episode of our discussion in Total Drama. As before, it’s between me and NEWTU. In this discussion, we will talk and answer 5 main questions that concern on anything related to Total Drama. Now, are you ready, NEWTU?
NEWTU: Yes. Whatever you do, don’t mention Carrie.
Gordon: Fine. I go first.
Question 1: Is it finally time to stop talking about Total Drama All Stars?[]
NEWTU: YES. It is. IT REALLY IS. I think at this point, you, me, my mother, my neighbour, the President of France, and even the long dead William Wallace know that All Stars sucks. We get it. We have said all that can be possibly said: What sucks about, what have been done better, etc. etc. etc.
It makes no sense in beating a dead horse. That’s why we should stop talking about it.
Gordon: I fully agreed with you. All Stars is a terrible season, everyone knows and gets that. And then you see loads and loads of articles and blogs, either criticising or claiming that they are better ways to make TD All Stars a lot better. Before, I understand that it shows the fans’ real passion to Total Drama, but it’s gotten really repetitive ever since the end of TD All Stars. And this has gone on since… when did it end?
NEWTU: Don’t know. Somewhere around 2014.
Gordon: 2014? This is 2017… and people are still moaning and criticising on the All Stars. Why not talk about TD Island or Action which both made the franchise popular in the first place?
NEWTU: Indeed. I applaud people for being passionate about how they want to fix something that was broken.
But now, I award zero points to people who still think they can fix TD All Stars, as it got old now.
Gordon: Same criticism … same solution … blah blah blah. I understand the need to discuss on the fatal errors of the All Stars to avoid repeating the same mistake, but Pahkitew Island and Ridonculous Race season has shown that the writers have fully learnt from their mistake. It’s simply time to move on.
NEWTU: While I would not say they fixed every single mistake, I see what you mean.
Every single Anti-All Stars articles and blogs can be paraphrased easily into the following: ‘Too much focus on Mike and Zoey, flanderization, too early to do an All Stars season, need better cast.’ The only difference between each articles is each are ad-libbed a tad differently.
Gordon: I bet $10 that if you compare two different AS articles in a anti-plagiarism checker, they would come up as 100% similar.
NEWTU: It would go above 110%. And despite all that, some people are still droning about it. Including us right now!
Gordon: Agreed. We too should stop talking about TD All Stars. So at the end, we both believed that it’s finally time to stop talking about TD All Stars as literally all criticism and ideas to make it better has been said ever since the birth of Jesus. You go next, NEWTU. What’s the next question?
Question 2: What kind of Character Types/Gimmicks/Themes do we need for future TD contestants?[]
Gordon: You go. I need to think first.
NEWTU: Ok. If you ask me, you can go in a various number of ways. There are simply so many character themes that haven’t been done yet. For me, the only one I would like to see is a Welsh contestant.
Gordon: A Welsh contestant? (Looking at a world map)
NEWTU: Yep. I think Welsh people should get a bit more respect in this world, especially in the world of TV.
Gordon: Really? Is there any other reason why we need a Welsh contestant in Total Drama?
NEWTU: Well, why not? We had a Spanish contestant, a gamer, a LARPers, a Super Fan, a Surfer Dude, Cops, Old men, etc. Like I said, the Welsh are underrepresented. You see, everyone knows England, Ireland, and Scotland. The Trio of Small European Nations. But so few people know Wales … including you, Gordon.
Gordon: Hmmm… I’m not sold on the idea of a Welsh contestant. What about a Scottish contestant instead?
NEWTU: Why?
Gordon: I have some reasons:
- As you have said, Scotland is more recognisable.
- Most comedians and cartoon series mock Scotland. For example, Willie from The Simpsons.
- It’s easy to impersonate their accent. It’s important to know that TD is not that big and has to reuse some of their voice actors.
And therefore, a Scottish contestant makes more sense.
NEWTU: Perhaps… but they could at least make an attempt. They could at least TRY.
Gordon: Anyway, for me, I would go down to my own roots and go for computer techies.
NEWTU: What? Why?
Gordon: Hear me out first. This team is not like other tech guys like Sam or the Geniuses. The concept is; the Computer Techies can solve small problems in steps but they find it really hard to solve bigger problems or challenges. They are just short-sighted.
NEWTU: Do we really need them though?
The Niece of ‘Smartypants’ is overcrowded with snarky smarts like Noah, Math Smarts like The Geniuses… (1 hour later) … Robot Smarts like Cameron, and Lawyer Smarts like Courtney and Emma. Can’t we lay off the uber-smart type for a while?
Gordon: We should since you literally named every genius in and not in Total Drama. Anyway, to be honest, they will be like B but without the future insight. It’s my preference anyway.
(Thought for a second)
Hey what about movie actors?
NEWTU: Hmmm… speaking from a personal experience, this is not a bad idea. That would be good… sorta like Dakota in a way.
Gordon: Via these movie actors, I hope they can make some reference to iconic movies such as Titanic or Avatar. But we will see in the future.
NEWTU: Well, for clarification, what type of movie actors do you mean? A-Lister? B-Lister? C-Lister?
Gordon: Hmmm… I prefer a young movie actor who only plays minor parts in some movies and is desperate enough to have some recognition and camera time to increase his or her stock value.
NEWTU: So a C-Lister.
Gordon: Yep. A bit like Dakota but is more willing and desperate to work for the sake of personal fame. I think we are finished with this question.
NEWTU: Yep.
Gordon: So, we both have different ideas. NEWTU wants a Welsh contestant in TD … for some reason while I want computer techies…
NEWTU: Which we don’t need.
Gordon: … and movie actors. Anyway, it’s my turn now. Here is my question.
Question 3: Is Total Drama Fandom the worst fandom out of all of the cartoon series?[]
NEWTU: Oh hell no. Not even close. There are fandoms MILES … MILES … LIGHT-YEARS WORSE than the worst of the worst of TD Fandom. Let me give some examples. Steven Universe (especially on Tumblr), Teen Titans, MLP, Family Guy, etc. They are miles worse. MILES! At least we have not degraded in the way others have.
Gordon: Hmmm… That’s weird because I will actually say yes as TD fandom is a contender with the other shows. I even wrote an article about it which discusses about the issues of TD fandom. In my article, I started that my reasons why TD fandom could be the worst are:
- Some simply don’t accept and even act aggressively to other users with different opinion, logic or not.
- Some users just simply don’t understand the main appeal of some characters such as Courtney. And instead of working out why, they simply posts a blog/article on their hatred on that character.
- Some take their hatred or love way, way too far.
NEWTU: Well, those issues happens in almost other fandoms. So what makes TD fandom a special case?
Gordon: I think the main thing is that … you hardly see a user who’s focused on nothing but hate on a specific character in other cartoons such as Steven Universe and The Simpsons.
In Total Drama, you got dedicated anti-group. You got groups that simply focus on hating a character. That’s not the purpose of cartoon at all. Think of Anti-Zoey and Anti-Courtney group.
NEWTU: eh… the Anti-Zoey group has kinda died down in the recent years if you ask me. Also, Courtney is a very diverse character, so it makes sense that some will love her and others won’t. But you are simply not mentioning the tons of other contestants who doesn’t have anti-groups about them.
Gordon: First of all, the anti-Zoey hatred may have gone down; but you still got some people in that group who simply do nothing but rant hatred on Zoey which I felt is very very wrong. I mean, I understand the criticism of Zoey, but they are basically isolating Zoey fans from the TD fandom as there are literally no reason to like Zoey due to some idiots. That is why you hardly see a user who’s proud of being a Zoey fan.
I wrote in my previous articles that all characters have fans. No matter how much you hate a character, this character still has fans who are passionate and love him or her. This applies to Courtney haters. Get used to it. We don’t need to hear another rant that has the same boring reason again and again. We get it.
From this, it appears that some characters not only bring out the absolute best but the absolute worst of the fandom.
NEWTU: Yeah. But it’s a case-by-case basis. It’s just some of the more over-exposed and questionably written contestants that bring out the bad in some people like Mike, Duncan Gwen etc. But what about other countless more characters like Pete, Dakota, DJ etc.? You don’t see any flame war over them.
Gordon: Yep, I have to agree with that. I can accept that TD fandom isn’t the worst of fandoms in general … but it has some serious issues that aligns with other cartoon series like Steven Universe in term of being the worst fandom ever. But you have to agree that most TD fans simply overreacted too much.
NEWTU: Not 100% true. But regarding your point: as a general rule of thumb, the more episodes a character has been in, the more likely they are to split the fanbase. Except Heather, she’s almost always an exception.
Gordon: True that. I think this question is answered. At the end, it’s obvious we are both against each other. While I believe that TD fandom is the worst in comparison to the others, NEWTU believes the opposite and thinks that the other fandoms are worse than TD fandom. You’re next, NEWTU. What’s the next question?
NEWTU: Well… this is more of a light-hearted question. Well here it is.
Question 4: What is the funniest injury in TD history?[]
Gordon: Oh wow. It has been some time since I laugh at injury in TD... Give me a minute.
(1 minute later)
All right, you did say the funniest so I will say Bridgette’s injury. I don’t know but I remember laughing at her back in TDI.
NEWTU: Which one?
Gordon: Well, I like all of them to be honest. But the skunk incident in TDI is the most memorable for me. I don’t know but it’s funny that nature, Bridgette’s so-called “friend”, simply goes against her every single time. But that skunk incident takes the icing off the cake.
NEWTU: Alright, that’s not a bad choice. For me, I go with Duncan getting sucker punched in Greece’s Pieces. That one moment is enough to rewatch the episode again. Heck it’s, for me, the only reason I ever bother rewatching it. A taste of well-deserved karma.
Gordon: Ohhhhh yes, I remembered that moment. That was cool. Anyway, as runner up, I will say Alejandro’s injury in Hawaiian Punch. It’s funny … but more satisfying
NEWTU: Yep … that was quick. Should we do your next question?
Gordon: Ok. Here’s my question…
Question 5: Which event do you think has the biggest impact in Total Drama?[]
NEWTU: Well, I don’t know if this counts but I pick Chris slowly becoming sadistic as the seasons went on. That had a lot of impact.
Gordon: Can you explain further?
NEWTU: In TDI, Chris found Heather reading out loud Gwen’s diary to be despicable and mean. And that’s understandable.
In TDWT, he is more than happy to break the lock on the confessional just so Tyler can walk in and cause drama based on what he saw. And we know what happened after that.
And in TDROTI, TOXIC WASTE EVERYWHERE!
And finally in TDPI, TOXIC WASTE EVERYWHERE! AND TONS OF EXPLOSIONS TOO!
See the trend?
Gordon: hmm… Interesting. Well for me, I have another events which has a bigger impact. What about Courtney’s elimination in TDI?
NEWTU: Oh really? Why?
Gordon: Her elimination basically changed TD franchise fully. I can outline characters that are affected by it:
Lindsay, Duncan, Gwen, Beth …. (Goes on for 30 mins) … Chris, Cody, Eva, Justin, Leshawna, Scott … a lot more. And of course, herself.
And if you continue, without Courtney in angry mode, Lindsay wouldn’t be successful in TDA. Without Courtney, Alejandro may not be successful in TDWT. Without Courtney, TDAS may be less bad, especially with that one infamous episode. You can say that Courtney has a minor or major influence in each contestant’s action and feeling ever since.
NEWTU: I will agree that some characters are impacted by her influence as it was the start of her Flanderization. But I don’t think it was that ‘impactful’ compared to other events.
Gordon: Really? Judging by how many characters are affected by Courtney, her TDI elimination is really impactful in my opinion.
NEWTU: I’m not saying that it doesn’t have an impact. I’m just questioning on how much it really impacted.
Gordon: What do you mean?
NEWTU: TDA … yes, she has a big impact. But after that, I think most effects were negligent. You said Alejandro may not have done as well without Courtney but Courtney or no, Al has most contestants right under his thumb for the whole game. And a lack of Courtney would not change that.
Gordon: Perhaps but he does need some help … and he got it via Courtney.
NEWTU: But there are other options?
Gordon: Like who?
NEWTU: Cody. He is an easy ally… as long you don’t piss off Sierra.
Gordon: Ok, I can agree with that but that’s only 1 season. What about TDA … and TDAS?
NEWTU: Like I said, her altitude affected TDA a lot but I’m talking after TDA. And it’s hard to see if Courtney does have an impact in TDWT and TDAS too as everyone was wack in that season. But we have ranted and raved about it long enough.
Gordon: True. But Courtney’s involvement not only affect the character but the fandom too.
NEWTU: Don’t get started on this. We all know the horror story about Courtney fans and haters. Especially the radical ones.
Gordon: Yeah… the really radical ones. I think the main reason why we can’t agree with each other is probably due to our definition of the word “impact”. For me, I define impact as effects on both the characters and fans alike. And I think Courtney’s TDI elimination have the biggest impact based on that definition.
NEWTU: For me, I define impact as effects in-universe.
Gordon: Are there any other events that deserves a mention?
NEWTU: Well… some honourable mentions including: the Kiss in London, Zeke’s Descent to Madness, the Newcomers in WT, Scarlett’s takeover which, while not big in the whole series, was the biggest event in Pahkitew Island.
Gordon: Include Lindsay’s clumsy mistake in TDA.
NEWTU: Yep and if you want to be speculative, the ending to Paris episode in RR.
Gordon: What? How?
NEWTU: Well … at first, it doesn’t seem a big deal. But if the Tennis Rivals was second-last, RTV Pros would have gone home instead. The question is: when you fast-forward to Dubai, Noah is no longer there to catch Emma when she falls … so who does? Answer: No O...
Gordon: And that’s the end of this episode of TD Discussion with me and NEWTU. Like I said earlier, if you have any question, comment below. Anyway, I believe we have time for one more question and I have one now.
NEWTU: Which is?
Question 6: What do you think of Stars War Rogue One?[]
NEWTU: Haven’t seen it… Don’t care about it. That’s my answer.
Gordon: Wow, nice answer… Anyway, I have seen it and I was bitterly confused about it. If you are a Stars War fan, then you have to watch it for the sakes of Stars War and Disney. But DO NOT WATCH IT IF YOU AREN’T ONE!!
Anyway, that's the end of this episode of discussing TD with us. If you have another opinion to any question discussed above, then comment below. I'm Gordon003 and thanks for being in our discussion and we all hope to see you next time.