Rethinking Scooby Doo

Part 1: Fred Jones

Freddy is known as the leader of the group. He’s also an asshole.

To start with, that van is definitely not his, yet he insists on driving everywhere. Does Fred look like the kind of person who would own a hippie van, complete with shag carpeting? Hell no. He’s a v-neck sweater-wearing, tennis-playing jock with the look and talk of the son of a wealthy Long Island couple. He got everything he wanted when he was a kid because of a status he didn’t earn, and his relationships with others have always been akin to a man owning a bunch of dogs. They do what he says. If they don’t he subtlety punishes them by confidently explaining to the girls of the group (who listen thanks to his infuriatingly good looks) why he is right and the disagreeing party is not worthy of manhood. So of course he drives the van. He calls the shots because he’s entitled to call the shots, just as he’s always been.

His sense of entitlement carries over into the mysteries he drags the group into. He treats everyone they run into as inferiors, never believing a word of what anyone says. He KNOWS he’s the smartest man on the planet, and he’ll be happy to prove it to you. How? By charging into any situation someone tells him not to. He’ll be happy to confront you and make you look like a fool in front of Daphne (that’s what gets her off). Then, when he has to put action behind those words, he drags his group along to do the work he was scared to do in the first place while he and Daphne take off to have a little alone time. Far way from any possible danger. Meanwhile the others trespass through a dark mansion, museum, or crypt looking for the monster Freddy explained didn’t exist.

It doesn’t matter if there really is a monster or not. They’re in a secluded, backwater town with no one around. They could easily be hurt by falling buildings, unseen holes, or any number of natural dangers these places have. They could just as easily be robbed, raped, or murdered. Why are they doing this? Because Freddy-boy is overcompensating for his horrendous insecurities.

He’s selfish, manipulative, and a coward. The worst part? He has no idea that’s what he’s doing. He legitimately believes he is the greatest thing that has ever graced the Earth, and everyone else should listen to him because of it. He even calls the group “gang”, the equivalent of “chief” or “boss” or any other derogatory term disguised as a title of superiority.

Freddy’s the leader because, like so many alpha-dogs in the world, he buries his own inadequacies in the misery he brings others around him.

(Image from www.thepopsite.com. Used to demonstrate and clarify character. Image is the property of Warner Brothers.)