User blog:ThatScrewyDuck/PG Removal Proposal: Angie

For the most part, I haven't had any Pure Good-related posts I've wanted to do lately, but this character's inclusion has honestly been bugging me for a little while now, and I figured it wouldn't take very long to make the points I wanted to make about why I don't think she quite fits the requirements of the category. So here I am, with a removal proposal for a character from one of DreamWorks Animation's... less enthusiastically received films.

What's the work?
Shark Tale is a computer-animated comedy from 2004, and is DreamWorks Animation's 8th entry in their filmography. It primarily follows a fish named Oscar (who is basically Will Smith as a fish, complete with all the usual trademarks his characters have) who often fantasizes of being rich and famous, due to believing that that's the only way he'll ever earn any real respect and be seen as a "somebody", rather than a down-on-his-luck "nobody". One day, when he has a near death experience after encountering a vicious Great White Shark and said shark happens to be killed by an anchor in a freak accident, Oscar sees his chance and takes the credit for slaying him (since hardly anyone else was present at the time). While this earns him the moniker of "Sharkslayer" and he starts getting everything he ever wanted, it also earns hims a whole lot of unwanted trouble when the shark's father, Don Lino, hears about it. This is especially bad because he just so happens to be the head of an Italian mob-like criminal organization that consists of many powerful predatory fish, and he wants his head on a platter for the supposed murder of his son. From that point on, Oscar starts debating about whether it's really worth keeping up the act, or coming clean and going back to his old life, with the character this removal proposal is about being the strongest voice for following his conscience and choosing the latter once she discovers his secret.

Who is she and why do I think she doesn't qualify?
Angie is Oscar's co-worker/friend at the Whale Wash he works at but, as is often the case in these kinds of movies, is secretly in love with him. Now granted, Angie's genuinely a nice girl.... er, female fish. She's one of the very few at the beginning of the movie who genuinely appreciates Oscar for who he is, and ultimately, acts as a pretty solid moral compass for him after she discovers his deceit. Frankly, I'm not sure she even has any truly corrupting factors since her only somewhat negative quality is that she has a bit of a temper. However, even that never manifests in a truly negative way like physically lashing out at Oscar, and on top of that, it only really comes out when Oscar starts making bad, morally questionable choices (as well as when he had Lenny fake eat her while in a dolphin disguise as part of a ruse to save her, which is also understandable since that was far from a pleasant experience). So even her frustration with Oscar in those situations is, if anything, a demonstration of her moral compass and strong desire to see Oscar be true to himself. Oh yeah, and she was pretty angry and jealous over Lola kissing him, but again, it never really manifested in a negative way, and she was right on when she told Oscar that she only cared about him because he's famous, and wouldn't so much as give him the time of day otherwise.

However, the issue I have with her is that, like the original Aurora from Sleeping Beauty, she may essentially have the personality to qualify, but I don't feel like she has the heroic deeds for it. When you really get down to it, she's mostly just acts as a moral compass for Oscar, and ultimately plays a big part in his decision to, you guessed it, come clean, stop lying, and appreciate what he has, which includes her. The only actual heroic deed she has beyond that, at least from what I recall, was when she gave Oscar her grandmother's pink pearl to help him pay off his debt to Sykes. Yes, that was a pretty nice and selfless thing to do on her part since it was both a very precious heirloom and worth an invaluable amount of money, but from a critical perspective, it still feels like the equivalent of being willing to help out a friend in need, and one she's in love with at that, rather than some outstanding heroic sacrifice or something to that effect.

To put it simply, I just don't feel like doing one particularly nice favor for a friend that she's in love with and generally being a good influence on that friend are enough on their own to earn the title of "Pure Good". If there's any character from the movie who deserves it, it's Lenny for standing up to the rest of his family regarding being a vegetarian shark, and not only refusing to eat the smallest of animals that his species eats, like shrimp and worms at the end of fishing lines, but going so far as to actively befriend and set them free. I'm actually starting to wonder why he wasn't proposed instead, since standing up to your intimidating, mob-like family for your moral values and generally being an all-loving creature in spite of being a natural predator stands out a lot more than simply being a nice fish who's mostly just a good influence on their friend and helps him get his priorities straight. Finally, and I don't mean this in a mean or insulting way, but I honestly felt like a lot of the people who voted her up when she was proposed gave pretty weak reasons, if any at all. To quote one example, "yes, Oscar was right to choose her over Lola". Not to be rude, but really? Pardon my French, but yeah, no poop she was better for him than Lola! That's still not the kind of reasoning you give for voting someone up as Pure Good. After all, you don't need to be completely pure of heart to be better than a shallow, materialistic, toxic influence who only cares about you at all for your popularity.

What's the verdict?
Obviously, that's really up to those that vote. I'm not so against the idea of her qualifying that I'll be upset, much less lose any sleep over it if she's kept, but if I'm being comepletely honest, I'm firmly of the opinion that she may be very kind-hearted and an all-around good person/fish, but "Pure Good" feels like too much of an exaggeration. I just had to get my opinion and why I feel that way off my chest to make sure she wasn't just voted up simply because, at the time, people weren't putting a lot of thought into their votes and really taking the PG criteria into consideration. However, if others still have strong reasons for thinking she belongs there and the verdict is that she keeps, then I promise to respect that and let the topic rest from here on out. I just feel like, regardless of the result, she's really in need of a stronger, more thoughtful consensus. Thank you for reading.