This is literally my last ask till my break. Did you see the Planetronika Scrapped Designs. They had a Darker Non-Goonbait Butterfly and a Freestyle which is Blue without the Afro and Donut Lips, so the Racism and Goonbait was only the final design. I'm so fucking angry that everyone's calling the newest designs the best. Planetronika could've been Not Racist Goonbait, but it became that near the TADC Drama, seems like the point is appealing to racists.
Yyyep.
Crazy how Butterfly's design just slowly got worse. And worse. Until it plummeted into an unoriginal white girl.
And don't even TALK TO ME about Freestyle oh my god
Honestly, I think the reason people prefer the new version is because of the outline being thicker on the outside to help the character stand out/look more polished, the new designs are a more cartoony artstyle that deviates from itās anime influence if you compare new Butterflyās head size being shorter in length compared to her old designs, and Butterfly looks like I think Bloom from Winx Club, which pulled on the nostalgia heartstrings.
However, Green Pants Butterfly and Blue Freestyle have the most unique design that had a clear silhouette, has limited issues with value overlap, and distinguished itself as sci-fi adventure, rather than a āguess the genreā design our current designs have.
Also, what happened to Butterflyās headphones? Her spikes hair? Her skin pigment? While the headphones do overlap with her spiky hair, why did they completely remove these elements that help convey her character when they could have rearranged them? With the older designs, you can get the idea that she is a relaxed/lazy, optimistic person thatās interested in alt, demonstrating with the elements of flip flop (easy to put on and off), the smiley face belt buckle (helps emphasize her general outlook), and her spikey hair in pics 2 and 3 being common in alt culture.
And, as someone who enjoys character design, the alien Freestyle designs, especially the blue version were the best when compared to Pokemon trainer and not even completely colored, and you have a better understanding of Blue Freestyleās identity that leans into his interest in tech and sports.
Also, isnāt it odd how they were able to keep early Butterfy NOT racist, while current Freestyle is a racist caricature? Like, they knew how to not draw a Black person with donut lips or hair merged with the body, but they went with it despite these details being absent in all other versions. The only practical reason for I can think of for Freestyle to have those lips is if the mouth was difficult to see, but even then, why give this infamously racist trait to only the Black coded character and why have the lips be red instead of a shade of green?
Edit: ok, just rewatched Planetronika to see if any scene would hit differently if Butterfly was specifically a Black person, and the only one I could find was the cop one, and thatās it. In fact, outside of Freestyleās dialect and design, the video doesnāt indicate ANY characteristics or scenarios that would have been specific to Black people.
For example, if Butterfly was a Black woman or Freestyle was written like a Black man, they could of been more cautious about accidentally committing vandalism or be horrified about the White audience because White people have historically lied or exaggerated a complaint about a Black person, and whatever āpunishmentā (both legally and āvigilanceā) a Black person gets is often significantly harsher than necessary.
Also, none of the background human characters are Black, or have a skin tone that canāt be mistaken for just a tan, which just makes Freestyleās scene of unknowingly loosing his clothes in public and Butterflyās sexual poses feel worse since Black people are more likely to be sexualized and fetishized. Now, the series could potentially explore the theme of being sexualized in a more nuanced way later on, but considering how these sexual scenes are treated as jokes and how frequently they pop up, Iām going to keep raising my eyebrow on the unexplained sexualization.
Sorry about the constant editing. I keep looking at these designs and keep noticing just how weird the video treated the characters if you keep in mind Early Butterfly and Current Freestyleās race.
