Presenters
Abstract
When Scooby-Doo is mentioned, most people’s immediate response is to quote the recurring line “And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids!” To borrow from a popular meme, the original Scooby-Doo series (1969-1976) taught the youth of America that there were no monsters—just humans in masks, and those humans were usually old white men in a position of power. By decrying the “meddling kids,” these villains further created a generational divide between the evil-doers and those willing and able to debunk their quasi-supernatural hijinks.
Modern versions of Scooby-Doo (1987-present) dropped the overused trope of the old white man in a mask in favor of real encounters with monsters and the supernatural, which created a generation more open to the possibility. This shift happened toward the end of the youth of Generation X, and can be seen in current paranormal reality TV as ghost hunters who present as skeptics were born in the early 70s, when they would have been more likely to have watched the original series, while those who portray themselves as believers were born in the late 70s, making them more of the target audience for the remakes and reboots.
This paper will look at how changing Scooby-Doo villains divided paranormal reality TV hosts between the younger generation, willing to believe in monsters, and those a bit older, who are still looking for the man behind the mask.