Instead of getting mad at the dude, they take it out on Zoey. Girl needs new friends.

I don’t like how they were mean to Zoey like how were she supposed to know

The fact the group completely ostracized Zoey because a good looking dude chose her over them because she was "white" makes you wonder how any of them friends to begin with

“This is why we girls have to stick together” Says Maya, the one who started it all. Plus there’s literally a guy in the group like girlll who wrote this episode 😭

Possible reasons that he chose Zoe over the other girls 1. She wasn't being creepy towards him like the other girls. 2. She treated him like a normal human and didn't give a damn about him being famous. 3. Her messy eating shows that she is comfortable being herself, and has a down-to-earth personality. 4. He likes gingers (honestly same). 5. He likes freckles. 6. He likes glasses. 7. He likes tall girls.

I feel bad for Zoey in this episode, for her it wasn't about her skin color, it was about a boy showing interest in her; and the moment it happens her friends start hating on her, bad mouthing her behind her back, dissociates with her, and makes her feel like no guy would want to go out with her. I get why they are upset, but they didn't have to take it out on Zoey the way they did.

"At the end of the day, this is why we girls need to stick together." - Maya Maya is so full of it, she was the one that initiated the conflict by bringing up the rumor and did nothing to help resolve it.

You know what’s also messed up? They’re ‘jealous’ even IF some of them are in a relationship.

So are there only two white girls in the school? Cause if that’s not the case the whole episode immediately falls apart because he specifically chose Zoey over any other white girl in school despite clearly being able to get anyone he wants

Maya starts drama in this episode and then makes a face the entire episode like she doesn't care. She left the princess party saying "I don't need this negativity in my life" when her entire character is negative.

Moral of the story. Zoey needs better friends. Literally, she did nothing wrong and none of them deserve her.

So many things wrong with this episode 1. Penny and Dijonay practically telling their boyfriends to screw off when noah was around. That irked me to no end. 2. Zoe being the target for the group's harassment. 3. Maya shit stirring for no reason and without any actual evidence 4. Noah admitting he only went out with zoe cause she was white and zoe dumping him off screen. Somehow zoe is the one to apologize for this and not her shitty friends.

This episode was horrifically sexist. The message behind it was that girls are responsible for the bad behavior (or just ALLEGED bad behavior) of the men around them. Zoe didn't seek out Noah's attention like her thirsty friends did. But somehow SHE'S at fault for him having a bias against brown girls!? And she deserves to be punished because of something she was completely unaware of!?

I’d say the biggest issue with this episode is that Zoe is kind of the villain in this. They don’t talk about the person actually doing so but target Zoe. But at the same time he passed someone else before Zoe. It could be him liking red heads, or the fact that she didn’t care that he was famous.

Also, you know if they REALLY wanted to address colorism on this show, they could have talked about how the lighter skinned black people like Trudy and Penny are sensible and everything and how darker skinned black people like Dijonay, Sugar Mama, and Oscar are either horrible people, the butt of jokes, or both.

What I found weird about this episode is they never actually tell Zoey about this before the party. All Zoey knew was that her friends uninvited her from a party they’ve been doing for years just because they were jealous. It was also weird that we don’t get to know Noah besides what someone else said about him. Since he walked past a white girl to get to Zoey I thought the twist was that he picked Zoey because she wasn’t fawning over him like everyone else.

The glare Maya gave the boys at the dance when they were admitting that people have their preferences of who they want to date, was so dramatic. There are plenty of people who have preferences and openly admit it. People who want to date someone the same race or a specific race, body type, blonde, brunette, blue eyes, anything. It’s sad there was no middle ground or talking. They went from being happy for Zoey to hating on her when Maya mentioned the race issue. And they didn’t learn anything and Zoey apologized when she didn’t need to. They were wrong.

I would’ve respected this episode if there rumor about Noah turned out to just be a rumor and Penny’s friends had to confront their horrible attitude & biases towards their alleged friend Zoey

can ppl stop calling this episode colorism it doesnt even address colorism just interracial dating😭😭

I really disagree. Yes, these are kids, and kids misbehave. However, the parents should have told them off. If Noah didn’t ask them out, that’s his choice. But in response these girls bully their friend and spread a viscous rumor. Their parents should punish them for the way they behaved. But instead they treat the girls as if they were the ones being slighted. And if anyone is being colorist, that’d be the Penny and Dijonay for rejecting their dark skinned boyfriends for a light skinned dude just because he’s famous. This episode has no redeeming qualities. In fact I think whoever writes this show is an idiot who doesn’t know how to deal with social issues. There’s a bullying episode in the first season (ep 18 I think) in which Penny deals with the gross sisters by managing their money. Yes, stop bullying by working for your bullies.

Maya really had the audacity to start the problem, never find the solution, let the group fall apart and argue and then say “this is why we need to stick together” LIKE WHAT?? MAYA, YOU STARTED IT!!

I wish the plot twist is that he is actually into tall girls, considering how crazy tall Zoey is compared to everyone else, that might be funny

I'm going to defend Noah. I've dated Black and Asian women who've admitted to me that they have a preference for white guys.....and I was happy to be their type. lol In all seriousness there's nothing wrong with having a preference as long as your not treating people like objects. We can't control who we find attractive or fall in love with. I get the impression that Penny and her freinds felt entitled to Noah and thought he was was somehow obligated to like them. Even Micheal (who should know all about why you should respect others for having a dating preference)was upset without even clarifying if Noah likes guys. Now I've had women who've rejected me because I wasn't there type and thats okay. They had every right to do that just like Noah had every right to reject those who weren't his type. No one is entitled be your romantic partner nor are you entitled to someone else. Thinking other wise is very toxic. If they wanted to make Noah the bad guy they should've included a scene that shows he has problematic views on race and dating. Like maybe he was only dating Zoey because he thinks all white girls are dumb bimbos who are easier to manipulate, or he's just trying make his parents mad, or he doesn't date black girls because he assume they're all trashy people which shows he has internalize self hatred issues. If they did something like that it would've gotten us to be a lot more sympathetic to the gangs reaction. But we never confrim why Noah likes white girls. For all we all know he just thinks they're cute, which is fine. Also they never explain why he picked Zoey over all the white girls in the school. Even if he has a preference there was clearly a reason why he perferd her over the other white girl he was with at the end. Which only hinted at that preference wasn't problematic asbit was being built up to be. Finally, my biggest problem with the episode is that all that drama was started by Maya spreading a rumor. (God I hate her). There was no proof that what Noah was doing anything problematic but Maya got judgmental and tells the gang something she never confrimed was true herself but was based on something her cousin said. The whole time she fans the flames in the group, assuming what she's spreading is true which lead to the gang almost breaking up and judging both Noah and Zoey. Then at the end Maya is the one who gives the speech that they all need to stick together, even though she almost broked up the group and never apologized. IMO, Maya was the real antagonist of this episode and not Noah.

I hated how they handled this topic and how they treated Zoey as if she was the villain. And now, Zoey will sadly think boys like her only cuz she's white. Noah just has a preference. I think if they were going to do an episode based off of colorism, they need to actually show Noah being a colorist. If Noah was a colorist, we would see him berate black girls (dark skinned women in particular) to justify why he likes white girls

To me, this wasn’t about colorism or dating preferences, it was about a girl being bullied by her friends for getting the attention of a popular boy. And then people wonder why I don’t like this show

Yeah. It’s about colorism but this was handled badly. They got mad at Zoe for the colorism of this dude. But they never showed his colorism. And the only confirmation we got was him randomly confessing to Zoe at the end. They acted like Zoe could never get a guy like that. The girls ignore their boyfriends and everything. Noah even said he just wants a regular girl and out of the group only Zoe wasn’t all head over heals about him being a celebrity so him liking her for that seemed like a possible reason. And then they go after Zoe

Totally agree. I think an episode about someone wanting to date lacienega only for her Spanish heritage would be a BIG episode. This episode made everyone look like a bitch to Zoe. The party was the first time she probably heard of race preference and they EXPECTED her to know right away. Totally get they are teenagers but they were unreasonable mean the whole time. Zoe also has has the worst time with dating so her wanting to stay with the guy, even for the wrong reasons, made sense.

The episode treating Zoe as being horrible for calling them jealous, when the show bends over backwards to show how jealous they are from the very start.

I wish Zoe dropped them and got some new friends, but no, the main character group needs that “token white girl.”

My issue was that Michael was being hypocritical about race and yet dressed up as Pocahontas💀✋🏽

Maya: Noah was the jerk, us girls gotta stick together! You started the WHOLE DAMN ISSUE for no reason at all!

Im less of a fan of The Proud Family now with the Louder and Prouder series than I was when the original series aired. But I do like the advice Penny's mom gives to her. She doesn't really berate this guy for having a dating preference. She says that this guy isnt the one for her. You touched on this briefly. Fact is, someone can choose not to date you for any reason. They dont owe you an explanation either.

"You're just jealous!" "He only likes you because you're white!" "Doesn't change the facts: he likes me and you're all crazy jealous!"

"Our white friend is dating the handsome black guy that has preference to white girls, lets call her racist!" What a group of "good" friends.

I don’t know if I can agree. Even if you use the argument that “there just kids.” Which kinda runs counter to the show portraying that the kids have grown. There are still some huge problems in it for me. One being how everyone is dogpiling on Zoe for going out with a guy there saying is racist, with no proof at all, and acting like Zoe is the problem when when she called them jealous. Which she’s right, given how fast they were going to push there boyfriends aside for a new hot popular boy. Even going so far as to ice Zoe out of the friend group, and say some incredibly hurtful things to her. Yet Zoe has to apologize to them in the end, after everything they said, and after getting dumped. What’s worse is none of these “friends,” try to find out if the rumors are true or not, or directly confront the boy in question. Maya, perhaps being the worst of the lot after Dejoney. Not only did Maya set off this powder keg by saying this unconfirmed rumor in the fist place. She pours gas on the fire by bringing it up again and again, and seemingly siding with the girls to freeze out Zoe. And tossing shade at the boys. Who say it’s not a problem. Then at the end she comes back with the “we girl’s gotta stick together,” line. Stick together I guess unless you’re dating someone who has a preference. I completely agree with you that nobody owes you a explanation on who they want to date. But to me this episode handled the topic of Colorism poorly. Maybe if Noa wanted to add Zoe over her friends in an episode of his series because she’s white that would make the lesson better to digest. But by making it about dating. They ended up making it into a mess.

Theres nothing wrong with having a racial preference if you dont fetishize or have prejudice against other races. Attraction is not something we can control, its a preference like what colors and food we like and what not. Seriously, if you dont feel attracted to x race then dont force yourself to try because it will only hurt the other person. Date who you want to date as long as youre respectful to them, noone has a right to push you to try and be with someone you dont feel attraction to.

I actually wanted Noah to actually confront Penny and the others. Letting them know that they dont know whay colorism is truly is. Along with defending Zoey, saying that just because he's dating a white girl doesn't mean he's bias and that he like Zoey for being Zoey

I never liked Maya and this boosted my disdain for her

It seemed like he went for the only girl not interested in him or his fame. At no point did they confirm this even when he did end up with another white girl at the end. We just hear "rumors" from an extremely jaded girl who is suppose to be the reboots "woke" perspective. Why are any of them friends? They don't seem to like each other and would rather destroy their "friends" happiness over a rumor... Mia really takes the cake with this one... She starts this feud within the group over colorism, does nothing but add fuel to the fire, and then only comes out at the end with her speech about how "girls should stick together"! Like where was all this when they were singling out their only white friend? Honestly, they all showed colorism in one way or another just because of the fact that they couldn't see past Zoey's skin color for any other reasons why he might like her beyond that... Plus, they seem to be just fine with Zoey ending up with another black man because none of them are crushing on Melvin...

As someone with racial preferences, myself, I find it absurd that Disney is allowing this kind of messaging to be shown to children. I don't believe that "they're just kids" justifies the way they characters acting either. These kids are all around 14-16 years old, which is old enough to understand how racial preferences do not equal racism. I understood that concept completely when I was 14, so why can't they get it too? The reason is that the writers seem to be pushing an agenda that it's wrong to have racial preferences, so they're portraying it as objectively wrong in the show.

My main problem with the episode is that colorism conflict falls apart as soon as we acknowledge Zoey isn’t the only white girl at school (they even introduced a new one at the start).

This whole thing is so dumb. First of all, anyone can have a dating preference of liking a certain hair, skin, height, etc, nothing wrong with that. Second, Zoey isn't the only white girl in existence, there must have been some other thing that drew the guy to her. They are awful friends for thinking she was only chosen because she was the first white girl he laid eyes on when he entered the room. And they never got punished, the show treated them like they were in the right. The show is giving horrible messages, especially if children are watching this.

Ugh I think I can officially say that I hate Maya, she’s an absolute awful character and addition to the show. When they announced they’d be adding a new girl to the friend group I was so excited because Penny’s friends annoyed me SO MUCH as kid! They were selfish, mean and treated Penny like crap. So I was hoping for a new girl that was kind and down-to-earth who wouldn’t be afraid to call the others out on their horrible actions. An ally for Penny who was an actual friend, (Zoey doesn’t count, she’s a sheep, she’s just follows what everyone else does and abandons Penny too). But instead we got……… Maya. An annoying, obnoxious, ‘woke’ narcissist who forces her opinions on everybody and acts like she’s so much better than everyone else because of her said opinions. I so wish she would get properly called out for her actions in front of everyone but since she’s the ‘woke’ character it probably won’t happen.

The thing is, before I actually heard the plot of the episode, I heard it as "a teen celebrity heartthrob comes to school and dates Zoe which causes tension in the group as her friends discover his true nature." I went into the episode thinking it would be that he noticed Zoe is awkward and doesn't get as much attention as her 'prettier' friends and asked her out because he wanted someone lower status than him that he could easily control/mold into who he wanted. I thought it'd be an episode focusing on abusive teen relationships. It's not like the original show was afraid to tackle hard subjects. And then you could actually have scenes of the kids caring about each other and trying to help Zoe instead of constantly cutting each other down and being toxic. So yeah them making it about race hit me like a truck

Even if he did ask her out because she's white (unlikely because who picks people based on race?), that's his problem not hers, so there was no excuse for them to turn on her like that.

Zoey deserved him, they were all jealous. I hated this episode.

yk maybe the "theyre just kids" argument would work if not for the fact that uhm. this is DIRECTED towards minors, and they will come away thinking this conflict is ok because the one who was wronged is the one who had to apologise. not the ones who wronged her. "they're just kids" only works as long as the resolution doesn't tell other kids that the mistreatment of penny was okay and good because they were right in the end.

Zoey is clearly the group punching bag because she's white. She was made out to be the bad guy in every way and I'm not giving the show any slack because it's made it crystal clear that the problem is she's white and the show needed a conflict. I say this because it's not only been about Zoey constantly having to defend herself because she's white and generally unattractive according to her friends and the show goes out of it's way to agree with this by having his only reason to date Zoey being that she was white and nothing else. Not that she wasn't fawning over him and he appreciated that, not that he generally likes a tall nerdy girl, not that he liked how laid back she seem to be because the scene depicted her as an absolute slob (yes I noticed that as well), none of that. It didn't even show Zoey confronting him, it just showed Zoey coming back and apologizing for something that wasn't her fault and her getting defensive when she was being attacked for not only her race but also her appearance. If you want to try and make an excuse for this then fine but I've watched the episode and it's just the girls hating on Zoey because she's an unattractive white woman and the celebrity chose her over all of them because that's what the plot needed to happen to make it work. There was never any debate about a black woman only exclusively dating black men or vise versa to bring up a point because you just know they wouldn't have a problem with that and would be called out for it. That would have been a leaning moment that could have helped this episode but that obviously wasn't the point. In the end if the point was to show what happens when someone asks you out for your race only and it shows everyone else getting upset over that then the show utterly face planted and dragged a few feet on the asphalt with this episode.

The kid looks like he's biracial so he must have got his preferences from his parents. i don't understand how Noah is a jerk, they're just mad that a famous rich kid paid no attention to them. I understand why he wasn't attracted to them lol

Penny Proud and friends acting like it’s a big deal, it’s not, everyone has their attraction that’s like saying my Mexican dad, should not have married my white hispanic mom, that African American boy should be allowed to date white girls, doing this is a slap in the face to mlk Jr and all he fought for

The real issue with this episode is "colorism" is just an excuse. They were actually just jealous and were willing to accept the colorism thing as an excuse. If they really thought Noah was dating Zoey just for being white, they would have shown concern to her as a friend because they wouldn't want her getting hurt. Instead they treated her like a traitor (even though she didn't do anything any other girl in her place wouldn't have done) and they pretty much just dropped her. That's a sign of jealousy, not concern. If anything, the real colorism came from Penny and Dijonay willing to drop their darker-skinned boyfriends in favor of the lighter-skinned Noah.

Am so glad you said this! Having racial preference. You can be player in your race too. That all is this person was doing, being a player. Him liking white girls, isn't wrong in it self. He's just a player.

The opinions you talked about are so balanced, you talk from all the perspectives of everyone involved, another classic 🤩🤩

People having physical preferences for partners is NOT an issue as long as they treat EVERYONE with respect. Bonus points if they stick with the definition of PREFERENCE, and treat it as such, there's a huge difference between preference and "it's a must". Normal people don't have superficial "it's a must's" though.

Can I just add more to the Colorism accusations towards the Proud Family is Noah is the only light skinned black male character we've seen so far outside of Peabo. (No Duke doesn't count. He's Hawaiian). So the only light skinned boy we've seen so far is used as political commentary while the show still has issues with dark skinned girls

What I hate the most too was how after they basically bullied Zoey, SHE was the one who had to apologize.

This episode was never about color, it was jealousy all the way. Zoey gets a celebrity to ask her out, and everyone just needs an excuse. Why else would they never question if Maya even has a cousin? The only one who does is Penny, and everyone else just goes back to "Noah is dating her because of her skin color, and we hate her for it." We all know Penny's friends are terrible people and are as shallow as a puddle on a hot day. Seriously, they just believe someone that they only recently met over a friend they've had for years. Maya starts this whole thing and her only purpose is to repeat her first statement. Nothing is ever done to prove her right and the whole group goes against Zoey. Michal, well he should have just stayed silent and left. Would have been better than going "I don't have a stake in this, but I got to support the BIPOC Girls." Like did he really need to say he isn't helping Zoey because she's white? Yeah you don't have a horse in that race, but you could be more supportive when your only evidence comes from a girl who follows your group like lost puppy. Any form of bigotry is bad, and this episode does not have that message. Zoey is treated as the villain for the choice of another, and all because the Plot Device that is Maya needs to have a reason to exist and cause problems. How often does she actually do a good thing, or not cause a problem? Her non-existent cousin causes this whole thing. Zoey should have just been dropped from the show at this point, and likely before. The White Characters tend to be targeted a lot in this series, especially since they are so low in number.

Dijonay and Penny both broke up with their boyfriends so they could got to the dance with a famous celebrity guilt free. Does that make them shallow or hypocrites? Cuz clearly they were only really interested in the guy cuz he was rich and famous, which would raise their popularity. So did they hate Zoey cuz they thought she was a bad person for dating him, or did they hate her for getting something they wanted that they thought that she didn't deserve? I usually only say this cuz it typically happens to Penny but seeing as they do this kinda horrible stuff to each other, I'm just gonna say that they have a VERY toxic friend group.

I love how you bring up how racism isn't always the reason for preference. The majority of my partners have not been white even though I am, not due to hating white people, but do to growing up in a very diverse area.

What made the being scene even more uncomfortable was how their boyfriend we’re right in front of them when they were talking about wanting to get asked out to the dance 💃 by him.

a better way to illustrate colourism would be to have him openly diss brown to dark skinned girls through micro aggressions such as “Black girls are too loud for me” or “i just dont like ghetto ratchet girls” with the idea of who he is referring to. Meanwhile Zoey by dating him is basically saying that what he’s saying is okay, and reinforcing that Zoey’s conflict which is being a follower. She wants to be liked so bad at any costs. Everyone has a preference yes, but it stops being a preference when you have close minded views of darker skin tones or races. Plus colorists don’t really love those of lighter skin tones, they fetishize them. I also don’t get why Zoey was mad at Penny? She was the only one defending her while trying to keep it neutral. This episode really sounded like a bunch of dudes who see colorism as “females beefing for no reason” wrote it

I feel like this episode could’ve worked if Noah had admitted to this behind Zoey’s back and the friends overheard him say it and then they told Zoey and she didn’t believe them then that would lead to the princess party scene

As flawed as the reboot is It does shine a light on toxic people that claim to be your close friends Especially women’s friendship circles.

She shouldn’t have apologized, they should have.

I'm glad to hear that you do not see racial preference as a bad thing. So many people mark it out as racism which it isn't. You're not saying that the race is lesser or above any other, only that you yourself prefers someone of a certain look. It is, your life, after all and you're not effecting others by who you want to be with.

This was more about racism than it was with colorism cause he would’ve go after penny being same skin tone instead of white girls. And they were basically making zoey feel bad for that

This episode is really upsetting. It's okay for a person to be attracted to what they are attracted to! Some people date people with big butts, there are breast men and heavy chasers and whatever else. Just because a guy chooses to only date white people, it does not make him racist! Denying rights, treating people differently based on skin color and they types of things are being a racist. That guy only dating white girls is his choice! If he only dated black girls im sure Penny and her group would find nothing wrong with that! Every time an issue of race came up Zoey stood firm with her friends. She always helped them to fight for their rights. Then the first situation comes up where they *think* it is *posible* that Zoey is gaining something because she is white, the other friends turn on her before she could even explain herself! Zoey isn't even the only white girl in the school! He just happened to be the first girl that dude saw and that's why he asked her out (and that is what makes him an idiot) Then Zoey has to be the one to apologize!? Zoey didn't even know the dude's reasons for choosing her. She honestly thought he liked her because she was nice! She had every right to be mad that her friends made it into a race thing right away! Yes, it turns out they were right...but Zoey had no control over that. Zoey didn't choose her skin color and she didn't choose to be the object of the guy's attention. Zoey has nothing to be sorry for! She is always a good friend and look what they did to her the first time they could find fault in her! Is this what we are teaching little girls - black or white?

honestly, I think the biggest issue with Proud Family's writing is that they oversimplify overly complex issues. For example, as everyone pointed out in this episode: none of the characters ever thought to verify Maya's claim about the boy being only interested in white girls (outside of Penny's singular statement that, for all intents and purposes, could've been cut from the episode and have NO change to the plot). A similar issue, albeit far more politically charged, occurs in a later episode 'Juneteenth', where just as the town is about to celebrate the anniversary of its founder, Maya uncovers evidence that he was a slave owner. After the kids all learn of this, they immediately say that the statue of the founder has to go, with the episode ending with them even changing the towns' name to 'Emilyville' in honor of a slave that worked on the founders plantation. Now, I don't have ANY problems with tackling the fact that a good chunk of America's historical figures were slave owners, but I do have an issue with how the show completely dropped how the founder was also a huge humanitarian (which is why he had the town named after him, & had a statue). The episode never elaborates what humanitarian projects he worked on! I understand that this is, at the end of the day, a kids show, but I'm firmly of the opinion that if you're going to tackle these complex political subjects, then you need to acknowledge WHY they're complex.

What really rubs me the wrong way is if, hypothetically, this were a colorism episode where Penny was the girl asked out because "he only likes light-skinned girls," would the episode really have ended with Penny apologizing to her friends first after how they treated her? I don't think so. I get the idea that they're kids and kids are messy, but I don't think that was the intent of the writers. I really think they thought this was a solid moral lesson on the issue of colorism.

Maya sturred up the hornets nest didnt even apologize and wanted to do the whole "we gotta stick together" bs? Nah thats kinda shaddy to me...

I hated how they treated Zoe here, they didn't even give her the benefit of the doubt or concerned for her as in a way, she was also just being used (and why did Penny and Dijonay even care? They both had boyfriends at that point. So that makes them like terrible girlfriends to just be willing to date someone over them that is famous and probably wouldn't last). Also for they knew, as others said, there could of been others he choose her. For one, she was the only one just minding her own business and not fawning and fangirling over him. What kind of message we are supposed to take away from this episode based of how Zoe was the one that was wronged, not in the wrong. They even insulted how she looked how nobody would ever ask her out otherwise. She even dumped him after finding out the truth for sure; but they should of been the to apologize to her.

Since everyone's already mentioned how badly they messed up this message, is it weird to anyone else that Michael has been regularly attending the princess parties for years when he was in the closet in the original series? It also suggests he's been REALLY close with Penny for years and the 4th member of the group before la cienega, when he was a secondary character at best Also at least one picture had la Cienega as a little girl with them when Penny didn't meet her until middle school.

Honestly, I think this episode would have worked better if Noah was just a popular kid at the school instead of a celebrity. The way it’s written, the kids have no evidence that Noah only dates white girls other than Maya saying, “My cousin said so”. Penny even states in the episode that they don’t know for sure just because of what Maya said, especially since the kid just moved to town, so how could the cousin know that about someone they just met? If it was just another student, then Penny and the others would be able to find more evidence to see if the rumors were true (maybe ask some of his friends, or look through his social media for pictures of his old girlfriends). Then after showing Zoey the evidence, maybe she tries to justify or make excuses for Noah, because she doesn’t want to believe he only asked her out because she’s white. This would make the others getting mad at Zoey a lot more understandable. However, I do agree with your point that they are teenagers, so it is realistic that they wouldn’t know how to properly react to something like this. It’s very likely this event brought up a lot of insecurities and doubts in the girls, and they misplaced their anger at Zoey instead of the guy who was the actual jerk, which was probably the writer’s intention with the apology at the end. But at the same time, these kids do have a habit of backstabbing each other. (Look at LaCienega trying to steal Penny’s boyfriend). I also think maybe Penny’s parents could have played a bigger role at the party, maybe actually trying to mediate the argument and explain to Zoey what colorism is and why what Noah was wrong, and then have all the girls go to confront him.

And I don’t think dating/romantic relationships was the best aspect to use on how colorism effects us. When it comes to dating it’s just too personal and honestly trivial. Colorism is a real issue that effects peoples socio economic status, job/housing opportunities, and public perception. But this belittles the issue to “some boys won’t find you desirable enough to ask out, but those boys are stupid so just forget about em”.

The only way I can tolerate this new Proud Family is by seeing it as a show that calls out the toxicity and hypocrisy in dominantly black communities, because there's no way ADULTS genuinely thought this was a show for girls to look up to or whatever bull they advocated it as to get it aired on Disney.

The writers tackled this in such a shallow way, made all the friends besides penny look even worse than they already did treating Zoe so horribly, then without even showing the break up or anything more with the celeb kid, make them all turn out to be right and poor Zoe is in the wrong. Oh and she gets the stereotypical dorky guy in the end because of course can’t have someone like you for you, you have to go be with other people who are like you, granted the dork is black but still this episode was so poorly written Edit: seeing that Sugar Mama Clip really reminds me that no matter how poorly written the show is, no one can mess up a great character like Sugar Mama

None of the cast would be complaining if the guy only liked black girls.

So you’re not allowed to have uncontrollable physical attraction preferences.

I'm gonna be honest. This was one of the worst episodes because of how toxic Penny's friends were to Zoey

They got colorism wrong in general. Colorism is within your own community, if it would have been a lightskin black girl, then its colorism. But needless to say this whole episode was some bs

I’ve said this on another video and I’ll say it again. I cannot believe Noah only likes white girls because we only see him for like a minute. He’s not even a character, he’s just there and chose Zoe, the only proof we have of him liking only white girls is being seen with another at the end of the episode. To make things worse for poor zoe the creators basically kick her in the face putting her with Miron who has been said to be the typical, unattractive, nerd stereotype who’s been the butt of jokes. Basically saying no guy would like her for who she is or simply think she’s pretty. Even Lacieniga pokes at her looks, like why? The message should have been the girls were wrong and just jealous, and like the proud family before that rumors aren’t good to spread. Would it be so wrong to haze zoe have an attractive bf? It happens more times irl than people think. Or just let it be about zoe learning the truth about Noah. Not everyone bullying Zoe because of her looks. Just really poorly handled, zoe dressing up as Merida is fitting because she was so brave to stand up to her friends bullying.

The pocahontas outfit makes this episode worse 💀

I feel like having an attraction to a specific race isn’t racist? You can’t help what you’re attracted to, but you can help how you treat people.

I still think the apology was too little too late. They were being pretty nasty to her for no good reason besides the fact that a conventionally attractive guy liked her. Yeah, in the end it turned out to be a race preference, but there’s other white girls as shown, so he must’ve seen something in Zoey, right? I’ve never seen this show, so maybe I’m missing something, but if I were Zoey that would be the end of our friendship.

It would be one thing if Noah said something horrible about black girls, but he didn’t. He just said he only dated white girls. Personally, idc who dates who and what their preferences as long as it isn’t a child or an animal. These girls ostracized Zoey because she falls in his preference, and Zoey liked him back. She shouldn’t have to break up with him because of his preference. Who fucking cares. This show shows how bitter some black women can be. Again, SOME, NOT ALL. I don’t see an issue with shows showing the jealousy and hatred people get when it comes to race. Not to mention, Penny, Blondie, and some of those girls have boyfriends and are upset Noah asked out Zoey. Lastly, Maya is insufferable (almost all of them are but Maya is the worse). She not implants those ideas into her friends’ head, but she doesn’t consider Zoey’s feelings. Hell, one of them insulted Zoey and implied she’s too ugly and unattractive to date. Maya is a race baiter. Plain and simple. Overall, talking about racism and colorism isn’t the issue, but the way Modern Proud Family is doing is off and distasteful at best, and manipulative and racism at worse.

How in the name of God, do the writers have an episode about racism and colorism, and then turn around and have one of the characters dress up as Pocahontas?!

The writing is so messy for this episode. Why the episode chooses to paint Zoey as the villain when she’s done nothing wrong is a mistake. How exactly was she supposed to know this guy’s history when she just met him? And Penny and the gang don’t even fully confirm or investigate these rumors Maya hear about him. Penny, the girl who stalked her father in the middle of the night for two and a half hours on a skateboard with her friends to make sure her Dad isn’t cheating on her Mom doesn’t even investigate whether or not these rumors are true. Yes it is true at the end of the episode but how can you actively shun a girl you call your best friend over a rumor without checking it out? That just makes the entire friend group come across as awful and conceited and stupid. Not to mention Penny and DiJonay are getting mad over a guy rejecting them when the two of them have boyfriends. Boyfriends who ironically have darker skin than the guy that asks Zoey out. So both Penny and DiJonay are doing exactly what they accuse Zoey and this guy of doing and it’s massively hypocritical. So if the show actually wants to talk about colorism, it doesn’t work because they put Zoey as the villain when she hadn’t done anything wrong. All she did was accept an invitation from a cute guy who asked her out. Whereas the gang kept her in the dark, gaslit her, shunned her, uninvited her to their yearly party without telling her why. And they use their own jealousy masked behind colorism accusations that had no merit because they didn’t do investigating into the matter beforehand.

It's so weird for them to get upset at her for HIS preferences

Jesus. Tbh I could’ve seen it being a red herring, like, the rumours could have been JUST rumours and he genuinely did like Zoey. The others all thought they were better than her bc they all think she’s ugly and they really did show it. It could’ve forced them to think about that. Been a message about treating your friends as equals. He could’ve even stayed her boyfriend the rest of the season like the others had but they just took it the absolute worst route instead. It made me hate the whole crew. Esp Maya. They all seemed fine with it till she opened her damn mouth.

This show has the "Racism is bad, unless I can use to make myself out to be the perpetual victim," mentality. Like... Noah didn't owe them anything?

The fact they cut Zoey from a tradition over some guy asking her out. In bird culture this is considered a dick move

Problems I have with the episode 1. Zoey gets treated horribly for dating a guy they all like due to his preferences and she is the one who apologizes. She never should have. It sends a bad message to kids. 2. The show acts like the girls were right and he only dated her for her skin color and none of her positive qualities. They're acting like he would date any white girl lol. 3. Zoey dumps him because he only dates white girls. Why should he want to date someone he's not attracted to? Why does that warrant breaking up? I mean if heterosexual refuses to date a homosexual, is that homophobic? The show should have taught the message that people are attracted to different types of physical characteristics and there's nothing wrong with that. It sucks when someone isn't attracted to you for reasons you can't change, but that doesn't make them a bad person because we don't decide what we are drawn to. Zoey was bullied into thinking he was racist for finding her more attractive than her friends.

I Don’t understand where is the problem. People are atracted to different things, and race (for better or for worse) is one of those things. Having a racial preference doesn’t mean being racist unless you are attracted to a stereotyped idea of said race (like the thing of asian women being submissive, etc.)

Wait, so I’ve never seen this show(cuz I don’t have Disney Plus), but are you telling me they never actually confronted the boy they thought was colorist, and only confronted Zoey?

Penny doesn’t need to apologize she didn’t do anything

My boyfriend is a black man and he enjoys this show but I’ve never seen the OG but I saw a bit of this episode with him and I was high key pretty shocked that they were bulling the white girl and the guy who asked her out because he has preferences and basically ostracized her for liking him. And the fact that they make her dump him because he has a preference is absolutely astonishing because it’s very bias and discriminatory.

kinda sounds like they're just jealous he, an attractive guy that they all fawned over, was into Zoey and they needed a reason to shame her

I agree with all your points here, I feel like they were mad at Zoe for something that was completely out of her control, also as you said before Penny and D have boyfriends, which they completely ignored. Also I don't see anything wrong with having a preference per se, but not liking somebody as a person solely on their race is a completely different story. also would love to see your thoughts on the last episode of season two.

I'm an African-American, and I'm attracted to Asians (Vietnamese,Japanese,Chinese,Singaporean, etc) In my High School Senior Year, there was an Asian (believe she was a Chinese or Japanese) student in my first two classes that I was attracted to. On Valentine's Day, I sent a note asking to be my valentine, but unfortunately, she responded, saying she was already taken. Day after Valentine's Day, most likely because I actually took the rejection well and respected her choice (Learned from Hal Stewart/Tighten from Megamind) she gave me a pack of Trident gum and was the first person to come to me to sign my white shirt near the end of the school year, meaning I did something right. Told my whole family, and they were surprised BUT open when I told them I was attracted to someone outside my race and for what I did to that girl in my senior year So yeah, I wasn't mad I was done with this reboot when I saw this episode

at this point Disney needs to scrap this. A real friend won't care about your preference as long as that person is being real good to you it shouldn't matter for them to get so angry and vent because they weren't chosen as a partner what's disgusting to me. If this was a real scenario I would dump all them because they would not be my friends they should have supported her. Instead they dissed her and put her down to stop being her friend and uninvited her to a party that you and your girlfriends did every year what the hell. A real friend would not hurt me over 30 plus years of friendship with my best friend I never had to be hurt by her nor have I heard her and return because real friends don't do that to each other. Real friends keep it real, real friends love each other. I have never once had to worry about her talking behind my back stealing my man and saying things that were generally hurting me no. A real friend shares your concerns shares your worries shares your victories shares your smile's shares tears. Real friend will lift you up a real friend will defend you even if you're wrong and then tell you about yourself later for self-improvement real friend will always love you and not put a knife in your back. This show is so hateful