Cringeworthy Characters: Dodie from As Told By Ginger

As Told by Ginger was a cartoon airing on Nick that dealt with the life and times of Ginger Foutley, a preteen-teen girl who deals with middle school drama, high school drama, and her home life. I personally liked the show for a while, though I think the animation is pretty rough and I think some of the later seasons make all of the characters basically unlikable. However, there is one that stands out above all, a widely hated character from most people who watch it. Seriously, look at the comment section of any Dodie-centric episode. There is a lot of hate.

Unfortunately it is much deserved hate as well. Dodie Bishop may be a realistic character with her faults, but she's still frustrating and aggressive. I'm going to do a bit different of an approach to this one than before. Instead of reviewing two episodes alone, I'm going to review two of her worst episodes and then list a line of everything else that she's done, because it's simply an awful excuse for a friend. First, let's start with the list of mini things.

In the episode 'Cry Wolf', the main problem of the episode, being Miranda blackmailing Ginger, is brought on by Dodie's gossip about her friend.
In 'Season of Caprice', Dodie becomes overbearing on her friends in an attempt to impress the counselors.
In 'Lunatic Lake', Dodie blames Carl for ruining their trip when it was actually her mother. It's one of the few times that she's called out on her behavior.
In 'Love with a Proper Transfer Student', Dodie becomes jealous and angry at Ginger because of her getting close to her crush in the play, not even aware that Ginger does have a crush on him.
In 'Next Question', Dodie coaxes Ginger into asking her teacher out, leading to an embarrassing moment. (Though Ginger made it much worse for herself.)
In 'Wicked Game', Dodie and Macie attempt to break Ginger and Darren up through dirty means. The only reason I didn't use this episode is because I may review it at another time.
In 'Heat Lightning', Dodie throws a fit when Ginger goes to Courtney for advice.
In 'Fair to Cloudy' Dodie fights with Ginger about bringing Darren with them to the Fair and invites Courtney along to spite her. (It's worth noting that Darren was always the fourth in their group of friends so the jealousy is slightly confused.)
In 'Kiss Today Goodbye' Dodie knows Darren is with another girl and decides not to tell Ginger and instead tells Darren to do so. (Though arguably it was Darren's place to say, she could've at least not waited as long.)

Now we go onto the two episodes to really look at her cringeworthiness; 'Of Lice and Friends' and 'Dodie's Big Break'. These episodes are also good as they take place in what I would consider the two periods, middle school and high school, as most personalities changed a bit once in high school.

'Of Lice and Friends' begins with an assembly where Dodie is chosen to make the morning announcements. The position almost immediately goes to her head when she's noticed by popular girl Courtney. Later she's shown to already get too invested with her position, upset that the announcements aren't that exciting and getting the go-ahead to spice them up. She adds in some gossip along the way, which catches the interest of the kids and gains her fans.

Dodie starts taking more gossip even when Ginger suggests that she stops. It starts to increase right around the time when it is revealed that there is a lice outbreak. Soon Dodie reveals over the intercom that Ginger's mother is going to be the 'lice lady'. I'm not sure why this is so embarrassing, but it is clearly frustrating to Ginger who calls her out. Dodie considers it a hot story and is unapologetic, even becoming upset at Ginger. By the next day the two are no longer speaking.

Ginger complains to Macie that she can't trust Dodie. (Yet later forgives her as usual, spoiler alert.) Courtney is revealed to have lice. The next day, I guess, Dodie asks the janitor about notes and talks about how important it is that she has something good to say, because everyone 'hangs on her word'. Peeking around in the office she manages to find the lice report and sees it as a way to make herself more popular. So during the morning announcements she begins listing students with lice.

Spurred on by Courtney, Ginger rushes to the office and unplugs Dodie, stopping her from saying Courtney's name but not stopping her from humiliating the other kids. They get in a brief fight and Ginger storms out. Later Lois, Ginger's mother tells Ginger to make up with Dodie. On the phone they both apologize for their behavior and the episode ends.

Let's talk about how awful the moral at the end is; Ginger apologizes with Dodie about what happened. Ginger shouldn't apologize because nothing she did was out of line, when Dodie recieved no comeuppance for her selfish, cruel, and even negligent behavior. She even is confirmed to keep doing the announcements from her own words. There is absolutely no reason that Dodie shouldn't give a full and honest apology instead of a 'me too' one.

So as you see so far, Dodie is a popular obsessed girl whose willing to stab anyone in the back if she thinks it'll make her popular. She's also diluted; thinking that she'll get popular for rattling out gossip. As far as I'm concerned she left some of the popular girls impressed, but I never saw them inviting her to patrol the school with them. It's to the point that she walks on Ginger and Macie, but then neither girl ever dreams of cutting ties.

Now Dodie's Big Break.

It begins with Ginger looking and feeling awful when coming back to school. Apparently she's already back to school after what was a clearly rough surgery. Dodie appears in a mascot outfit and reveals she's, surprise, the school mascot. The next day Ginger and Macie watch Dodie's display with the pep squad, even though she's in pain and bitter about her recent failed relationship.

Dodie dances too close to the cheerleaders' pyramid routine and they fall on her. The next day Ginger and Macie are worried as they haven't heard from her, mind you that they are her best friends, and find out that she is now both wheelchair bound and a member of the cheerleading squad. At this point Dodie start to be constantly cared for by the cheerleaders and continues ignoring Dodie and Macie. They're even sent away by the cheerleaders when they try to approach.

Finally they confront her at her house only to spot her faking her injuries. Ginger calls out Dodie on her actions and Dodie challenges her, saying that nobody will believe her. As expected, Dodie keeps faking her injuries, and any attempt to have her trip herself up fails. Finally they trap her in the bathroom and knock her out of the wheelchair. Dodie cries and throws a big tantrum, then basically brags about being a mascot, and eventually Ginger comforts Dodie, regardless of her previous behavior.

The episode continues to drag along as the coach refuses to keep her as the mascot and Dodie cries again, which means we're supposed to feel sorry for her. Ginger even insists that Dodie should be forgiven and confronts the coach, cornering her until Dodie gets an audition, which she botches. Regardless the coach gives her the mascot job back and promises that she can try out the next year.

Both of these episodes show the same thing; Dodie being selfish, not caring about her friends, obsessed with herself, and regardless of what she does always is forgiven by the end. All this episode says is that no matter what is done to you, if you're a good friend you're forced to forgive them. Again Dodie gets no comeuppance at all under the accusation of the coach's bias.

Regardless if the coach is biased or not, what Dodie did was basically blackmail. They try to act like she didn't realize they let her join the cheerleaders because she is injured, but if that was the case why would she continue the act with no intention to stop? Not to mention that her behavior towards her friends it both negligent and aggressive, and any smart person would drop the friendship.

What's even worse is that this is what all Dodie-centric episodes tend to be. Whenever she does anything wrong she's immediately forgiven. One big example is when she and Macie try to break Ginger and Darren up. I wasn't planning on mentioning it, but it's worth bringing up. What they did was so manipulative and backstabbing that Ginger should've no longer been their friend, but instead the episode ended on a cliffhanger and by the next episode they were friends again.

What really happened? Well, they knew that there would have to be emotions present, so they just pretended it never happened. Apparently it's brought up later in a throw away line, but it doesn't matter. Dodie repeatedly does spiteful and aggressive things to two girls she's known since elementary school, and she never really faces consequences for it. What a witch... Or a bitch.

Dodie: A.K.A. Podie Dipshot
Occupation: Leeching off her friends and clawing for popularity.
Hobbies: Back stabbing, being bitter, and treading on her friends.
Lives in her own fantasy world, which is completely focused on herself.
Current state: Closed for business.