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Let’s talk about why Velma from ‘Scooby-Doo’ is the coolest lesbian ever

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Velma Dinkley is a character from the world of Scooby-Doo and the focus of Mindy Kaling’s Scooby-Doo spin-off, Velma, which is set to release on HBO Max in January 2023.

She is known for wearing an orange turtleneck sweater as well as a red pleated skirt. She usually wears orange knee socks with a pair of red Mary Janes on her feet. She is also known for her trademark glasses, which she can’t see anything without.

Let’s learn more about this character considered to be the most intelligent member of the Scooby-Doo gang.

Velma’s got a lot of history

Velma made her first appearance in the episode called “What a Night for a Knight” in the show Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! in 1969 and has been a mainstay ever since. The exact age of Velma varies throughout the franchise, but she is most often portrayed as a younger, teenage woman.

Throughout the various incarnations of the show, Velma has consistently been portrayed as someone highly intelligent, and very well-read. Her knowledge expands beyond science and into other topics like Norse writing, Morse code, and martial arts. At the same time, Velma is also the most skeptical of the group and doesn’t easily believe in the paranormal.

It’s usually Velma that ends up cracking the mystery. But she usually keeps what’s in her mind hidden, until the end, when she finally reveals her ideals.

Velma is always losing her glasses

While glasses are a trademark of Velma’s look, she has trouble keeping them on. A running gag in the shows and movies involves Velma losing her glasses, usually due to being chased by the episode’s villain. Velma is near-sighted, meaning that she can’t see objects in the distance without glasses. This results in her frantically searching the ground for them exclaiming a variation on “I can’t see without my glasses!”

Velma eventually has a son with Shaggy

In the final volume of DC Comics’ Scooby Apocalypse, Velma has a son named Frederick Rufus “Fred” Rogers-Dinkley.

He’s named after the leader of the Scooby Gang, Fred Jones, and Velma’s late brother Rufus T. Dinkley. Velma and Shaggy name Daphne Frederick’s godmother and Scooby-Doo as his godfather.

Velma is canonically gay, though

Although she has a son in Scooby Apocalypse, Velma’s sexuality has been a topic of debate. To most fans’ delight, it was recently revealed in the animated Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo! movie that Velma is canonically gay:

In the clip, Velma is seen wearing her trademark clothes as she walks past Fred and Daphne to give Scooby some Scooby snacks. There, we are introduced to a woman, Coco Diablo, and various captions that highlight her characteristics. Here, Velma can be seen swooning. Her glasses turn foggy, she blushes, and then she sighs.

Trinity was watching the new Scooby-Doo movie with her family on Monday when she came across the scene. Within 48 hours of her uploading the clip, it had already been played over 5.5 million times and got upwards of 200,000 likes.

She later goes on to confirm her feelings for Diablo to Daphne, saying that she is crushing on Coco. Through a tweet of the scene shared by Trinity Wheeler, the world finally got to know that Velma is unabashedly gay.

The response that Trinity got for sharing the clip has largely been positive. However, people who have been following the show for a long time revealed that they weren’t surprised that Velma was a lesbian. This is because fans of the show have considered her to be a queer icon.

Velma has been queer-coded for years

Both the writers, as well as the producers behind the Scooby-Doo franchise, have tried to depict the character of Velma as gay.

The director of the live-action Scooby-Doo film released in 2002, James Gunn, revealed in 2020, that Velma was written as explicitly gay, but that the studio kept watering her sexuality down.

In the year 2020, Tony Cervone, the supervising producer for the ‘Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated” show would share a picture of Velma, standing in front of the pride flag, commenting on the ongoing trials and tribulations facing Velma’s perception and sexuality:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Tony Cervone (@tonycervone)

Conclusion

Velma Dinkley is the queer icon we have been waiting for. While she has been coded queer for years, we’re exited for Velma to finally live her truth out loud.

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