Do you remember when The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants tried to discuss feminist issues? And how bad it was at it? Remember how the Vimpire episode tried to tackle female representation in media with all the subtlety, tact, and cleverness of a brick to the face? How George and Harold randomly became sexist for the purposes of the plot? Remember how the Barfilisk episode had Erica get mad at George for "boysplaining" in a moment that comes out of nowhere and has nothing to do with anything? Yeah... one of the show's many, MANY problems.
Luckily, I've been thinking of several ways to fix this show, and among this is several new episode ideas. So, I thought I'd take the opportunity to introduce one of these episodes here. This one is specifically a way for Captain Underpants to tackle feminist issues while actually fitting with the established characters and plot. And it's even an episode where Erica Wang, the show's favorite feminist, makes a major appearance!
The episode begins with George and Harold on the tour of the legendary Whizbang Novelty Company, top of the line in prank materials. But when they get to the part of their supposed "founder" Woodrow Whizbang, Erica heckles the tour guide about how he's not the "real" founder. The tour guide tries to remain civil until Erica brings up "Eliza", which gets her kicked out (as well as George and Harold when they ask who Eliza is).
Back in the treehouse, Erica relays the story of Eliza Whizbang, a pranking genius and the REAL founder of the Whizbang company, and how her envious brother Woodrow stole all the credit for her hard work. Tragically, he got away with it and everyone believed HE was the prank genius, because back then, nobody believed a woman could accomplish anything. Furious at this injustice, George and Harold steal Melvin's Time Toad (again) and go back in time to make sure Eliza gets the recognition she deserves. And Erica, wanting to see an influential woman get the recognition she rightfully deserves (and also sick of being the serious one all the time), tags along- and uses Melvin's crush on her to their advantage, with Melvin willing to let Erica and the boys use the Time Toad because she's Erica and Melvin has a crush on her.
When they go back in time, the trio find Eliza upset about her brother taking all the credit for her hard work. Erica gives her a pep talk, and George and Harold create a comic showing how her achievements have inspired them over the years- even showing off their own, even bigger pranks. But it all goes awry when Eliza's newfound desire to be recognized, inspired by Erica's words as well as George and Harold's pranks, results in her own pranks getting bigger and bigger, culminating in her going crazy and embarking on a prank rampage.
With Mr. Krupp still in the present, how can Captain Underpants save the day? Luckily, our heroes quickly come up with an answer. George still has his Hypno-Ring, and wandering the streets is a portly, crabby gentleman who looks kind of like Mr. Krupp. (Possibly an ancestor?) So, they hypnotize him into becoming Captain Underpants (and hypnotize away all his more... antequated notions in the process). And for the super powers, they obviously give him Super Power Juice to drink.
Wait, Super Power Juice? That's right, one of Eliza's latest creations turns out to be Super Power Juice- which she's sprayed herself with from a seltzer bottle, thus giving HER super powers! A climactic showdown ensues (in silent film-style Silent-O-Rama, because actions speak louder than words), and eventually Eliza is defeated and humbled back to normal. But even after the battle, our heroes have to admit, Eliza's pranks were the best of the best, which Eliza herself is grateful for. Unfortunately, because antequated notions still abound, Woodrow still ends up getting the credit for all of Eliza's creations- but Eliza is far from bitter, thanks to the knowledge that her work will be appreciated in the future.
When our heroes go back to the present, they embark on a boycott/protest of Whizbang Novelty Company, because they don't support companies who ignore the acknowledgements of women... or lie about their history. And this movement slowly but steadily gains a following as George, Harold, and Erica work to bring to light the legacy of Eliza Whizbang.
The feminist issue of choice in this episode is cryptogyny, or the Matilda effect as it's called when referred to scientific achievements- the hiding the achievements of women throughout history, a problem that has unfortunately persisted thoughout the ages (and hasn't even gotten a name until 2020). James Watson and Francis Crick took credit for Rosalind Franklin's discovery of the DNA double helix, Isaac K. Shero stole the idea for the modern day curling iron from Ada Harris, and there's evidence that the "author" of the Great Gatsby really plagarized the book from his wife Zelda. I felt that, if Captain Underpants had to tackle feminist subject matter, this would be the most in-character way to do it, with George and Harold discovering an important female prankster silenced by history and doing their best to make sure she's recognized for her awesomeness.
(Although I guess addressing the lack of "strong female characters" in media would make sense by using George and Harold's comics... if you ignore Sarah Hatoff from Dog Man... or Great Granny Girdle, from the Purple Potty People book... or The Amazing Cow Lady, mentioned as one of George and Harold's earliest superheroes in the VERY FIRST CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS BOOK...)
