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Moderator
Venerated Elder
Life Lessons in KP - and How They're Presented
Not only is Kim Possible an entertaining series to watch, it also offers quite a few subtle - and some not-so-subtle - lessons about life for its intended audience to absorb amidst all the fun. This thread is to discuss the lessons we've learned from watching the show, as well as how well they were presented (in our humble opinions, that is... ).
I'll start off with the lesson that first comes to mind when I think about the show. In Return to Wannaweep, while Ron's dealing with Gil becoming a muck monster again, Kim and Bonnie are busy sabotaging each other's efforts to win the Gottagrin Spirit Stick. This gold plastic stick is to be awarded to "...the cheerleader with the most super-duper attitude and mad cheer skills," according to their host (does that girl even have a name, let alone a title? I can't find anything about her character or who voiced her on the IMDb website. ). In the end, their squabbling only ensures that neither one wins the Spirit Stick, which instead goes to the Shark Kid from West Whitewater High.
The lesson to be learned here is that jealousy and quarreling between two persons leaves neither one a winner. One can see that even without it being pointed out. But the KP Krew decided to lampshade the whole tradition of including a life lesson (or moral) at the end of a cartoon's episode by having Kim, Ron and Bonnie discuss the subject thusly:
Ron: (Puzzled) Huh! After all that we got nothin'. I mean, what do we take away from this?
Bonnie: Who cares what we take from it?! I lost!
Kim: Bonnie, there's always something you can learn from any
experience, even if you lose.
Ron: Normally I'd say we learned that suspicion and paranoia is
bad, except that's what saved us.
Rufus: True!
Kim: Well, maybe we learned that... (Sighs) I don't know.
Bonnie: I didn't learn anything!
Ron: (Excitedly) That's it! Looking at you two, it's so clear!
Kim+Bonnie: (In chorus) What is so clear?
Ron: If you two had set aside your differences earlier, one of
you could have won that Spirit Stick. That's the lesson here.
(Both groan)
Bonnie: How about, cheer camp stinks?
Kim: (Bitterly) Yeah - Agreed!
Ron: (Resignedly) Yeah, works for me...
Rufus: Oh-ho, yeah!
So, what KP life lessons have you noticed, and how do you feel they were presented? Feel free to post.
Once again, the floor's open for debate....
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Administrator
Honored Elder
Well, I think one of the most obvious ones came from October 31st:
Kim: So, obviously mistakes were made. By me.
Ron: Kim, Duff Killigan captured me!
Kim: I know. I'm so sorry. I never imagine that my lies could put
anybody in danger.
Ron: Forget danger, woman! It put me behind schedule in my trick
or treating. I'm not getting that time back.
Kim: Sorry.
Kim's Mom: Kimmy, you know how important honesty is to us.
Kim's Dad: And this isn't just about us. Innocent people could
have been hurt with those villains carrying on here
tonight.
Kim: I will never lie again. I promise.
Tim: And it was such a stupid thing to lie about. Ron's your
friend. He would have understood.
Jim: And like, Mom and Dad wouldn't have you go to Monique's
party.
Kim: Oh! Even the tweebs are busting me?
Kim's Mom: You know what we'll have to do now, Kimmy.
Kim: I sense the word "grounded" coming my way.
Kim's Dad: Do you also sense the word one month and starting right
now?
Kim: A whole month?!
Definitely, the theme of the episode.
 "Say the Word"
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Moderator
Venerated Elder
 Originally Posted by jeriddian
Well, I think one of the most obvious ones came from October 31st:
Kim: So, obviously mistakes were made. By me.
Ron: Kim, Duff Killigan captured me!
Kim: I know. I'm so sorry. I never imagine that my lies could put
anybody in danger.
Ron: Forget danger, woman! It put me behind schedule in my trick
or treating. I'm not getting that time back.
Kim: Sorry.
Kim's Mom: Kimmy, you know how important honesty is to us.
Kim's Dad: And this isn't just about us. Innocent people could
have been hurt with those villains carrying on here
tonight.
Kim: I will never lie again. I promise.
Tim: And it was such a stupid thing to lie about. Ron's your
friend. He would have understood.
Jim: And like, Mom and Dad wouldn't have you go to Monique's
party.
Kim: Oh! Even the tweebs are busting me?
Kim's Mom: You know what we'll have to do now, Kimmy.
Kim: I sense the word "grounded" coming my way.
Kim's Dad: Do you also sense the word one month and starting right
now?
Kim: A whole month?!
Definitely, the theme of the episode.
Most assuredly! Even Wade gets in a dig when he deduces how the Centurion Project's armor covers its wearer's body and tells Kim, "You must be more stressed out when you're lying than when you're fighting. Way to go, Pinocchio!"
And the KP Krew handled it so well - even the confrontation scene at the end (which you've quoted above) sounds natural; it's something you'd really expect to hear from two parents grounding their child for his/her misdeeds.
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Moderator
Venerated Elder
The life lesson in the episode I watched tonight - Showdown at the Crooked D - was what Cousin Joss learned: namely, that she could be herself and still succeed in life. She realized after rescuing Ron from the runaway robot horse, "Ol' Tornado," that she had special skills all her own and that she didn't have to transform herself into someone else (her cousin Kim) to do that.
Despite her adventurous, tomboy nature, it was evident that Joss had some self-esteem issues, as evidenced by her comments to Kim - "I'm just a nobody, stuck in the middle of nowhere!" She believed that trying to be "another Kim" would resolve those issues. Instead, her efforts to help the other Possibles defeat Drakken and his "silly hat" scheme made Joss realize just what a unique person she already was, without resorting to imitating Kim or anyone else.
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Moderator
Venerated Elder
In the episode I watched tonight - Sink or Swim - Ron learns that he does indeed possess the ability to "step up" and do what's necessary to defeat the villain when Kim can't. His knowledge of the Camp Wannaweep environs, as well as his strengths and weaknesses as opposed to Gill's, allow him to formulate and carry out a plan that leads to his friends' rescue and Gill's ultimate capture.
This ep is the KP Krew's way of telling us that each and every one of us has, deep within him/her, the strength and courage to succeed in a crisis. We just need to look inside ourselves to find it.
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