It seems the trend of out-of control teen stars now extends to non-real ones.

From Yahoo! News:

CULVER CITY, Calif. - Kirsten Storms, who voices the snippy cheerleader Bonnie Rockwaller in the animated Disney TV series “Kim Possible,” was arrested for investigation of driving under the influence of alcohol.

I know the “Kim Possible” franchise rather well. Disney Channel shows it at 12:30 a.m., and it’s usually the most entertaining thing on Basic Cable in that slot (sleep is for chumps). Bonnie reminds me a LOT of some of the real-life gals who have gotten themselves in similar trouble. And yeah, I know I’m conflating Kirsten Storms the voice actress with her character, but then again so is Yahoo! News.

Bonnie Rockwaller is a classic High School alpha female: vain, superficial, competitive, cliquish, fast with the put-downs, and likes her boyfriends good-looking and dumb. (Sounds like some tabloid fodder we know, huh?) Bonnie is the sometimes-vicious high school rival of teen hero Kim Possible: She is the only character on the show who can bring out Kim’s meanly competitive side.

There’s a reverse coincidence at play with Kirsten/Bonnie’s DUI: “KP” aired its final episode (“Graduation”) just last Friday. If we’re conflating Bonnie as the miscreant, it makes perfect sense: she’s been partying ever since the series wrapped and she’s out of high school to boot. It makes much less sense when reality prevails and it’s Ms. Storms in the hoosegow: Due to the long production lead times for animation, Kirsten Storms recorded her last Bonnie Rockwaller lines about nine months ago. Why get nailed now? Perhaps she was trying to out-scandal fellow Disney kid Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical) who apparently has a nude photo somewhere on the internet.

Why go on about this “tweener” show? Unlike most Disney Channel animation, “KP” is bipolarly skewed. On the surface, it’s a fast-moving adventure show full of super-villains, big action scenes, with B-storylines concerning teen issues. But it also sneaks a lot of more mature themes and allusions as well– enough to engage older viewers at a somewhat deeper level.

It is almost certainly this engagement with this kid show’s subtly mature themes that lead to it’s most notable fandom endeavor: The very sizable volume of “Kigo slash” created by, let’s say, really involved fans. Just to shake out the jargon, “Slash” refers to romantic or erotic fan fiction involving character pairings, and “Kigo” refers to Kim Possible and Shego– a villainous enforcer, Kim’s evil opposite, who also happens to be the most popular villain on the show. I’ll admit it’s all just lines on paper, but Shego is pretty hot.

It’s impossible to prove, but the creators of “KP” may have “fanserviced” the Kigo crowd during the last season. The episode “Stop Team Go” involves Shego being subjected to a device which reverses her base personality from evil to good. Once this happens, Shego and Kim Possible quickly become best friends– so much so that Kim’s boyfriend Ron Stoppable gets left out, and feels threatened by their blossoming relationship. Yeah, wow. This episode is, according to TV.com, the most popular “KP” episode by a sizable margin.

However, as much as I liked the show, I don’t care for Kigo– It’s inauthentic and the whole “teen hero and evil counterpart in sapphic bliss” is a vaguely distasteful idea. (And this is from a fellow who’s written a few unsolicited “Buffy” scripts.) I don’t quite disapprove, though, despite the fact nobody’s making money writing erotica with these copyrighted characters, or the fact the fictional Kim Possible was below the age of fictional consent.

I guess if the fans keep writing naughty fan fiction, that is one way to keep a show alive after cancellation. Me, I’m moving on.

–Skot C.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 13th, 2007 at 7:21 pm and is filed under General, Internet, Television. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.