OK so what happened yesterday. I'm a pet-sitter. The easiest part of that for me is dealing with animals, and the hardest part is dealing with the humans. Yesterday I was interviewing a mean, bad human. There are several reasons I've decided to not pet-sit for her and block her from further communication with me, but that's not the issue for this post.

This post is because, as part of a train wreck of a conversation, she asked me about my Powerline t-shirt, but then cut me off and changed the subject rudely (imo) because she didn't actually seem like she was interested in my answer. I got cut off after only having said, "It's a reference to the movie A Goofy Movie, Powerline is a character who-" Then she cuts me off.

But like, she asked about it? (And this incident with her being insane in myriad ways makes me wonder if I should just screen out people who've never seen A Goofy Movie lel)

So anyway. Here is why I have the shirt and why I like the character in a nutshell. This is long and I just feel like sharing it with someone knowing that someone online might appreciate my appreciation of the movie/character.

Here it goes:

• The movie is about father/son bonding. The issue of the movie is set up in the first two scenes perfectly. First, Max (Goofy's teenage son) wakes up from a nightmare where he turns into his father. Then, the second scene has Goofy coming into Max's room and accidentally getting his cardboard standee of Powerline caught in the vacuum.
• This scene is powerful for setting up that the conflict is about who Max will view as a role model; his dorky, uncool, but very caring, dad, vs. "the biggest rock star on the planet".
• The entire plot of the movie revolves around Max lying that his dad knows Powerline. Why this lie? It's all about how Max wishes his dad could be cool. Like the musician he idolizes. Typical for teenage boys.
• Through their journey, Max learns to accept his father for who he is, not the mega-star he wishes he had for a dad.
• He also learns, through the convoluted contrivance of the "perfect cast" being copied on stage by PL as the perfect dance move, that his old dad isn't as uncool as he thought initially. When we're children, we tend to assume our parents don't have any identity or life of their own, and it can come as a pleasant surprise when we see them do something cooler than expected.
• I love how PL reacted during the concert scene. He's so chill with a crazy fan coming up onstage and doing a weird dance, and he just kind of vibes with it. I loved that. PL is like all those celebs who have a genuine big heart and are good people deep down, despite the music biz being full of... not that.
• I like the singing and Powerline's singer's voice! I genuinely still enjoy "I 2 I" and "Stand Out" alongside the similar-sounding pop hits they were influenced by. He's similar to Prince and I'm a big fan of Prince as well.
• I like PL as a representation of black success in mainstream music, when this was taken for granted as possible in the 90s, but in prior decades, music was very ghettoed. Just like people, it was segregated and not equal. And we still have an uphill climb to fight racism in the music industry, especially when it comes to getting black artists to get picked up in the burbs. So PL being so famous among "white" people is actually a real big accomplishment even for the 90s. I found it cute too that it's a "white" coded boy who sees a "black" coded character as his father figure and role model. We don't see great representation for black men as father figures even today, in mainstream TV and movies.
• It's about parasocial bonding with celebrities and how that can interfere with our ability to form healthy bonds with people irl. Very relatable for teens especially, but everyone can fall victim to this, forming a parasocial attachment to someone they see as "cooler" like a fantasy version of the real people in their lives.

There's a lot more to this, like how I'm obsessed with Disney and the film is loaded with Easter eggs, but those are the main reasons I'm wearing this shirt. Thanks for not asking. Lol.