Dive into your creative stream
I've rewatched the show more recently and noticed some new details, so I've decided to redo my first post on this blog.
Kim is known for saving the world and helping people with things like park cleanups and cats stuck in trees.
But she is also known to put her own desires before her friends, even if it causes them harm.
And that is not something a good person does.
These are not "mistakes" because Kim is doing them intentionally.
And it's not a one-time thing:
Kim forges an application in Ron’s name before she even brings up the idea of working there to him.
When he's upset with her for doing that, she uses the puppy dog pout, which he explicitly states she knows he can't resist, to get him to take the job.
She refuses to be supportive of him or happy for him when he turns out to be good at it, to the point of refusing to do the job at all.
I will give Kim credit for apologizing for her jealousy, but she never apologizes for manipulating him to take the job in the first place.
She forces Ron into a haircut, despite the fact that even her own mother had reservations about it.
When Ron tells her he hates it and why, she feigns sympathy, steals his hat, and runs through the halls yelling that he got a new haircut.
When Ron starts to embrace the new haircut and becomes popular, she hates it. But despite his popularity, he's not a jerk.
He didn't abandon Rufus, Rufus wandered off and Ron gently chastised him for it.
She was only upset because Ron was starting to change into someone who cared about hair care and appearances.
(Which, if that wasn't her goal with the new haircut, then what was her goal?)
She apologizes for saying Ron needed a new haircut, but not for the lengths she went to to force him into one, nor for her contempt for him after he started to embrace the haircut.
At the end, she tries to tell him that it's what's on the inside that counts, but it's very hypocritical since she was the one who wanted him to change in the first place.
Kim locks Ron in the janitor closet, though semi-unintentionally; she wasn't intending to lock him in there, but she did shove him back in when he was trying to leave.
She ignores Wade’s attempts at reaching her, even though Wade never contacts her unless it’s important.
(I will give Kim some leeway here, as a teenage girl deserves one night to herself.)
She also expressed no concern at Ron being missing, nor does she seem to even notice he's missing.
We also have no idea how long Ron spent in that closet, but even just an hour is too long.
(Also, that is a really big janitor's closet. The ones at my high school were closet sized, not room sized.)
When Kim's told the bracelet is armor that grows when she lies, she keeps lying, even though it was probably unnecessary. Her parents and Ron would have been understanding about her wanting to go to a party with her crush.
Her actions led to her destroying Monique's garage door, which probably landed Monique in trouble.
And though Kim does get grounded for lying, she doesn't get in trouble for putting others in danger.
(Probably because Wade's the only one who could confirm that she knew she was putting others in danger.)
She uses the Neural-Compliance Chips on her brothers, after saying that just making them would be unethical.
After an entire episode about how bad they are.
After being a victim of them herself.
It’s meant to be a joke.
This is not the kind of thing anyone should joke about.
Kim thinks telling Ron that he might stand a chance with a girl is "fudging".
At this point, they know so little about Zita that they think her name is Annie.
There's no reason to believe Ron wouldn't stand a chance except for having a low opinion of Ron in general.
They also had their conversation about it while sitting across the table from Ron at Bueno Nacho, so there's a good chance he heard them.
And despite this belief that he doesn't stand a chance, she spends the rest of the episode angrily telling him that there are no rules to try to encourage him to ask her out.
Ron's steps of taking care of Rufus aren't just long because he's an exotic animal, those are also things Ron learned about taking care of Rufus from experience.
He also refers to Rufus as his son in "Mind Games", so Kim's disregard for how to take care of Rufus is extra mean given that Rufus clearly means a lot to Ron.
Not only does Rufus accidentally eat the chip due to Kim's negligence, she doesn't even notice it's missing until Wade tells her it's broadcasting a signal from inside Rufus.
And she lies to Ron about all of it on multiple occasions. I can understand some of them, since she was dealing with an emergency, but this is the kind of thing pet owners like to know about.
Kim and Monique were both arranging “accidental” run-ins with Hirotaka to ask him out, but Kim’s the only one who had Wade track Hirotaka’s movements to do it.
I know Monique couldn’t do that, but the point is, Kim took it to creepy stalker levels for a guy she’s known for less than a week.
(I'm also interested in the fact that Monique was confident she could take Kim in a fight.)
Though Kim and Bonnie both sabotage each other, Kim started it.
She unplugged Bonnie’s alarm clock, supposedly to charge the Kimmunicator, but there was another available outlet that she could’ve used.
She also uses all the hot water in the showers so Bonnie can’t have any, which wouldn’t harm just Bonnie but anyone else who may need to use the showers after Bonnie.
And she refuses to take any of Ron's feelings seriously.
Even if Gil hadn't actually been up to something, Ron was still stuck sharing a cabin with a guy who used to bully him and had attacked him and the squad at some point. He has every right to be uncomfortable with it, but Kim keeps dismissing his feelings because she's too focused on sabotaging Bonnie so she could win a plastic stick that's been painted gold.
Dr. Lurkin apologizes to Ron for not taking him seriously, but Kim doesn't.
Despite getting on Ron's case for cheating in "Naked Genius", which is completely fair, Kim had no problems using her newfound super strength for gym class or cheerleading, which is unfair and hypocritical of her.
Though I agree the "doofy" and "stupido" thing was embarrassing, coupons shouldn't be embarrassing, especially since Kim isn't offering to pay for it herself.
I can understand how the kids' menu thing was embarrassing, especially since Kim wouldn't want to order a kids' meal. However, she should just let Ron order of the kids' menu if he wants to.
The whole plot around getting jobs would have been better if Kim was getting one to pay for dates herself, not to "encourage" Ron to get one to pay for dates.
And then Ron decides Kim deserves better and starts looking for a job himself anyways.
I could understand being upset about not getting to see the designs, but Monique signed an NDA and would be risking not just her job but her future career in the fashion industry if she told Kim. And having Wade check the contract for loopholes is obsessive and could’ve landed them all in legal trouble.
Hassling Monique to break an NDA and trying to get Wade to find a loophole so Monique can tell her is the kind of thing Kim would've gotten fired for.
(Also, there is no way Wade was just given a copy of that NDA, so he's definitely in trouble if Monique ever decides to snitch on him.)
We learn in "A Sitch in Time" that Kim always wanted a little sister, so it's no surprise that she took to Hana immediately.
But Ron's life was changed against his will without warning while he was at school, so a little sympathy would be expected from his girlfriend. Especially since the attic isn't as nice or comfortable as his old bedroom.
When Yori needs Ron's help on a mission, Kim refuses to let him go because she doesn't trust Ron alone with Yori, even though he's never given her any reason to think he'd be disloyal and Yori had requested help from him specifically.
I know they’re criminals who are behind bars, but that doesn’t make it right for Kim to use The Fashionistas’ design without their permission.
Monique didn't know it was The Fashionistas' design, and Rufus is a six-year-old rodent, so he wouldn't know any better.
But Kim did know it was their design.
I know they wanted her to bust them out, and I'm not saying she should, but it doesn't seem right for her to use their design without their permission.
(It's also kind of a disappointment that Kim is wearing a design made by The Fashionistas instead of Monique, her fashionable best friend who helped her put them behind bars in the first place. That would've been so much cooler.)
At no point should Kim and Ron have been trying to get Monique to date Wade.
(A more realistic way of handling that would be to have them tease her about it for a bit, not seriously asking her to consider it.)
Also, Kim didn't actually need to hit Monique with the Cupid Ray just because she "didn't have time" to deal with Monique being upset. She was in a car, she could've driven away.
Because she did, Monique refused to leave Wade's side and ended up on a mission that she would have never gone on if she had been herself at the time.
If this show handled relationships a bit more realistically, people would at least be mad at Kim for her actions, and stay mad. Kim being a hero doesn’t excuse such behavior, nor does her being a teenager.
As an action hero, Kim is great; cool, calm, collected, and always victorious.
But as a person, Kim is controlling, competitive, manipulative, insensitive, and more focused on her own wants than others around her.
And those aren't qualities someone who's meant to be a role model should have.
What are your thoughts on the Tweebs?
Well, the original pitch bible had them as sociopathic geniuses...
Which is kind of a horrible way to describe ten-year-olds. End of.
Jim and Tim are energetic, hyperactive, rambunctious geniuses with a tendency towards taking apart household appliances to build things.
They don't respect Kim's boundaries and work hard to embarrass her.
James and Ann don't seem to be big on disciplining their kids or regulating their behaviors.
And Kim is constantly commenting on how she wanted a sister, thinks of them as freaks, and doesn't think they're human.
Frankly, I wouldn't blame them for not wanting to be nice to her after dealing with that for a lifetime.
Especially after they went through the trouble of helping her on a mission and she used mind-control chips on them afterwards.
The same ones they had freed her from.
The same ones she said were unethical to just make.
I know that when my older sibling spent my entire life telling me how much she never wanted me, I wasn't exactly inclined to be nice to her either.
(We're doing better now, but it took an acknowledgement and an apology on her part before I was even willing to try. I think it'd be nice if Kim did this, too.)
But even though they had nearly helped embarrass Kim out of existence in "Blush", it's clear that they hadn't known what was going to happen, and thus hadn't intended to cause that much harm to Kim.
So it doesn't seem like Jim and Tim are as "sociopathic" as the creators had originally intended for them to be.
TLDR: They aren't really different from how any other ten-year-old boys would be if they were geniuses, had access to advanced technology, had parents who don't discipline or regulate them, and had an older sister constantly talking about how much she hates them.
So I can't really blame them for how they turned out.
Would you?
The most frustrating thing about Kim is how she's immune to criticism. Her apologies are almost always met with the other person apologizing, even when they shouldn't have to.
"But Kim apologizes and learns her lesson! She grows and matures past those things! It's not fair to hold it against her forever!"
Does she? Let's review:
"Bueno Nacho" - Apologizes for getting mad at Ron for outshining her at the job. Not for forging an application for him or guilting him into taking the job in the first place.
Bonus: This is the first of Kim's apologies, and she consistently apologizes for the most minor transgression of the episode, ignoring all the other ones.
"Attack of the Killer Bebes" - Says she'll support Ron because he's her best friend, but doesn't actually apologize.
"The New Ron" - Apologizes for saying Ron needs a new haircut. Not for forcing him into one. Not for not caring how much he hated it. Not for stealing his hat. Not for humiliating him. Tries to throw in a lesson at the end that it's what's on the inside that counts, ignoring that fact that she was the one who forced him to change in the first place.
Bonus: Once again, Kim only apologizes for the most minor transgression.
Bonus+: There's a scene where Kim gets mad at Ron for "abandoning" Rufus, but, having watched the episode recently, I can say that's not what happened; Ron, despite not having pockets, still carried Rufus around with him, Rufus wandered off on his own. Ron probably wasn't too worried because Rufus does that frequently. And he does gently chastise Rufus for wandering off anyways. Thus, Kim's anger at Ron was not justified, and likely just because she was looking for an excuse.
"Coach Possible" - Never actually apologizes for driving her brothers' soccer team so hard they cry. Doesn't apologize, but does get fired from a job she didn't want in the first place, and mopes about it.
"October 31st" - Doesn't apologize for the lying or putting other people in danger. Doesn't acknowledge that she was putting other people in danger.
Bonus: How would Monique's family react to finding out one of Monique's party guests destroyed their garage door? Probably not happy, and banning Kim from their property until she can pay off the replacement wouldn't seem unreasonable.
Bonus+: I doubt the people asking Kim to retrieve the Centurion Project would've been happy to find out how it got stuck to her in the first place. I imagine Kim would be getting much fewer retrieval jobs after that.
"The Twin Factor" - Doesn't apologize for using mind control on her brothers. Tries to justify it and, though her parents clearly disapprove, isn't punished for it.
"The Ron Factor" - This would have been a great episode about Kim learning she takes Ron for granted and apologizing, but instead, despite doing practically nothing in this episode, she still has credit handed to her.
Bonus: The Global Justice scientists said the results of their study into "The Ron Factor" were complete and that Ron was a non-factor, but there's a movie about how Ron is vital to Kim's success, so clearly this is false. Perhaps they meant they couldn't replicate it?
"Adventures in Rufus-Sitting" - Lies to Ron about how it went watching Rufus. Doesn't apologize for not taking it seriously. Doesn't apologize for accidentally endangering Rufus. Just lies to him about how it went.
Bonus: My sister has mentioned to me that how someone treats a pet says a lot about how they view the pet's owner. So Kim's treatment of Rufus says a lot about her opinion of Ron.
"Return to Wannaweep" - Doesn't apologize for not taking Ron's concerns seriously or sabotaging Bonnie. Even Dr. Lurkin apologizes for not taking Ron's concerns seriously. And then Ron tries to give a lesson about how if Bonnie and Kim weren't so busy competing with each other, one of them could have won the Spirit Stick, as though Kim and Bonnie are equally to blame for it.
Bonus: Someone who hasn't known Ron as long as Kim has, has enough respect for Ron to apologize to him, when Kim consistently fails to do so.
"Bonding" - Apologizes to Bonnie for an unintentional comment about Bonnie's weight, quicker than she's ever apologized to Ron, and more sincerely as well.
Bonus: Despite not actually intending to insult Bonnie, Kim still has enough respect for her to apologize. More than she usually does for Ron, her "best friend".
"Fashion Victim" - Apologizes to Monique for being jealous, but not the things she did that could have cost Monique her future in the fashion industry.
Bonus: If Monique was hassling Kim to break an NDA and trying to get a tech guy to find a loophole so she could, would we think Monique should be forgiven so easily?
And consistently doesn't apologize to Ron for dismissing his fears, concerns, and feelings.
So, Kim apologizing to Ron is very rare, almost non-existent.
It's been mentioned to me that some relationships don't require explicit apologies or that love means never having to say you're sorry.
I say that's stupid.
If you care about someone, and you hurt them, you should want to apologize and make things right. Even if it seems like you don't need to say it, you should still show you're remorseful in some way.
And Kim doesn't.
While I love the idea of Ron deciding to end things with Kim after "Crush", there are definitely other times when Ron could've ended his friendship with Kim, and if you're interested in that trope in fanfiction, I think you might find this list helpful.
After being forced into a haircut in "The New Ron", Ron decides Kim's controlling behavior is too much for him. He ends his friendship with Kim and calls her out for her behavior.
After using mind control on her brothers at the end of "The Twin Factor", Kim is grounded for a long time, leaving Ron to handle missions alone. This would cause Ron to realize his own skills, and put a strain on his relationship with Kim as she can't stand to watch him succeed on missions without her. Kim also finds herself with fewer babysitting jobs once word of her using mind control on her brothers gets around.
Kim finds herself getting fewer missions after word of her negligence and reckless endangerment in "October 31st" gets out. She also finds herself banned from Monique's house since she destroyed the garage door.
Upset over GJ thinking Ron is the secret to her success in "The Ron Factor", Kim tries the solo hero thing, and fails. Unfortunately, her parting had left Ron hurt and upset, and he's not interested in coming back to Kim.
After "Adventures in Rufus-Sitting", Rufus manages to communicate to Ron what happened while he was away, and Ron gets angry that Kim not only neglected and endangered Rufus, but lied to him about it. Ron ends things with Kim as he doesn't know how he can keep being friends with someone who cares so little about Rufus.
Ron comes back from his trip in "Exchange" with new skills, new confidence, and an unwillingness to put up with Kim's controlling behavior. So he takes a break from Kim when she gets to be too much for him.
After constantly being ignored about Gil in "Return to Wannaweep", Ron decides to end things with Kim and look for someone more supportive. Kim finds herself booted from the squad after they learn about how she intentionally sabotaged her own teammate to succeed.
Team Impossible from "Team Impossible" uses legal actions to keep Kim out of the save the world business, at least until she's 18, due to the reasons mentioned in my post about them. They offer to train Kim and Ron in how to be better heroes, but Ron is the only one who accepts.
Feeling abandoned in "So The Drama", Ron decides to confront Drakken alone. He succeeds, and it starts a new chain of events where Ron realizes how little Kim cares for him and decides he deserves better.
There might be episodes in Season 4 that could have Ron end things with Kim, but I feel like at that point it would take a lot, and Kim didn't do anything truly heinous to Ron so he wouldn't.
If anyone can think of any other episode where they think it would make sense for Ron to end things with Kim, please feel free to comment!
The villains are bad in obvious ways, but the civilian adults have issues too, theirs are just more subtle.
James Possible:
Almost no concern for the dangerous things his boys build because he was just like that at their age.
Doesn’t usually know about Kim’s missions until after she gets back, and is okay with it as long as she’s not out with some boy.
Threatens to launch Ron into a black hole if he breaks Kim’s heart in “Emotion Sickness”.
Ann Possible:
Like James, doesn’t know about Kim’s missions until she gets back, and is okay with that.
Expressed concern over Kim forcing Ron into a haircut in “The New Ron”, but did nothing else, not even when Kim made it clear Ron didn’t get a say in the matter.
I understand these two have careers that keep them occupied, but it doesn’t really excuse neglecting their children. I understand normal teenagers don’t save the world, but even if they did, parents would still want to know where they’re going.
Mr. Stoppable:
Adopts a girl and turns Ron’s bedroom into a nursery, moving his things into the attic, in the time Ron was at school, and doesn’t tell him ahead of time.
Mrs. Stoppable:
Adopts a girl and turns Ron’s bedroom into a nursery, moving his things into the attic, in the time Ron was at school, and doesn’t tell him ahead of time.
Doesn’t tell him he’s going to Camp Wannaweep until the bus gets there.
Stops taking his calls while Ron is at Camp Wannaweep.
We don’t really see enough of them to know if they’re okay with Ron going on missions, but they certainly have a bad habit of making drastic life changes for Ron without telling him.
Mr. Barkin:
Power-tripping; admits in “Bonding” that he’s hated Ron since the ninth grade because Ron gave him a “funny look” and gives Ron extra homework just because he can. (Here’s an interesting question; If Barkin wasn’t the one grading most of Ron’s assignments, do you think Ron’s grades would be higher? It makes sense that Barkin would grade Ron more harshly just because he could.)
Does not inform high school students of changes made to field trip plans until the last minute. Examples: “Return to Wannaweep” and “Cap’n Drakken”. Though I might believe he also didn’t know until the last minute, he still shouldn’t be taking the students to places they hadn’t previously agreed to go to.
Approaches running a high school likes it’s a boot camp, and really shouldn’t be in charge of teenagers.
Not much else needed to say about Barkin; he approaches everything, including running a high school, like it’s boot camp, so the fact that he’s still there is amazing. Middleton High needs more teachers.
I’m not saying they’re all bad people, but these issues are pretty serious and should’ve been addressed in the show. The only time any of them is addressed is within the context of how it affects Ron, and so those concerns aren’t taken seriously.