Sourire d'enfer

Watching Braceface is about so much more than watching a girl deal with her braces. It's all about being teenaged (or pre-teen) and the issues that come with it. Boyfriends, rivals, parents, embarrassment, friendship, insecurities... it's all in there. Most young people who watch Braceface should be able to identify, if even just a little, with one of the show's characters. The braces are just a mechanism of mischief. All in all, Braceface can get pretty deep (for a cartoon) and can make you look at yourself differently. It's much needed positive entertainment, compared to other pre-teen and teen offerings. As a mother, I am proud that my daughter has chosen to watch a show that she can actually get something out of for a change.

Reading through the comments, it is surprising how many simply do not like this show. This is fine, but it would be simply unfair if it is assumed as comparable to other teen cartoons, this is somehow uniquely bad. It is not. In fact, the show is fairly enjoyable, providing an uplifting message that being an ordinary teen is fine, and that all those little dramas that are deemed horrible at the time will generally work out okay. Not much of an edge and it's fairly predictable, but its heart is in the right place, and for a cartoon, it is good 1/2 hr. show.

I write this as an adult by the way. All the same, why all the complaints about Sharon? The voice is a bit annoying, but actually it is also a bit interesting -- distinctive and catchy. The show also does not really find braces horrible -- clearly, Sharon's life turns out fine, but surely teens in her place will find braces annoying and at times horrible to contemplate. This is realistic. And, yes, teens (and adults!) are often self-centered etc. Sharon in the end also turns out to understand the needs of others. She basically is a fairly realistic form of a semi-popular teen with various hang-ups and so forth.

As compared to other Disney (and teen) programming, it is probably in the middle of the pack. I class it above Lizzie McGuire, especially the later years when she is more Hilary Duff (star) than ordinary teen, though that show has stronger supporting characters. Nothing special, but fairly enjoyable, and not a bad Alicia Silverstone effort ... the woman surely did worst, lol.

Come on, settle down...what's the problem? I haven't seen this allergic a reaction to a kids' series since "Scrappy Doo" debuted! So, Sharon Spitz is a tad self-absorbed in her own problems; so? What adolescent ISN'T self-absorbed to some degree? I think what Flaming Pig and co. forget is that just about all fictional young teens, from Holden Caulfield to our hero in "A Christmas Story"; from Luann DeGroot to Veronica Ganz ( a six-foot tall thirteen-year-old: try THAT on for size), from the young narrator in "April Morning" to the ever-so-sensitive Daria Morgendorffer, young teens are always going to impress their worldview with their own not-so original growing pains. The only time that youth grows up quickly is through forced change, such as "April Morning", or Barbara Tuchman's "A Distant Mirror". Should Sharon Spitz emulate Claire Danes' character in the darkly comic, all-too-brief show "My So-Called Life"? Hey, how about letting Sharon and her pals emulate the sociopathic little no-neck amateur vivisectionists of Yukio Mishima's "The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea"? Or even better: let's dispense with the intellectual approach and let Sharon and Maria shoot up the school a la Columbine? Okay, okay, maybe I'm reading too much into this. It couldn't be that it's too...Canadian? Naah, Flaming P. is a Canuck, so that can't be it. Because it's from Nelvana? I HAVE observed, many times, a negative reaction to any thing "Nelvana" among certain people. Or maybe it's the not-so-subtle "Afterschool Special" feel of many episodes. But, is this realy a bad thing? It's a show about teens, so why not teen problems?Besides, the title is, after all, "Braceface"! What happens once the braces come off for good? Think about it...

'Braceface' is an enjoyable half hour episode, animated series. The characters are built well and show some depiction of ordinary, real life teens. Although not sticking completly to the series title it does not matter too much, at least it's an original title! The introductory song is catchy and happy, sliding nicely into the episode's story without losing a viewer's attention. 'Braceface' covers a new medium of animated series for teens, the drawings are funky and the stories are orginal yet relatable; good fun.

I think this is a good show!It's funny and well done so you can actually tell when the neighbourhood was built. This isn't like some of the shows where they have little detail, this has lots of detail.It's a very good show!