2019 has been the year of Shaggy Rogers. In recent months, it’s come to light that Shaggy, of Scooby Doo fame, may be the most enlightened and powerful being in existence. I’m not exactly sure where that originated from so I’ll encourage you to do a little Googling to find some delightfully fun and wonderful interpretations of this. But what I would like to shed light on is the fact that Shaggy has always been the most woke dude of our childhoods.
Scooby Doo, Where Are You!, which premiered on TV in 1969, was possibly my favorite cartoon when I was a kid. I loved the mysteries and I loved this guy and his dog. In fact, my first dog was even named Scooby! So there you go, I was immediately taking on Shaggy as a guiding light.
Sure the whole gang was lovable, but there was something extra special about Shaggy and Scooby high above the rest. As a kid, what wasn’t to love about this scratchy voiced beatnik that talked to his dog and loved munchies? He was fun, laid back, had a nice group of friends, and always got the job done in the end. He was a bonafide American hero.
It wasn’t until later in life that I realized Shaggy was trying to clue us in to some real enlightened shit early on. Looking back, I now see an easy going guy who communicated with animals and loved beings other than himself. Sure, he was pretty often paranoid about ghosts and monsters but it turns out it was his friends who were pushing him into situations he knew he didn’t need to be in. He knew there were other ways to handle high pressure situations. Shaggy dealt with peer pressure and never wanted to stir up drama. He knew life didn’t need to be about that.
Though when times got tough and Shaggy needed to step up, he’d happily get the help of his Scooby-snack edibles, always revealing the truth in the end: the monsters we fear are never as scary as they first seem. And also showing the root of the problem to never be anything more than another insecure human, who probably would have benefited from just chilling the fuck out once in a while.
Yes it’s pretty obvious now what the source of Shaggy’s powers and clarity are: high as a kite and living the dream. It goes to show you, if you’re a high-functioning smoker, more power to you, do your thing. Shaggy went from case to case spreading his influence. And you know you’re making a difference when you even get through to animals. Scooby knew what was up and proudly exclaimed the secret to the universe, “Scooby DOOBIE Doo!”