The red trech coat and fedora hat clad femme fatale and infamous leader of V.I.
L.E. (Villains International League of Evil) is A.C.M.E.'s most wanted criminal in the
popular multi-media series "Where is Carmen Sandiego?" The series was first owned by "Broaderbound Software" and now a franchise bought out by "The Learning Company". It's creators were ex-
Disney artists who were sick of one dimensional
female characters they believed made poor role models, and created there own
female "Indiana Jones". Carmen is described as a "thorn in ACME's foot" as she is the ring leader for the largest criminal organization on
earth; famous for stealing priceless artifacts and historical landmarks. She is extremely gifted intellectually. In recent Carmen games such as "Stolen Drums" it is noted in the game manual that she was a child prodigy and won a substantial amount of money on a game show and used it to travel the world. In the T.V. series "Where on
Earth is Carmen Sandiego" it is discovered during the "Into the Maelstrom" episodes that Carmen was an orphan who joined ACME when she was only 16 years old under the wing of the original "chief" shown in some of the games and the PBS TV Gameshow series played by Lynne Thigpen. ( Thigpen's phenomenal success in her
short lifespan as an actress in the early 90's lead to powerful independant successful black women recieving the slang term "THE CHIEF" by fans of the show as a nickname/title because at the time of the shows popularity it was considered uncommon to have a role model that promoted racial equality and sexual equality. Both Carmen's character and The Chiefs character were very outside the cookie cutter characters at the height of the shows popularity) Before Carmen joined the ACME Agency she was raised at the "Golden Gates Girls Academy". It was closed in the
mid 1990's and this is where the "chief" took Carmen under her wing, impressed by her outstanding intellectual capabilities. After only a year with working with ACME, Carmen solved more crimes in record time then anyone at the Agency to date. (As is revealed in "Boyhoods End" episode when Lee
Jordan scans for information on young Carmen) When the original human chief passed on, Carmen created her own cyborg "Chief" and computer system (that many fans of the series believe is a tribute or rip-off of Max Headroom) that becomes ACME's main database for information. Carmen often worked with her computer creation as her assistant. She also partnered up with a few other important secondary characters. Suhara, Chase Devineaux, and Jules Argent, and appears to have spent a large amount of time doing case
work while zen training in Japan under Suhara's guidance. Recently there has been a resurgance of Carmen fandom and slang terms directly related to her most
popular slogans, clothing attire, and non-violent (but rebellous/aggrivating towards normal
society) criminal orginization V.I.
L.E. thanks to Carmen revival attempts on part of My Space and Deviant ART users, Strongbad fans, and "retro" t-shirt design companies. Some of the most
popular slang terms can be seen below.
"Where in the HELL is Carmen Sandiego?"
Said in frustration to lighten an aggrivating situation when someone is lost and doesn't want to
stop for directions or can not find there party member at a large gathering such as a theme park, convention, or festival.
"I've had it with your mind games Carmen!"
Something said from a
guy who is frustrated with a
girlfriend or girl he is interested in who is being coquettish, flirting, or giving mixed messages. Generally the girl is considered cunning or minipulative as well, referring to Carmen Sandiego's affinity for cat and mouse style games.
"Where in the world is my
Candy?"
A pop-culture reference to a Strongbad Halloween cartoon where Strongbad cross dresses as Carmen Sandiego and goes door to door using the Carmen Sandeigo slogan. This
slang is generally only used by annoying kids who go door to door for
trick or treats who want to say something other then "trick or treat" and are obsessive fans of the e-show.
"
Fuck you and your VILE League Carmen"
Anything referring to "your VILE league... Carmen" is a new slang insinuating that a person (
female generally) isn't fighting fair. They have either cheated, stacked the
deck, or have a large number of
people backing them up in an arguement/debate that was planned in advance without the oppenants knowledge ahead of time. This term is meant to be deresive but humurous, it often means that the person being called "Carmen" is cowardly and has to have other
friends to back them up in order to win an arguement and puts alot of time and effort into conspiring against others.
"I found you Carmen"
Term used when one person spots another online that is lurking in a chatroom or message board that has been gone for a certain amount of time without notice, and quite suddenly reappears for
whatever reason.
"VILE Strikes again!"
An explanation being used by "smart kids" or "retro" fans anytime something odd or unusual is stolen in news or media or a new conspiracy theory is introduced or crime has taken place where an explanation can not be given as to how the criminal act was achieved. Also included is paranormal activity at historical land marks, more then likely generated from an episode of "Where on
Earth is Carmen Sandiego" where V.I.
L.E. manages to
fool authorities into thinking Carmen Sandiego is the ghost of Mary Read.
