ASAP tries to figure out what LaToya the Lion’s problem is. Other than that she was raised by an abusive father and then married an abusive husband and is an emotional wreck who has no idea how to interact with normal people because she’s never met one? Oh, they mean in the story. Sorry. Anyway, Hope suggests that she can’t roar, and LaToya confirms that she was shy as a child, and again, I think the reasons for that are a little too grim to really present to the preschool age group. Star comes up with the title “Why Can’t I Roar?”. And in light of how this all plays out, it’s interesting that Hope, speaking for the second time this season, actually presented the concept. Come on Hope, speak up. Learn to roar, sister! Lisa loves the title so much, it gives her chills. Marlee suggests that the one who teaches her how to roar is somebody who can’t hear, and Dionne immediately shoots that down. This is the beginning of me really disliking Dionne Warwick, for the record. Hope actually shoots her this awesome “Bitch, please” look, which cracks me up. Marlee plays the “you know, I’ve written a bunch of these” card. Dionne insists again that there will be no deafness in the story. NeNe interviews that nobody can argue with Dionne, because she’s 70. Lisa suggests that there can be one character who’s deaf or “hard of hearing”, which would be a hilarious compromise. Dionne stands her ground. Kids should not be exposed to deafness because it’s sad. Sitting next to Marlee she says this. To her credit, Lisa calls her on this particular line of bullcrap. Marlee is pissed, and justifiably so. She keeps it together, but I can’t even imagine how hard it is to hold it in.
