Saturday, May 28, 2011
Saturday Morning Cartoons: Elmer Fudd from Looney Tunes
Today's blog feature has to do with some of our favourite Saturday morning cartoons. It will be a feature on this and every Saturday. Because, let's face it. Sometimes, some of the best lessons one can learn about ourselves can be learned from cartoon characters.
Today's featured character happens to be that wonderfully incompetent hunter, Elmer Fudd.
I have to say, picking Elmer as the topic of discussion for this blog was an inspired choice. A couple of days ago when I posted the entry about Ralph Wiggum, there was a bit of discussion on my Facebook page about it, and a couple of my friends in particular were making all sorts of funny comments regarding Elmer Fudd. I joked that I would make Elmer a featured character in my blog as a result of the comments, and I am now doing exactly that. So, thank you Cathy and Brian for the inspiration for today's blog.
I was first introduced to Elmer Fudd probably the same way that a lot of kids in my generation were. The Bugs Bunny and Tweety show. Back in the good old days of the late 1980's when Saturday morning cartoons would air on some channels until six in the evening, we would have two different opportunities to watch this show. I think ABC aired it at 11:00am, and then Global-TV here in Canada would air it at 5:00pm. Ah...memories.
This entry's going to be a little bit shorter than what I would normally write (mainly because my entry for tomorrow is a little bit more detailed), but I will say that Elmer and I shared one common trait...especially when I was a child.
First, let's get the obvious out of the way. No, I did not shoot bunnies in my spare time (though come to think of it, neither did Elmer Fudd, since Bugs Bunny always found a way to elude him and his traps over the years). I've never been a type of person who wants to go hunting. I won't go into my personal feelings on hunting...just that it's never really been my thing.
For that matter, Elmer Fudd is portrayed as kind of a bumbling idiot at times. I hope that I never come across that way to anyone I know, although I am certain that maybe a couple have thought that way about me. You definitely have to give him credit for his persistence though.
Despite getting blown up, run over, pushed off cliffs, crashing cars, getting torched, having his belongings destroyed, he never gives up in his quest to kill the wabbit, kill the wabbit, kill the wabbit...
Most men would have given up the fight after the first ten minutes when dealing with Bugs Bunny. Not Elmer.
I guess in some ways, I'm kind of like Elmer in that we can be quite stubborn about things when we want to be. But, not even I'm as persistent as Elmer...not to the point where I risk losing my home, my clothes, and my sanity to get goals accomplished.
No, here's the way I'm most like Elmer...or at least used to be like Elmer.
Yep...Mr. Geico guy said it best. Elmer and I shared a speech impediment.
From about the age of four to age six, I could not make the "R" sound. It always came out as the "W" sound.
So, basicawwy, when I was wittle, I would always sound like Elmer Fudd. It proved to be vewy, vewy annoying to evewyone who I met. My pawents, my teachers, my classmates. Evewyone.
It was something that I really didn't like either. But, try as I might, I could not really master the sound.
Of course, my speech impediment only lasted a couple of years. By second grade, it had pretty much evaporated like water on a hot August morning. Poor Elmer...he's had it for thirty, forty years now? Just how old is Mr. Fudd anyway?
The point is...did the speech impediment really stop me from contributing in school? Not really. I couldn't say "R" sounds, but I could write the letter R in my schoolwork. It also didn't really stop people from talking to me. Most people I knew could accept the fact that my speech was kind of odd. Of course, I was a little kid back then who didn't say his first word until he was three years old. I was a late talker. I think that could explain why my speech wasn't quite as advanced as some of the kids in my class who said their first word at one or two. However, just because it took me a while to master talking, it didn't mean I was incapable of other things. I could read extremely well for a first grader, and I had so many kids crowding around my desk asking me to help them spell words for their first grade journals that my teacher had to move me to a segregated corner of the room because I was a "distraction".
Yeah, you'll have to remind me to go into more detail about her in a future posting.
And, I think that's how I'm also similar to Elmer Fudd. Elmer didn't let his speech impedement get the best of him either. He continued on with his day-to-day life, and seemed mostly happy about everything too (well, provided that Bugs Bunny was out of the picture). If anything unfortunate did happen to Elmer, it wasn't because of the way he talked. His ideas were just horrible. No speech therapy could have changed that.
But, hey...Elmer Fudd has his own Chia Pet, so what can I say?
Friday, May 27, 2011
TGIF: Stephanie Tanner From Full House
I can't even begin to tell you how much grief I suffered in elementary school from all the kids in my class when they discovered that I still watched “Full House”.
I mean, sure, watching the show through adult eyes, I can sort of see where they were coming from. The show was sugary sweet. Incredibly sugary sweet. So sugary sweet that if Full House was candy, you'd be in the dentist chair for six months straight.
Of course, that's through adult eyes.
Back in the days when Full House was still airing original episodes, I watched the show through my kid goggles. No, seriously, quite literally, I was a kid when it aired.
The show ran from September 22, 1987 to May 23, 1995. Or, if you want to see it in the Matthew timeline, from age six to age fourteen. All kid years.
So, why was it that kids were making fun of me for watching Full House? Maybe it was because they liked Home Improvement better? Maybe they were running out of things to make fun of me for? Maybe they despised the Olsen twins with the fire of a million suns? Who can say, really?
You want to know what I think of those kids who bothered me over watching a television show that millions of people all over the world watched as well? Lame. Absolutely lame.
I mean, let us be realistic. I don't have children myself. However, if I did...I know I'd rather have them watch Full House than an episode of South Park any day.
Why?
Full House, while somewhat of an unbelievable concept itself (seriously, how the hell did all those people fit into that tiny San Francisco house?) started off as a feel-good family comedy, and eight seasons later when it ended remained a feel-good family comedy. It showed a non-traditional family doing traditional family things. It didn't have any salty language, nudity, violence, or anything of the sort. And, honestly, I don't really mind the fact that it was so sugary sweet at times. Like I said, there could be worse out there for kids to watch.
Confession Time: Even at the age of 30, if I am flipping through the channels on television and come across a Full House rerun, depending on the episode, I will likely pause it on that channel and watch the show. End of confession.
So, clearly you probably are aware that this blog entry will be about one of the characters in this show. If you read the title, you know which character it is.
So, why did I choose to make Stephanie Tanner the subject of today's blog? There's a number of reasons. When I was watching the show, she was the cast member closest to me in age (I think I'm about a year older than Jodie Sweetin, the actress who played Stephanie is), so naturally, I felt I could relate to her problems more than I could with Michelle or D.J. Tanner. She also had some personality traits that I could relate with myself. I'm sure you want examples, so examples I will give you.
- Stephanie could be stubborn.
Does anyone remember the show's very first Christmas episode? It was titled “Our Very First Christmas Show”. How original.
In the episode, the Tanner family were supposed to fly out to a family reunion of some sorts away from home, and a snowstorm grounded the plane. The family was forced to spend Christmas Eve in an airport. Everyone was miserable about the experience. They were made even more miserable about it when their luggage containing all their Christmas presents was lost. Young Stephanie refused to give up hope that Santa Claus would come find them at the airport. The picture above shows her in a telephone booth trying to call the operator for Santa Claus' phone number. I won't spoil the ending for this episode, but if you like Christmas miracles, this show is a nice one to watch. If anything, you'll like the scene where one of the Olsen Twins shoots Bob Saget down a conveyor belt outside.
I admit that I could be quite stubborn too. Granted, I was never trapped in an airport on Christmas Eve. But, I could be quite stubborn too. I was...how you say...quite the argumentative child. Especially when it came to family members. I can't begin to tell you how many times I got into arguments with my parents and older siblings with me insisting that I was right and they were wrong. Most times, I did end up being totally wrong, but the rare time in which I did get my point out and they acknowledged it, it made me feel good. Shameful? Perhaps. But, when you're the youngest child, you take your victories where you can get them.
- Stephanie had a special bear.
Everyone who has seen at least one episode of Full House knows that Stephanie's most prized possession was her beloved trenchcoat and fedora wearing teddy bear named “Mr. Bear”.
How original.
Mr. Bear meant the world to Stephanie. Made sense too, considering that it was a gift from her now deceased mother. Mr. Bear appeared in quite a few episodes...I think he appeared in more episodes than Aunt Becky, D.J.'s boyfriend, and Kimmy Gibbler! But, he meant a lot to Stephanie.
Okay, so maybe I haven't had this bear all that long (the 2011 on his paw is a dead giveaway), but my niece actually bought this bear for me while I was recovering from having my gall bladder out. She said that it was a healing bear, and that it made miracles happen. Considering that my surgery was a lot more serious than it should have really been, having this guy around made me feel infinitely better. Why the surgery was so rough...I'll tell you all another time.
- When Stephanie screwed up...she screwed up...and often was too hard on herself.
I kind of touched into this on yesterday's Hotel Dusk entry, but yeah...my dropping out of university was probably my biggest screw-up to date. And, boy, was I hard on myself. Whenever people told me that I was intelligent, I would often laugh off the remark, and say that if I were so intelligent, why couldn't I have found a way to get my university degree? Believe me, I was that hard on myself.
Fortunately, I managed to find a great support group in the form of family and friends who have made me realize that even though I was a university dropout that it wouldn't have made any difference to them. I was still the same guy. I didn't need a degree to validate that.
Just like Stephanie's family forgave her when she had her own great big humongous screw-up. (apologies for the really bad quality)
Though, if I had re-enacted that same scene at my house when I was eight years old, I probably might not be alive to reminisce about Full House today.
It's here that we come to the most important comparison between Stephanie Tanner and yours truly.
- It took a long time for Stephanie to find true friendship.
I'm not kidding here. In all the episodes I remember watching in Full House, Stephanie never really had what one would consider to be a lasting friendship. D.J. Tanner had Kimmy Gibbler. Michelle had a core group of friends that she always hung out with. Stephanie...not so much.
It seemed like any time Stephanie made a new friend, they always disappeared. One of her first friends was a boy named Harry. Gone. She made friends with a guy nicknamed Duckface. Gone. She tried to hang out with like, these totally, like, self-obsessed teenagers, who, like never wore denim after lunch because they were like, so totally last period. They never lasted either, though Stephanie was better off not hanging around self-absorbed twits like them.
Stephanie then entered junior high, and befriended a girl named Mickey. You can see their first encounter right here, as well as an...uh-oh moment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhUMRzXQUNs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhUMRzXQUNs
You know exactly what I mean, eh. Peer pressure. It happens all the time in schools all over the country. How you have to do things or wear things or buy things that “all the other cool kids” are doing in hopes that you'll be seen as cool too. In this example, smoking was the subject, but anything could have applied. Like, it could have been seen as uncool to not drink alcohol. It could have been seen as uncool to wear Underoos in sixth grade. It could have been seen as uncool to watch “Full House”.
You see how ridiculously stupid that sounds?
I say be proud of what you watch. Be proud of what you wear. Be proud of NOT drinking or smoking in school! Be proud to be you!
Stephanie made the decision that she didn't want to succumb to peer pressure to keep friendships. She chose not to smoke, and while the three girls weren't into that at all, Mickey seemed to understand, and she and Stephanie developed a great friendship over the deal.
Weirder still, Stephanie also proved herself to be a good friend to the ringleader of the crew, Gia. Though, it didn't exactly start off that way.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvZbv8FfR_w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvZbv8FfR_w
I can't really say that I am an advocate of revenge. Personally, I'm more of a believer in karmic retribution. But Stephanie's plan to humiliate Gia by plastering her bad report card in the middle of a school hallway didn't work out as planned. Especially when Gia ended up at the brink of tears when all was said and done. Granted, Stephanie did have reason to be upset with Gia after her little prank, but Stephanie didn't intend to hurt anyone's feelings.
I know how Stephanie must have felt. I don't like hurting people's feelings either. I think my generally diplomatic nature in conflict resolution can attest to this. I try looking at both sides, and I try to see the pros and cons of every action. Stephanie's impulsive nature initially got her into trouble here, but she quickly rectified the situation, and Stephanie and Gia started to bond.
The journey that Stephanie had to take to get there was a long and arduous one. For me, it happened to work out the same way. It took me a really long time to find a group of friends that I could count on to always be there. Most of them happen to be my co-workers. They have supported me through some of my worst moments, including my surgery, which I talked about up above.
I think that's one of the biggest lessons that Stephanie Tanner taught me about myself. If you be yourself and try not to bow down to the pressure of others, people will take notice. If they don't...well...that's just...how rude!
Bear with me here...
This blog is only three days old, and already technical difficulties? Say it isn't so!
Alas, I am having modem problems. A new one is on the way, but it'll take a few days to arrive. In the meantime, I'll work on the blog entries that I WOULD have posted and post them all in one day. Not exactly how I want to do this, but I've no choice.
Hopefully things will be back to normal soon...I HATE it when this happens.
Alas, I am having modem problems. A new one is on the way, but it'll take a few days to arrive. In the meantime, I'll work on the blog entries that I WOULD have posted and post them all in one day. Not exactly how I want to do this, but I've no choice.
Hopefully things will be back to normal soon...I HATE it when this happens.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Thursday Night At The Arcade: Kyle Hyde from Hotel Dusk: Rm. 215
Now, I'm sure some of you reading this blog may be asking yourselves why I would be bringing up video games in this blog. Certainly, I imagine that only a small percentage of people in the world are die hard gamers. I imagine even fewer people have played or even heard of the game that I am featuring in today's blog entry. Well, fear not people...I have a reasonable answer for all of you out there that I'll split up into several reasons.
First off, I kind of want this blog to cater to all tastes. This is one of the main reasons why I wanted to come up with theme days. That way, everyone can have their tastes satisfied and their thirsts quenched. Some people are really into film. Others like television sitcoms. And some love playing video games.
Secondly, video games have gotten a lot more complex over the last fifteen years. No longer is the object of a game to shoot a whole bunch of space invaders, munch on power pellets to chase ghosts or dodge barrels thrown at you by an overgrown monkey. No, today's video games have plots. Plots that may or may not make sense mind you, but at least they have a goal other than "saving a princess that may or may not be in the castle you happen to be in at the very moment".
More importantly, the characters in video games these days really have a lot of character development. They have emotions. They have backstories. They have friends and foes. Love interests. Some live happily ever after, while others have sad, even deadly ends. They're characters we love or hate. They have adventure, romance, and danger at every move. They have storylines that Susan Lucci would probably be jealous of and she's had 40+ years of experience as a daytime diva!
(Wow...whoever thought I'd mention Susan Lucci and video games in the same paragraph?)
Anyway, video games are starting to become known for deep storylines and exciting adventures. Alas, it seems that some game series seem to be shoving meaningful plots and deep character connections to the side in favour of realistic graphics and retooling of the gameplay features (I'm looking at you Final Fantasy series). There's still quite a few games out there that I found quite fun to play, and I'm sure that some of you might be interested in playing them too.
So, I guess the whole idea of the Thursday posting is to bring video games into a whole new light, as well as offering up my own personal recommendations as a part-time gamer myself.
Oh, and to try and link these games to my own personal experiences along the way.
I'll admit, it does sound kind of challenging to try and compare myself to a pixelated image on the screen of a Nintendo DS, but I shall do my best. At least I picked a great game to talk about, and the main character is someone who you'd never really expect to see in the role of video game protagonist.
As nice looking and demure as "Rachel" looks on the far right of the image...this entry is not about her. Rather it's about the guy on the left hand side.
The man in question is Kyle Hyde. Born 1946. Used to be a police detective in New York City in the mid-seventies until his partner was shot in a bizarre crime, and as a result of this mystery, he resigned from the police and took up a job as a traveling salesman.
Already we have a guy who had it all, hit rock bottom, and is now trying to reinvent himself. That sounds really familiar...I wonder why that is? I'll get to that a little bit later. Don't let me forget!
The game takes place in sunny California on December 28, 1979, at a quaint little motel. The name of the place is not 'I like it like that', but Hotel Dusk. On the surface, the hotel seems to be another run of the mill motel, but inside the place has more skeletons hidden away than you'd ever hope to find in a graveyard or a crypt.
The game itself isn't perfect. I'll be the first one to admit that checking into a hotel where all the guests and most of the staff members have a secret to hide seems a little contrived. Then again, there wouldn't be much of a game to play if everyone was as squeaky clean as Ned Flanders.
Wow...mentioning Ned Flanders in the same sentence as video games. I'm on a roll!
Really though, the game was very much entertaining from start to beginning. It really felt like I was reading an interactive mystery novel. The plot was deep, the characters were incredibly well developed, and the puzzles that you had to complete to progress into the game were challenging, but not impossible.
In short, I recommend this game. You don't steal any cars or shoot up soldiers, but it's a fantastic way to kill some time.
That was the easy part. Writing a review for a video game I find really easy. Of course, I used to write reviews for compact discs and movie releases for my school newspaper a decade ago, so it's nothing new to me to have opinions on things.
But here's the conundrum. How can I take the main character of Kyle Hyde, compare him to myself, and talk about what life lessons I've learned along the way as a result?
I think I can do it...but I'm gonna have to go into detail a bit storyline wise. Particularly with one secondary character in particular.
When Kyle Hyde checks into room 215 of the hotel, his initial purpose is to retrieve a package from the front desk and bring it back to his boss. Hyde happens to get the package, but due to the package arriving later than normal (at least, I THINK that's the reason as it really isn't made completely clear as to why he has to stay overnight), he is forced to check into the hotel for the night. As mentioned before, everyone on his floor seems to be keeping a secret, and unbeknownst to Hyde, those secrets all come together to link to one gigantic secret to be revealled at the climax of the game that opens up the secrets of the hotel as well as offers closure to something bothering Hyde for years. But to those of you who haven't played the game yet, I won't spoil the ending.
Still, Hyde ends up meeting a whole lot of people in the hotel. There's an elderly lady in room 212 who enjoys wine and has a secret. There's a published author in room 211 who has a best-selling book...and a secret. There's a woman in room 216 who looks like she stepped out of the pages of Italian Vogue...and has a secret, and well, you get the idea.
And Kyle Hyde happens to use his not yet rusty detective skills to try and find out what these secrets are, and after he does, he tries to find a way to help them out.
However, there's one person who happens to have more of an impact on Kyle Hyde than anyone else in the whole hotel. When Kyle first checks into the hotel, he tries to go upstairs to see his room, but a preteen girl happens to be blocking his way. She refuses to leave the staircase and stubbornly tells Kyle Hyde off, annoying him in the process. Finally, the girl agrees to let him by IF he'll help her put together a jigsaw puzzle. And then once Hyde puts the puzzle back together, she throws it on the ground and it comes apart before running up to her room.
Confession time: In kindergarten, I was kind of a bratty kid, and I didn't like seeing other kids play with the puzzles when I wanted to play with them too. So, during playtime to show my frustration of it all, I took all the jigsaw puzzles and buried all the pieces in the indoor sandbox. Boy, was my teacher mad too! Almost as mad as Kyle Hyde was! I think I spent the class outside time trying to put the puzzles back together again.
But, that point only serves to compare my younger self to Melissa...how do I compare myself with Kyle Hyde?
I'm getting there.
So, in the rush, the girl happens to drop a puzzle piece on the staircase, and the puzzle piece has a pen mark on the back of it. Kyle returns the puzzle piece back to the girl, and after being forced to put the puzzle together a second time, the girl reveals herself as Melissa Woodward, and she's staying in room 219 with her father. She opens up to Kyle, talks about how she and her father haven't been getting along lately, and how the puzzle was a gift from her departed mother, who seemingly abandoned the family without explanation. Kyle tries to find out more information, but Melissa's father comes in at the wrong time and orders Hyde to leave. Some time later, Kyle hears a crying noise coming from a room that was listed as vacant. Turns out Melissa had a fight with her father and accidentally got herself locked in room 218. You can see how Hyde gets her out in the clip below, but what I'd really like you to do is skip ahead to roughly the 5:18 mark...we'll pick this blog entry up from there.
NOTE: It may freeze at roughly the 6:18 mark, but skip ahead to 6:33, and it'll run from there...you don't miss much.
Of course, some of you probably are too busy to watch a whole video clip of someone else playing a video game, so I'll summarize. Basically, Melissa and her father went to Hotel Dusk to try and locate Melissa's missing mother, as it was one of the last places she was seen. He told Melissa that if she went with him on the trip, there was a good chance that she would be reunited with her. Of course, that proved to be a lie. This was the reason why Melissa got into a fight with her father and got herself in trouble by locking herself in a vacant room. When Kyle rescued her and asked her the right questions, she told him everything.
The Woodward family was a family that was torn apart by the departure of one of its members. This was a family that had hit the skids. In fact, as you play the game, almost everyone in the game has hit rock bottom at some point in their lives, and they figured that by going into Hotel Dusk, they would end up finding the answers and soul-searching that they were desperate to find.
In many ways, Hyde too felt that way. He had lost his partner in a bizarre crime, and ended up changing his whole life around to end up selling cosmetics door to door. Hyde could understand those people because he himself had been in their shoes.
And, I myself have found myself in Hyde's shoes. I hit rock bottom not once, but twice. And survived.
I'll talk about my 1997 experience in a future entry, but this time, I'll bring up 2001.
As you all know, 2001 was a rather turbulent year in the world with uncertainty in financial markets thanks to Enron and the worst terrorist attack in American history occuring on September 11 of that year. 2001 was a rough year for me...at least the later part of it.
The first part of 2001 couldn't have started off better. I was a 19-year-old in university having a blast. I had a core group of friendships that in high school I only could have dreamed of having. I was in a program I loved doing in school. I was working for my school newspaper. Life was good.
And, within a matter of months, that rock solid foundation came crashing down like a stack of Jenga blocks toppling down when the wrong brick was moved out of place.
It all started around April of 2001. My job at the school paper was such that I was doing a great job editing and writing articles for the editorial staff. A job so great that they were going to start paying me for my contributions. It sounded great. Unfortunately, the group that ran the newspaper took serious advantage of me, and without going into detail, I resigned from the paper when I wasn't getting treated fairly. So, goodbye newspaper.
I guess the stress of the newspaper gig kind of expanded into my study habits somewhat. The severance of ties with the school newspaper came at the most inopportune time, which happened to be the week before finals. Granted, I did my best to study for them, and I did manage great marks in a couple of my classes. Unfortunately, they simply were not good enough. I ended up not getting back into my program my second year of school. I missed the cutoff by a lousy tenth of a percentage point. Oh, I fought it. I tried my best to convince the heads in charge of academics to let me back into the same program I was taking. No dice. I'd have to redo my whole first year to be able to stay in the program. That crushed me.
So not only did I end up losing my chance to write for a school paper, but I ended up getting kicked out of my program too. And I still had not yet reached rock bottom!
So, my second year of school, I switched to a general arts program, and tried to make the best of things. I volunteered as a facilitator for Frosh Week, I found a different school newspaper to write for, and I still had a good group of friends by my side.
The only problem? I HATED my new program. I gave it the old college try, but I couldn't seem to figure out how I would ever use a general arts degree in real life. It just seemed like a worthless diploma to have, and the classes were as dull as dishwater. I wasn't getting anything out of it. So, I made the decision to leave school after four semesters. I haven't been back since.
So, there you have it. I was a college dropout with almost fifteen thousand dollars in debt. On top of that, I had to move back home, which happens to be a place without many job opportunities, and it took me almost two years before finding steady employment.
That, my friends was my rock bottom moment.
So believe me when I say that I know what Kyle Hyde and most of the guests of Hotel Dusk must have been feeling at the time. I felt it too once upon a time.
I did get over it though. I have a steady job that while I wish it paid a lot more than it did, I mostly like. I'm well on my way to eliminating my student loans once and for all. And while I'm not currently making any money writing in this blog, it is something that I love to do. And really, if you find something in your life you feel passionate about, isn't it worth holding onto?
Kyle Hyde also found his passion. He wanted to know the truth behind the reason why his partner was gunned down. By staying in Hotel Dusk, he found the truth. Might not have been the truth he wanted to hear, but at the very least, he found closure. Most of the people in Hotel Dusk found that closure too, with Kyle's help.
I guess maybe that's the lesson I can take from Mr. Hyde. Hitting rock bottom doesn't have to break you. If anything, it can make you stronger and wiser. As Mr. Hyde found out, hitting rock bottom can teach you things about yourself you might not have known before. By helping other people get out of their depression to heal from the secrets they've kept for years, he was actually helping himself heal.
I guess maybe I want the same thing. If telling my stories helps other people make sense of their own lives, then maybe it's helping me out too.
Or, maybe I just love my Nintendo DS and wanted to justify it in this blog entry. Who can say, really?
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Across The Pond And Beyond: Bobby Simpson From Home & Away
Welcome to the very first Wednesday of the Pop Culture Junkie's Guide To Life!
It also happens to be the day of the week that we celebrate media from “Across The Pond And Beyond”.
Basically what that means is that I'll be looking at various sources of media that is not native to North America. This means looking at television shows, movies, anime series, and lots of other goodies from the UK, Australia, Japan, and other countries all over the world.
If I can learn anything about myself as I play the role of Globe Trekker, all the better for the blog, right?
So, let's kick into this Wednesday entry by looking at one of my favourite shows from the Land Down Under.
I was first introduced to the show “Home and Away” quite a few years ago. I used to watch a Canadian channel called YTV when I was a kid, mainly because it was one of the few places that aired old episodes of “You Can't Do That On Television”. But about twenty years ago, the channel aired Home and Away from the very beginning of the series. The show premiered in Australia in January 1988, and the first time I remember watching it was around 1990, so we were about two years behind.
During the original airings on YTV, I only remember watching a few episodes every now and then...but the episodes I did see, I ended up liking. I guess the best way to describe the show would be part soap opera, part family sitcom. Kind of a weird combo, but it made sense if you saw the show.
The premise? Tom and Pippa Fletcher got married years ago, and wanted children, but were told that they couldn't have any of their own naturally, so they decided to become foster parents to fill the void. All went well, until Tom lost his job, and the family was forced to move out of the city to make ends meet. Tom and Pippa packed up their belongings and moved to a small little community called Summer Bay along with their five foster children. Carly, Frank, Lynn, Sally, and Steven.
When they got to Summer Bay, they moved into the house that was close to a caravan park, which used to be a place for backpackers and vacationers to stay while surfing on the beaches of the town. It is here that the family starts to carve out a place in Summer Bay, and where the kids find themselves in all sorts of adventures.
One of the first storylines in the show was when Tom and Pippa ended up taking on a sixth foster child.
That sixth foster child is the subject of this blog entry, and as you'll soon see, there's some traits we both share that help explain why I am who I am...and there's also some traits she has that I would LOVE to have myself!
Enter Bobby Simpson. A sixteen-year old who has been in and out of mischief her entire life. She was born to two people out of wedlock, was given up for adoption as a baby, and her adopted father basically abandoned her and ended up in jail. Her adopted mother passed away, and as a result, she had developed into a wild child, terrorizing people on the streets and rebelling against any sort of authority figure.
This is where we are completely different as far as how we grew up. Sure, my family life was a bit tumultuous at times, but my family never abandoned me or intentionally set out to hurt me. I also never really had a rebellious phase, although at times I did talk back to my parents. What person hasn't at some point?
Though, I can see how Bobby might have felt like she had nobody to confide in. I sort of felt the same way. When I was dealing with personal problems at school, I initially kept things bottled up inside and tried to handle things myself. There were a couple of reasons why I did this. One being that I didn't think that my problems were something that people cared about. I didn't think my parents could help me understand why some kids were being so mean to me. The second reason being that when I did tell people about what I was going through, their well-intentioned solutions ended up making things somewhat worse. So, like Bobby, I didn't really confide in anyone about the hurt I might have been feeling, simply because I didn't know who I could trust in.
I feel that Bobby ended up feeling the same way. She had been hurt and abandoned by so many people in her life that trusting people was out of the question.
And, this leads us to another similarity between the both of us. We both eventually found someone who we could trust in, and who would have our backs no matter what.
In Bobby Simpson's case, it was the owner of the town's general store, Ailsa Hogan, who stood by Bobby when nobody else would. In fact, in this clip below, you'll get introduced to Bobby and the Fletcher family, as well as Ailsa's opinion of Bobby.
As you can see, Ailsa has a thing for underdogs, and stood by Bobby when nobody else would. This was definitely made clear when one of the caravans in the caravan park was set on fire, and the fingers of blame were cast towards young Bobby. It's towards the beginning of this next clip that you see a very powerful scene between Bobby and Ailsa.
Wasn't that lovely how Ailsa stood by Bobby when everyone else seemed to be against her? I was kind of lucky enough to have someone who was like Ailsa. Back in sixth grade, I was having a really rough go of things. It seemed as though my classmates and I didn't see eye to eye on a lot of things, and I was very upset about things, and I didn't know how to vent my frustration or anger. Enter Mrs. Woodfine, my sixth grade teacher. Lovely woman she was. She took me aside one day, and handed me a notebook out of the desk, and told me that whenever I was feeling down and whenever I was upset, I should write it down in the book, and if I wished, I could hand it in to the teacher so she could give me some advice on how to handle things. Of course, I wasn't obligated to do so...it was just left open as a suggestion. At first, I didn't think the book would have much impact on my life whatsoever, and when everyone in the class discovered the book, they immediately had more ammunition to make fun of me. But, in all honesty, the book WAS helpful. It helped me express my thoughts in a private manner without resorting to alienating myself from people...and in all honesty, I think that book helped contribute to the reason why I like to write about my problems rather than talk about them openly. It helps me understand myself better. So, in a way, Mrs. Woodfine helped me understand myself better. Just like Ailsa helped Bobby understand herself a little better.
And, maybe that triggered our want to change who we were as people. We didn't want to see ourselves as victims anymore. We wanted to just be accepted.
In the clip above, you'll see that she ended up finding another ally in Steven, who fought off the two goons who were giving Bobby a hard time. Of course, Bobby was kind of sassy and smart-mouthed towards them both, which kind of leads into another similarity.
We both are not afraid to say what we feel!
In the clips you have watched (or at least hoped you watched, or else this blog post is for naught), you'll see that Bobby does not mince words when it comes to people attacking her. I'm kind of the same way, though in a different manner. Bobby tended to speak her mind whenever a personal injustice was done to her...in this case, her being wrongfully accused of setting a caravan ablaze. I, meanwhile, don't like seeing injustice of ANY kind. If I see any sort of news story or current event that I don't particularly agree with, well, I speak my piece. About a year ago, a city politician wrote a letter to the town newspaper blasting my workplace for supposedly not doing enough to protect our environment, even going as far as making the ludicrous claim that we forced him to put his purchases in a plastic bag. It's ludicrous because I know for a fact that we don't do such a thing at my workplace. In fact, we even have bins that are specifically designed for customers to recycle plastic bags outside the front doors. I could go on and on about how wrong his accusations were. So, I typed up my own letter to the editor and e-mailed it, and got it printed about two days later. And it felt really good.
I kind of regret not telling the politician to “Rack Off” like Bobby did...but in a way...maybe I did. :D
Now, here's something that I wish I could have been more like Bobby.
Bobby Simpson's foster sister Carly ended up suffering from alcoholism. To Carly's credit, she did go for help, and she was trying to go cold turkey from alcohol. Unfortunately, Carly's enemy from school Alison Patterson found out and twisted the news around spreading the word that Carly was a drug addict. Well, Bobby found out that Alison was responsible and was trying to undo the damage that Alison caused by telling the townspeople the truth about Carly. But, Alison was not going to let anyone stop her from humiliating Carly at every opportunity. So, Bobby took matters into her own hands.
How many of you were watching that clip, cheering Bobby on? I bet that some of you have known an Alison Patterson in your lives and wished that you had the guts to stand up to her the way that Bobby did. Bobby didn't even like Carly when they first met, so for Bobby to stand up for Carly against Alison...it was pretty cool to see.
And, honestly, while I myself probably wouldn't have tried to drown my bullies in an ocean...I admit that I kind of wish I had more of Bobby's courage when it came to facing them down. So many times I was brought down by people who were basically so insecure about themselves...I'm actually ashamed that I didn't stand up for myself more. In that sense, I really admire Bobby because she did the one thing that I was too afraid to do. She wasn't afraid of anyone. Maybe it was the hard childhood that she had sustained that toughened her up that put that spunk in her. Whatever the case, there's a reason why Bobby was my favourite character in the whole show. That was it.
As tough as Bobby was though, she had a vulnerable side. Although she tried to hide it from everyone who got too close to her, she really wanted to be accepted by people, and she really wanted to be a part of something. Ailsa was her first and probably best friend, and Bobby could always count on her to be there no matter what. Eventually, Ailsa's kindness towards the Fletchers caused Tom and Pippa to take her on as a foster child, and as time passed by, she gradually began to integrate herself into the community of Summer Bay. The man who you saw in the first clip grabbing Bobby and proclaiming her to be no good? That was Donald Fisher, the headmaster of the high school where the kids all attended. Bobby Simpson was one of the poorest students in the whole school, and at first, Fisher didn't want Bobby in his school at all. But there was something inside of her that caused him to want to work with her, and help her get her diploma. Bobby befriended Alan, Fisher's estranged teenage son, and Bobby managed to help Alan patch things up with Fisher before he tragically died. The relationship between Fisher and Bobby was frayed and filled with fights, but it all paid off in the end. Bobby earned her diploma, and you can see that she also won a very special award on top of that.
I guess the lesson that one can take from Bobby Simpson is this. It shows that nobody is truly a lost cause. It shows that anybody can make a success of themselves if they're given enough positive reinforcements. It shows that even the most unlikely people can find a place where they belong.
Bobby Simpson found that place on Home and Away. The show still goes on in Australia, and sadly, Bobby Simpson's character was killed off years ago. It seems almost unfair in a way that she died when she finally got her life back on track. But to Bobby Simpson, the journey seemed worth it.
I just hope that one day, I can find my place in this world...just like Bobby did.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
What kind of blog would it be without THEME DAYS?
All right, folks. This blog is off to a good start even though it is less than twenty-four hours old. And, I'm sure that as time passes, I'll get right into the swing of things.
But, I think I should try and make it more specific, and what better way to do that than with theme days? Each day will represent a different kind of media, and hopefully all of you will enjoy the days. This is what I have worked out for now, but I could change it depending on whether any ideas develop or dry up.
So, here's the weekly schedule so far.
MONDAY: Monday Matinee
TUESDAY: Tuesday Leftovers
WEDNESDAY: Across The Pond And Beyond
THURSDAY: Thursday At The Arcade
FRIDAY: TGIF!
SATURDAY: Saturday Morning Cartoons
SUNDAY: Sunday Funnies
Here's more info:
Monday Matinee deals with all things movies. Could be a movie character or series of movies.
Tuesday Leftovers are our pot-pourri category...anything goes.
Across The Pond And Beyond is an interesting category. Every Wednesday, we'll examine non-American culture!
Thursday At The Arcade deals with video game characters.
TGIF is named after the retro Friday sitcom block...it deals with TV.
Saturday Morning Cartoons needs no explanation.
Sunday Funnies deals with books, magazines, and comic strips.
So, stay tuned for more entries. Tomorrow's Wednesday, so we'll be going overseas for the next study in pop culture. But, I have a feeling you'll like her all the same!
But, I think I should try and make it more specific, and what better way to do that than with theme days? Each day will represent a different kind of media, and hopefully all of you will enjoy the days. This is what I have worked out for now, but I could change it depending on whether any ideas develop or dry up.
So, here's the weekly schedule so far.
MONDAY: Monday Matinee
TUESDAY: Tuesday Leftovers
WEDNESDAY: Across The Pond And Beyond
THURSDAY: Thursday At The Arcade
FRIDAY: TGIF!
SATURDAY: Saturday Morning Cartoons
SUNDAY: Sunday Funnies
Here's more info:
Monday Matinee deals with all things movies. Could be a movie character or series of movies.
Tuesday Leftovers are our pot-pourri category...anything goes.
Across The Pond And Beyond is an interesting category. Every Wednesday, we'll examine non-American culture!
Thursday At The Arcade deals with video game characters.
TGIF is named after the retro Friday sitcom block...it deals with TV.
Saturday Morning Cartoons needs no explanation.
Sunday Funnies deals with books, magazines, and comic strips.
So, stay tuned for more entries. Tomorrow's Wednesday, so we'll be going overseas for the next study in pop culture. But, I have a feeling you'll like her all the same!
What Ralph Wiggum Taught Me About Myself
Would you believe that The Simpsons have been on the air continuously since the 1989 Christmas season? That makes this season that just wrapped up season number twenty-two! The Simpsons have been on for over two-thirds of my life! That's absolutely mind-boggling to me.
Though, it's always been one of my favourite shows. Why? Because I love the fact that the Simpsons have never claimed to be the perfect family. They have their flaws, as most families do, but they also have their moments of mutual clarity and the occasional '80's style family hug moments of sugary-sweet family sitcom goodness.
I will admit that some of my absolute favourite episodes of the Simpsons were from the shows first few seasons. Think back to any episode that aired between 1990 and 1995. If I were to come up with a top ten list of my favourite Simpsons episodes of all time, I bet you over half would be from the first five years of the show. That either tells me that I'm a sucker for the classics, or the Simpsons have overstayed their welcome by sixteen seasons. I'm kind of hopeful that it's the former, though most people seem to think it to be the latter.
In fact, I'm just gonna come out with it. One of the episodes that will be in my top ten list is the one titled “I Love Lisa”. Would you believe that it originally aired way back on February 11, 1993? That's almost two decades ago. Man, I'm making myself feel old here, considering that I was barely twelve at the time of its first airing on FOX.
Anyway, if you don't know what the show was about, the airdate should give you a bit of a clue. It aired three days before Valentine's Day, so naturally the episode was about Valentine's Day. Note, I said Valentine's Day, and not Love Day, which was an entirely different episode altogether.
(Yes, I'm slightly on the obsessive-compulsive side over anything Simpsons related)
So, back to “I Love Lisa”. It's Valentine's Day, and everyone in Ms. Hoover's class are exchanging Valentine's Day cards to their classmates, and everyone feels loved. Everyone that is, except Ralph Wiggum. The poor paste-swallowing, red crayon munching misfit never got so much as a four-week old cinnamon heart from anyone in the classroom. Not even from the teacher. And, everyone knows that if teachers gave out Valentines, that everyone in the class got one.
I can say that I can sort of understand what poor Ralph must have been feeling that cold February day (but I can't say 1993 in this case, because if I did, Ralph Wiggum would be a little less than my age now, which is a mighty scary image to picture...LOL). I mean, sure, I never got ignored on Valentine's Day...I did get some cards from my classmates. But, I know what he must have felt like. Like Ralph Wiggum, I was considered the weird outcast of my class. No, I didn't eat crayons or gulp down a UHU glue stick the way most kids scarfed down Jell-o Pudding Pops. But, I didn't like it when I was excluded from classroom activities when everyone else got to participate.
It kind of reminds me of the time back in first grade, when we ended up having a fundraising drive for our school. Nothing too out of the ordinary...it was your typical Christmas fundraising catalogue where we could sell our friends and family all sorts of holiday themed merchandise. Wrapping paper, cards, ornaments. Everyone in the class got the basic fundraising package to canvas the neighbourhoods pitching their festive flair.
Everybody, except yours truly that is.
Granted, I was only a six year old boy at the time. I couldn't grasp the concept of what fundraising even was, let alone how I was planning on selling things that I physically did not have. But, the point was that all my classmates were able to have fun showing their families all the cool stuff in the catalogue, and I wondered why I was being singled out by not being allowed to participate.
I even went to my first grade teacher and asked her for a booklet that I could take home too like everybody else in the classroom, but she told me that she didn't have any more to give out. Of course, it didn't quite explain why she had five or six extra bundles of them right on her desk. This event might have happened all the way back in Christmas 1987, but I do remember two things very clearly. The first was that everyone in my class wanted a Lite-Brite (including me, and I did get one that year), and the second was that all the fundraising envelopes were wrapped in red paper with white snowflakes on them...and there were quite a few folders that had white snowflakes on her desk.
I never did get to do the fundraising that year. And this incident wasn't the only time my first grade teacher and I clashed. I'll maybe talk more about it in future blog entries, if you're interested.
It hurt enough that I didn't feel like I was being included in things by some of my classmates...but I got over it, as we were only children back then. It was much different having the teacher (who was supposed to set an example for the children) openly exclude you from classroom activities for no apparent reason. Almost a quarter of a century later, I still am left without answers as to why she did what she did. Oh, well...when Christmas '88 rolled around, my second grade teacher wasn't so exclusive, and not only did I sell a lot of stuff, but I ended up being the third top seller of wrapping paper in the whole school!
I guess, bringing my super long tangent back to the “I Love Lisa” episode, I was kind of the Ralph Wiggum of my first grade classroom, because like my first grade teacher did with me, Ms. Hoover showed that she had little to no patience for Ralph at all. Honestly, looking at the show through adult eyes, Ms. Hoover was kind of a sanctimonious cow when she wanted to be, couldn't she? Hell, I'd rather have Mrs. Krabappel as a teacher over her...at least Krabappel hated everyone equally!
As the episode progressed, Lisa Simpson saw the tears forming in poor Ralph Wiggum's eyes, and she felt incredibly sad for him. Unfortunately for Lisa, she had likely given out all of the Valentines she had brought with her to her classmates, but with a number two pencil and an eraser, she took one of her cards and put Ralph's name on it.
The moment Lisa handed Ralph the infamous “I Choo-Choo-Choose You” card was the moment that someone did something kind for him...probably one of the only instances in his eight years of life that he had experienced something so honest, pure, loving. Okay, so forget the fact that it was a secondhand Valentine's Day card...it was the thought that counts.
From this scene, I can visualize myself in both the Lisa Simpson role as well as the Ralph Wiggum role. Obviously, I can see myself in the Ralph Wiggum role. Believe me, I never realized it until I became an adult, but aside from the paste eating, I could have been a Wiggum clone. At home, I wasn't an only child, but because my siblings were quite a few years older than I was, I more or less was left to entertain myself. Now, the good thing about this was that it forced me to have a vivid and powerful imaginative streak which could keep me busy for hours, and I think it also contributed to helping develop my writing style. The downside to it was that my childhood could also be quite lonely, and because I spent so much time on my own, I felt as though I didn't really develop any long-standing connections. Through the years, I've built up some strong friendships and kept them, but back in elementary school, it was a lot harder. So, whenever someone did something nice for me like Lisa did for Ralph, I admit that I was so happy about it that my way of repaying the kind gesture was to stick to them like glue. And, if you remember the episode, you'll know that Ralph walked Lisa home from school, sent her presents, and even invited her to the live Krusty anniversary celebration show. Ralph was smitten with Lisa, and admittely, when I was younger, I tended to cling onto friendships the way a spider would tangle up other insects in a web. I rarely had kids my own age around me...the last time I lived in a neighbourhood with kids my own age, I was only three years old. I didn't know anything about how to be social around kids my age because the opportunity didn't present itself until I was enrolled in school.
On the flipside, I identify with why Lisa did what she did, especially as I grew older. Why? Because in this episode, Lisa obviously wanted to make Ralph feel better about himself by offering a token of friendship. I would do the same thing for anyone else who needed it. I hate seeing people in pain or suffering over something that they can't control or can't change about themselves. Some may refer to it as rooting for the underdog, but I disagree with that statement, as I never really see anyone as an underdog. Of course, maybe one reason why I find that I identify with people who are up against a world that seems to be against them is because I was once in that role myself. Who can say, really?
So, back to the show, I'm sure you can guess what the climax of the show is. It seems that poor Ralph Wiggum misinterpreted the meaning of the “Choo-Choo-Choose You” card in that he thought it was Lisa's way of admitting her love for him. At the Krusty special, when Krusty sat down and interviewed Ralph Wiggum and Lisa Simpson, Ralph wasted no time in telling Krusty, the studio audience, and home viewers just how much he loved Lisa and how he wanted to marry her when he got older.
That was the pivotal moment in which Lisa (who had been bottling up her true feelings for days) exploded and told Ralph exactly how she REALLY felt about him, and let's just say that it wasn't flattering. In fact, it was downright cold. Cold enough that Bart Simpson could actually freeze frame the moment in which Ralph's heart “broke in two”.
I can imagine how humiliated Ralph must have felt. I can recall quite a few times in which I was publicly dressed down by classmates. Imagine having someone tell you how much they didn't like you, and how they were using you for things in a private setting. Kind of a drag, right? Now imagine kids in your class hanging around you at recess because you happened to have Rainbow Chips Ahoy cookies that you thought were great to share with friends, and then having those same kids call you names after the cookies were gobbled up right in front of everyone in the room. That's downright humiliating. I really did feel bad for poor Ralph, because other than misinterpret the real meaning of a cardboard Valentine's Day card, Ralph really did nothing wrong. In fact, he actually kind of acted the same way that I think a lot of women would want their boyfriends/husbands to act.
See, Ralph may not have been the Bradley Cooper, LL Cool J, or even the Justin Bieber of Springfield Elementary...but he sure knew how to treat a lady. I'm sure most women would love to have someone swoon over them, and take them to fancy places, and show them love and affection. Ralph did all that, and did all that almost flawlessly. Just think about that the next time that show airs in syndication.
Like every good fairy tale and storybook, the episode does have to come to an end. After Ralph's very public rejection by Lisa, Ralph was left hurt by the whole experience. To add insult to injury, at the President's Day pageant at the school, Ralph and Lisa were playing the roles of George and Martha Washington. Ralph was still hurt by Lisa...even burning the “Choo-Choo-Choose You” card that only a couple of days earlier was his most prized possession. And, he converted that anger and hurt that was inside him into a powerful and gripping performance that earned him a standing ovation from the crowd. This was truly Ralph's defining moment, and he ended up turning something that was so hurtful into something beautiful.
You know something, I too can identify with Ralph Wiggum in this case too. With all that had happened in school, I could have become a bitter person who wanted people to feel whatever pain he was going through at the time, but I didn't. I chose to write about my experiences in hopes that someone else could find their voice in all the confusion they were going through. In fact, if anything, I'd like to find some way to make something positive out of the whole thing, just like young Ralph Wiggum did that night.
Apparently, his performance must have evoked something in Lisa Simpson because she gave Ralph another Valentine's Day card...one with the more generic “Let's Bee Friends” message. And, in that moment, I think Ralph had forgotten all about why he was mad at Lisa in the first place. In subsequent episodes, I think the friendship between Lisa and Ralph is still there, although probably not as strong as it was on that Valentine's Day.
So, what has this episode taught us? Well, it's taught us that sometimes, even the so-called “underdogs” win. It's taught us that sometimes misunderstandings can lead to friendships, even if the road to it might be filled with detours. It's taught us that sometimes we don't know what we might have until we lose it.
More importantly, it's taught me that I should embrace my inner Ralph Wiggum. Because we all have one who wants to claw his way out. Maybe if we all did, we'd all be better people for it.
Though, it's always been one of my favourite shows. Why? Because I love the fact that the Simpsons have never claimed to be the perfect family. They have their flaws, as most families do, but they also have their moments of mutual clarity and the occasional '80's style family hug moments of sugary-sweet family sitcom goodness.
I will admit that some of my absolute favourite episodes of the Simpsons were from the shows first few seasons. Think back to any episode that aired between 1990 and 1995. If I were to come up with a top ten list of my favourite Simpsons episodes of all time, I bet you over half would be from the first five years of the show. That either tells me that I'm a sucker for the classics, or the Simpsons have overstayed their welcome by sixteen seasons. I'm kind of hopeful that it's the former, though most people seem to think it to be the latter.
In fact, I'm just gonna come out with it. One of the episodes that will be in my top ten list is the one titled “I Love Lisa”. Would you believe that it originally aired way back on February 11, 1993? That's almost two decades ago. Man, I'm making myself feel old here, considering that I was barely twelve at the time of its first airing on FOX.
Anyway, if you don't know what the show was about, the airdate should give you a bit of a clue. It aired three days before Valentine's Day, so naturally the episode was about Valentine's Day. Note, I said Valentine's Day, and not Love Day, which was an entirely different episode altogether.
(Yes, I'm slightly on the obsessive-compulsive side over anything Simpsons related)
So, back to “I Love Lisa”. It's Valentine's Day, and everyone in Ms. Hoover's class are exchanging Valentine's Day cards to their classmates, and everyone feels loved. Everyone that is, except Ralph Wiggum. The poor paste-swallowing, red crayon munching misfit never got so much as a four-week old cinnamon heart from anyone in the classroom. Not even from the teacher. And, everyone knows that if teachers gave out Valentines, that everyone in the class got one.
I can say that I can sort of understand what poor Ralph must have been feeling that cold February day (but I can't say 1993 in this case, because if I did, Ralph Wiggum would be a little less than my age now, which is a mighty scary image to picture...LOL). I mean, sure, I never got ignored on Valentine's Day...I did get some cards from my classmates. But, I know what he must have felt like. Like Ralph Wiggum, I was considered the weird outcast of my class. No, I didn't eat crayons or gulp down a UHU glue stick the way most kids scarfed down Jell-o Pudding Pops. But, I didn't like it when I was excluded from classroom activities when everyone else got to participate.
It kind of reminds me of the time back in first grade, when we ended up having a fundraising drive for our school. Nothing too out of the ordinary...it was your typical Christmas fundraising catalogue where we could sell our friends and family all sorts of holiday themed merchandise. Wrapping paper, cards, ornaments. Everyone in the class got the basic fundraising package to canvas the neighbourhoods pitching their festive flair.
Everybody, except yours truly that is.
Granted, I was only a six year old boy at the time. I couldn't grasp the concept of what fundraising even was, let alone how I was planning on selling things that I physically did not have. But, the point was that all my classmates were able to have fun showing their families all the cool stuff in the catalogue, and I wondered why I was being singled out by not being allowed to participate.
I even went to my first grade teacher and asked her for a booklet that I could take home too like everybody else in the classroom, but she told me that she didn't have any more to give out. Of course, it didn't quite explain why she had five or six extra bundles of them right on her desk. This event might have happened all the way back in Christmas 1987, but I do remember two things very clearly. The first was that everyone in my class wanted a Lite-Brite (including me, and I did get one that year), and the second was that all the fundraising envelopes were wrapped in red paper with white snowflakes on them...and there were quite a few folders that had white snowflakes on her desk.
I never did get to do the fundraising that year. And this incident wasn't the only time my first grade teacher and I clashed. I'll maybe talk more about it in future blog entries, if you're interested.
It hurt enough that I didn't feel like I was being included in things by some of my classmates...but I got over it, as we were only children back then. It was much different having the teacher (who was supposed to set an example for the children) openly exclude you from classroom activities for no apparent reason. Almost a quarter of a century later, I still am left without answers as to why she did what she did. Oh, well...when Christmas '88 rolled around, my second grade teacher wasn't so exclusive, and not only did I sell a lot of stuff, but I ended up being the third top seller of wrapping paper in the whole school!
I guess, bringing my super long tangent back to the “I Love Lisa” episode, I was kind of the Ralph Wiggum of my first grade classroom, because like my first grade teacher did with me, Ms. Hoover showed that she had little to no patience for Ralph at all. Honestly, looking at the show through adult eyes, Ms. Hoover was kind of a sanctimonious cow when she wanted to be, couldn't she? Hell, I'd rather have Mrs. Krabappel as a teacher over her...at least Krabappel hated everyone equally!
As the episode progressed, Lisa Simpson saw the tears forming in poor Ralph Wiggum's eyes, and she felt incredibly sad for him. Unfortunately for Lisa, she had likely given out all of the Valentines she had brought with her to her classmates, but with a number two pencil and an eraser, she took one of her cards and put Ralph's name on it.
The moment Lisa handed Ralph the infamous “I Choo-Choo-Choose You” card was the moment that someone did something kind for him...probably one of the only instances in his eight years of life that he had experienced something so honest, pure, loving. Okay, so forget the fact that it was a secondhand Valentine's Day card...it was the thought that counts.
From this scene, I can visualize myself in both the Lisa Simpson role as well as the Ralph Wiggum role. Obviously, I can see myself in the Ralph Wiggum role. Believe me, I never realized it until I became an adult, but aside from the paste eating, I could have been a Wiggum clone. At home, I wasn't an only child, but because my siblings were quite a few years older than I was, I more or less was left to entertain myself. Now, the good thing about this was that it forced me to have a vivid and powerful imaginative streak which could keep me busy for hours, and I think it also contributed to helping develop my writing style. The downside to it was that my childhood could also be quite lonely, and because I spent so much time on my own, I felt as though I didn't really develop any long-standing connections. Through the years, I've built up some strong friendships and kept them, but back in elementary school, it was a lot harder. So, whenever someone did something nice for me like Lisa did for Ralph, I admit that I was so happy about it that my way of repaying the kind gesture was to stick to them like glue. And, if you remember the episode, you'll know that Ralph walked Lisa home from school, sent her presents, and even invited her to the live Krusty anniversary celebration show. Ralph was smitten with Lisa, and admittely, when I was younger, I tended to cling onto friendships the way a spider would tangle up other insects in a web. I rarely had kids my own age around me...the last time I lived in a neighbourhood with kids my own age, I was only three years old. I didn't know anything about how to be social around kids my age because the opportunity didn't present itself until I was enrolled in school.
On the flipside, I identify with why Lisa did what she did, especially as I grew older. Why? Because in this episode, Lisa obviously wanted to make Ralph feel better about himself by offering a token of friendship. I would do the same thing for anyone else who needed it. I hate seeing people in pain or suffering over something that they can't control or can't change about themselves. Some may refer to it as rooting for the underdog, but I disagree with that statement, as I never really see anyone as an underdog. Of course, maybe one reason why I find that I identify with people who are up against a world that seems to be against them is because I was once in that role myself. Who can say, really?
So, back to the show, I'm sure you can guess what the climax of the show is. It seems that poor Ralph Wiggum misinterpreted the meaning of the “Choo-Choo-Choose You” card in that he thought it was Lisa's way of admitting her love for him. At the Krusty special, when Krusty sat down and interviewed Ralph Wiggum and Lisa Simpson, Ralph wasted no time in telling Krusty, the studio audience, and home viewers just how much he loved Lisa and how he wanted to marry her when he got older.
That was the pivotal moment in which Lisa (who had been bottling up her true feelings for days) exploded and told Ralph exactly how she REALLY felt about him, and let's just say that it wasn't flattering. In fact, it was downright cold. Cold enough that Bart Simpson could actually freeze frame the moment in which Ralph's heart “broke in two”.
I can imagine how humiliated Ralph must have felt. I can recall quite a few times in which I was publicly dressed down by classmates. Imagine having someone tell you how much they didn't like you, and how they were using you for things in a private setting. Kind of a drag, right? Now imagine kids in your class hanging around you at recess because you happened to have Rainbow Chips Ahoy cookies that you thought were great to share with friends, and then having those same kids call you names after the cookies were gobbled up right in front of everyone in the room. That's downright humiliating. I really did feel bad for poor Ralph, because other than misinterpret the real meaning of a cardboard Valentine's Day card, Ralph really did nothing wrong. In fact, he actually kind of acted the same way that I think a lot of women would want their boyfriends/husbands to act.
See, Ralph may not have been the Bradley Cooper, LL Cool J, or even the Justin Bieber of Springfield Elementary...but he sure knew how to treat a lady. I'm sure most women would love to have someone swoon over them, and take them to fancy places, and show them love and affection. Ralph did all that, and did all that almost flawlessly. Just think about that the next time that show airs in syndication.
Like every good fairy tale and storybook, the episode does have to come to an end. After Ralph's very public rejection by Lisa, Ralph was left hurt by the whole experience. To add insult to injury, at the President's Day pageant at the school, Ralph and Lisa were playing the roles of George and Martha Washington. Ralph was still hurt by Lisa...even burning the “Choo-Choo-Choose You” card that only a couple of days earlier was his most prized possession. And, he converted that anger and hurt that was inside him into a powerful and gripping performance that earned him a standing ovation from the crowd. This was truly Ralph's defining moment, and he ended up turning something that was so hurtful into something beautiful.
You know something, I too can identify with Ralph Wiggum in this case too. With all that had happened in school, I could have become a bitter person who wanted people to feel whatever pain he was going through at the time, but I didn't. I chose to write about my experiences in hopes that someone else could find their voice in all the confusion they were going through. In fact, if anything, I'd like to find some way to make something positive out of the whole thing, just like young Ralph Wiggum did that night.
Apparently, his performance must have evoked something in Lisa Simpson because she gave Ralph another Valentine's Day card...one with the more generic “Let's Bee Friends” message. And, in that moment, I think Ralph had forgotten all about why he was mad at Lisa in the first place. In subsequent episodes, I think the friendship between Lisa and Ralph is still there, although probably not as strong as it was on that Valentine's Day.
So, what has this episode taught us? Well, it's taught us that sometimes, even the so-called “underdogs” win. It's taught us that sometimes misunderstandings can lead to friendships, even if the road to it might be filled with detours. It's taught us that sometimes we don't know what we might have until we lose it.
More importantly, it's taught me that I should embrace my inner Ralph Wiggum. Because we all have one who wants to claw his way out. Maybe if we all did, we'd all be better people for it.
WELCOME!
Hello, everyone!
My name is Matthew W. Turcotte, and I am a self-confessed pop culture junkie. Anything that has to do with pop culture, I'm absolutely in love with.
So, I decided to create this blog, with a little bit of a twist to it.
Sure, I'll be discussing lots of things in regards to the media...albums, television shows, movies, video games, etc. But, this blog will also serve as sort of a self-help type booklet too. By analyzing different types of media by comparing it to life lessons I've learned over my thirty years of life, my hope is that I'll find out what makes me tick, and have fun doing it. It's also my hope that all of you reading this blog will find your own interpretations of these classics, and that maybe you can apply some life lessons of your own in regards to how you perceive them.
I think this is going to be a really fun venture, and I hope all of you will be along for the ride.
My first entry will be posted momentarily, and dare I say...I think it'll be an interesting read.
So, sit back, open up a bag of Orville Redenbacher, and relax!
My name is Matthew W. Turcotte, and I am a self-confessed pop culture junkie. Anything that has to do with pop culture, I'm absolutely in love with.
So, I decided to create this blog, with a little bit of a twist to it.
Sure, I'll be discussing lots of things in regards to the media...albums, television shows, movies, video games, etc. But, this blog will also serve as sort of a self-help type booklet too. By analyzing different types of media by comparing it to life lessons I've learned over my thirty years of life, my hope is that I'll find out what makes me tick, and have fun doing it. It's also my hope that all of you reading this blog will find your own interpretations of these classics, and that maybe you can apply some life lessons of your own in regards to how you perceive them.
I think this is going to be a really fun venture, and I hope all of you will be along for the ride.
My first entry will be posted momentarily, and dare I say...I think it'll be an interesting read.
So, sit back, open up a bag of Orville Redenbacher, and relax!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)














