Allons-y

I’m watching cartoons from my childhood. It really explains a lot about my life. I mean, as a kid I didn’t have many friends. These shows were the only influences I had. And I think the producers knew that was the case for most of their audience.

     This one episode of Hey Arnold, Helga’s mom, Miriam, goes back to work. Miriam starts out, of course, being totally useless. Helga doesn’t respect her at all and neither does Helga’s dad. One day, Helga’s dad throws out his back and has no choice but to let Miriam take over the business for a few days. Helga’s mom LOVES working. She’s good at it, and it gives her a purpose. She hasn’t had a purpose for years. Meanwhile, Helga’s dad is at home on the couch getting more and more useless. Helga and her dad are getting more distant, but Helga and her mom are getting along perfectly! Until about a week later. Miriam is so swamped with work, she barely has time for Helga. Or the house. Or anything. It gets so bad that eventually, she even forgets to pack Helga’s lunch. (Keep in mind, Helga is in the 4th grade and having a pre-packed lunch is important when you’re in the 4th grade.) 
   One day,(after getting advice from Arnold) Helga goes to tell Miriam what’s bothering her. But Miriam is doing a commercial for the beeper company! She tells Helga to get lost, and Helga is devastated. On the way back on to the set, Miriam passes by a camera. The camera just happened to be recording the conversation she had with Helga. After seeing the replay, Miriam realizes that she’s been a complete bitch. She goes to find Helga, who’s walking home alone, and tells her, “No Helga. I was wrong. You are the only thing in the world that’s important to me.” 

I criiiieeeddd. 

    And while I’m on the subject; Helga and Arnold’s relationship. Honestly, it’s wonderful. Helga pretends to hate him, but EVERYONE knows she doesn’t. Even Arnold knows. Thing is, Arnold is too young to understand those feelings. 
It could go any number of ways. He could like her back and they could end up together, or she could get over him and just move on, or they could date and not work out, etcetera, etcetera. This is one of the few cartoons I’ve ever watched that has a lifelike relationship like that. But, I digress. Arnold is a wonderful friend. He always shows up when Helga is having a shitty day and is the voice of reason in her life. It’s no wonder she loves him.

    The other episode I watched was the one where Oscar learns to read. At the beginning he makes excuses as to why he can’t pass the salt, read the next direction for the recipe for diner, or read the baby a story. He can’t read. Arnold figured that out before anyone else did. Everyone else in the house is so used to Oscar being a deadbeat and a con-artist, they just assumed it was another trick. That he was just being lazy. Arnold gave him the benefit of the doubt and figured out the real problem. Arnold took time and taught Oscar how to read. Oscar bullshat it at first and just memorized the first page of A Tale Of Two Cities. Arnold got mad and told Oscar that he’d help him when he got serious. So Oscar went out and tried to read. He learned the basics and then he read every kid’s book he could find. When Arnold saw he was serious, Arnold helped him. At the end, Arnold set up a map for Oscar to read and sent him on a mission. Go from a strange neighborhood and get yourself home. Arnold gave Oscar the map and sent him off. Oscar got about half way and got lost. While he was lost, he found a cat. The first book Oscar read completely on his own was called Pet The Kitty. While sitting there, all alone aside from that cat, Oscar found the guts to get himself home. If he could read Pet The Kitty, he could read street signs and a map!

 It’s still inspiring, even 10 years later. 
I feel silly reading this far into a cartoon.