Friday, March 15, 2019

Grudge Match / Polishing Rhonda (Hey Arnold Season 4 Episode 10) - 'Toon Reviews 28


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Grudge Match

Arnold’s grandparents are the types of characters that really defy expectations.  You normally wouldn’t expect much from elderly characters, but look of what they’ve accomplished.  They’ve raised their grandson for most of his life, run a boarding house to this day, and are very active and full of energy in many activities usually reserved for youth.  However, some cartoons show believable anxieties from them when it comes to certain challenges, particularly Grandpa. 
Here, he gets into an incident with the Pataki family when they both back their cars into each other, damaging them.  It’s impossible to tell who’s really to blame, so they have to settle the matter of who’s going to pay with a competition.  Playing to Big Bob’s capabilities, it’s golf.  Claiming to have been playing it since he was five, Big Bob no doubt poses as a big challenge with great attention to detail in his performance.  This comes with particular disregard for his caddie, his own daughter Helga, whom he has to bribe in order to get her to work for him. 
As for Grandpa, for all his accomplishments despite his age throughout the series, playing golf turns out to be out of his skillset.  There’s even a funny bit where he thinks he’s really good at the sport, but he turns out to be thinking of tennis instead.  Also, no matter how hard he trains, he can’t get up to the level he needs to avoid paying the fine and just causes mishaps.  Out of the despair that he’s going to lose the golf match, Grandpa decides to run away, but Arnold convinces Grandpa to fight through his anxieties.  This advice is surprisingly honest saying that Grandpa will most likely lose.  However, it’s better for Grandpa to face the challenge instead of cowardly running away from it.  The hard cold facts are considered, but this advice is very beneficial to how much better people can feel if they just deal with what they fear. 
Even if it also sets up Grandpa to accept the possibility of losing, he gets help to win anyway.  Playing an earlier scene to his advantage, during the golf game, Grandpa remembers the golf tips picked up from a golf video he constantly watched.  Muttering the poems to himself at each hole allows him to put up a strong challenge against Big Bob.  This is no doubt an interesting turn of events regarding how Grandpa surprises everyone by how good he turns out to be at the sport.  There are even a few creative gags like when his ball ends up in a water hazard and hits a fish out instead, but the ball still goes into the hole when the fish breathes.  All this said, Grandpa’s progress kind of devalues the message that he should keep playing even if he loses.  The cartoon set itself up to teach that you don’t have to be good at everything which is quite mature.  With Grandpa starting to put up a great competition, it seems like there’s nothing he can’t do.  Reality does ensue when at the last hole, he messes up and has to get the ball in the hole from a cuisse to win.  It’s another creative instance, but with the help of a feeble golf poem, Grandpa makes the shot anyway and wins it all. 
Even if it goes against the prior interesting direction, I do admire Grandpa’s newfound strategy which clearly has good thought put into it.  While on the whole, this cartoon is pretty basic, it has value in its relatability when it comes to facing something you’ve never done before.
B+



Polishing Rhonda
Considering how opinionated and materialistic Rhonda is, it’s a great turn of events that all her starring roles find new ways to make her realize the flaws in her worldview.  So far, she’s learned to accept what people look like and how they behave.  Here, circumstances have her learn about manners, something she’s surprised to find she lacks.  This is also an opportunity to bond with the huge tough girl of PS 118, Big Patty.  It’s remarkable how many kids have learned about how humble she really is.  We’ve already seen Helga and Harold realize this, and now Rhonda does the same.  At the same time, you’d think the real Big Patty would be better known. 
Anyway, everything unfolds with Rhonda showing off one of her latest styles, a custom fit shoe. Big Patty accidently trips over her scuffing the shoe, Rhonda insults her fashion in response, and a fight breaks out.  It’s after this when fate has them both attend a polishing academy where kids show and build up their etiquette skills.  While Big Patty is mostly here to make new friends, Rhonda is here as part of family customs.  With all this said, even in a high class setting where her behavior is judged, Rhonda’s etiquette is much less than desirable.  She’s pushy when getting punch, very particular about what’s offered during tea, and only cares about talking about herself and her possessions.  Big Patty is basically the opposite of all this, and excels in just a few sessions.  Just by watching her in all the etiquette exercises it becomes hard to believe that people would ever think she’s an all-out brute. 
As for Rhonda, she’s horrified at being labeled as a total snob, and for the sake of her reputation, turns to the most revered student of the academy, Big Patty, for help.  Despite apparent reluctance, Big Patty does guide Rhonda through the process of good behavior, and it appears to easily rub off on her.  For good measure, Big Patty even starts legitimately bonding with Rhonda as a friend, which she could use more of.  Her teachings really prove effective during finals at the polishing academy where Rhonda acts so polite, the Madame in charge turns her preconceived notions of her around.  That said, I don’t really see how one good session is enough to name Rhonda class valedictorian when Big Patty showed great manners right from the start. 
Now despite all of Big Patty’s help, Rhonda still has a bit of snob in her.  She not only turns down an invitation for a slumber party with Big Patty for selfish reasons, but doesn’t give her any credit for her change in behavior.  This would make her despicable, but it’s thankfully avoided as she looks guilty shortly afterward.  Sealing the deal is when Big Patty once again accidentally scuffs another girl’s nice new shoes.  Rhonda notices this, and shows no hesitation to stand up for Big Patty when she’s berated.  It may not seem like much, but for Rhonda to value friendship over fashion is pretty big from her perspective.  Moments like this show for all her faults, she can show humanity and figure out what’s more important.  There just happen to be many aspects of her materialistic worldview for her to overcome.  Even with that, it’s great to see the tact and genuine development going into doing just that.
A
The Ranking
  1. Headless Cabbie
  2. Helga’s Parrot
  3. Oskar Can’t Read?
  4. Dinner for Four
  5. The Beeper Queen
  6. Stinky’s Pumpkin
  7. It Girl
  8. Polishing Rhonda
  9. Weighing Harold
  10. Big Gino
  11. Chocolate Turtles
  12. Friday the 13th
  13. Grudge Match
  14. Phoebe Skips
  15. Eugene’s Birthday
  16. Student Teacher
  17. Love and Cheese
  18. Jamie O in Love
  19. Deconstructing Arnold
  20. Full Moon
The next Hey Arnold review astounds as it covers a holiday special about Veterans' Day.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is "Night Life" and "Deep Dive" from Star vs the Forces of Evil.

If you would like to check out other Hey Arnold reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

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