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Helga’s
Masquerade
The fact that Arnold is so interested in her
and is always trying to get her to like him-like him is the biggest reason why
Helga feels the need to get good behavior lessons from her. I do have to question why Helga isn’t being
openly honest about why she wants Lila to train her. It’s been established that Lila knows that Helga’s in love with Arnold and is willing to comply with Helga’s plans to get
together with him. If this wasn’t the
case, then it would make more sense for Helga to not be open about why she
wants to learn kindness.
This is just a
minor detail, and what follows nicely reflects Helga’s change in behavior. She’s under the impression that good behavior
is like an art with concise steps to follow which she’s always jotting down
notes of. When trying them out at first,
the results are quite laughable. Her
efforts at the steps are clear, but she ends up ruining their appeal with
insults that don’t feel genuine but do leave an awkward sting. Giving into taunts and insults cements this
first attempt as a failure. It’s only
through spending more one-on-one time with Lila that gets Helga to truly understand
kindness, not necessarily in its own strategical way, but through basically
copying Lila. Testing her behavior again
works this time, but it’s basically a spitting image of Lila’s typical
mannerisms. Helga even has a higher,
kinder tone of voice like Lila’s.
However, Helga’s form of kindness doesn’t stop there. There’s a costume party going on during the
weekend, and she has an interesting choice what she’s going as. To Helga, it’s not enough to act like Lila to
win over Arnold. She has to look like
her too, and coming to the party in a costume of someone the kids know well
really makes her stand out from the crowd.
This move even gives Helga the results she wanted. Because she looks like Lila, someone Arnold
like-likes, he spends much of the party hanging out with her. They have conversations, offer food to each
other, and get in on the party games.
This is the kind of bonding with Arnold that Helga’s always been after,
but others are quick to point out the catch.
Arnold tries to explain that he’s hanging out with Helga because of how
she’s acting, but is told that he’s doing it because she looks like Lila. This suggestion proves true when he actually
calls Helga Lila at one point. The real
kicker is when Helga removes her costume and drops the phony kindness act, and
Arnold doesn’t seem interested in being with her anymore. It brings a somber tone that even if Helga’s
true to herself, like she should be, she may never win over Arnold.
Thankfully there is hope to be gained from
this when Arnold tells Lila that for all of Helga’s meanness, there are times
when she can be nice like tonight. This
not only shows that good nature was inside Helga all along, but that there is
progress in Arnold liking her for who she is and that’s good enough for
Helga.
This leaves the cartoon as an
interesting strategy for Helga to get somewhere in her desired relationship
telling a universal message in a creative way.
A
Mr. Green
Runs
Mr. Green is one of the more memorable business owners in the
cast, but the stories he’s given don’t present him as more than just the
neighborhood butcher. Working in this
cartoon’s favor is an opportunity to open up a new outlet on his life, showing
that people from humble upbringings can accomplish great things.
He shows great concern for the well-being of
the neighborhood he lives in, particularly with a huge gaping pothole in front
of his shop. It’s honestly hard to miss
it from its size, and it causes frequent commotion. Along with Arnold, Mr. Green goes to the
city’s official council building to talk with the head Councilman,
Gladhand.
Right off the bat, it’s
painfully obvious that Gladhand is no-good when it comes to running the city
council. He’s constantly off on
important “lunches” even though it’s long after lunchtime and shows no interest
in concerns that the populace has to share.
He does ultimately listen to Mr. Green’s concerns, but even when he says
he’ll fix the pothole in front of the store, his efforts are extremely
minimal. All he does is place a single
board over it, and that turns out to be not enough to stop catastrophes from
happening. In fact, the board leads to
an even crazier turn of events when not only does a car fall in, but it causes
another car to drive over it and crash into an electricity pole causing a
blackout.
It’s at this point when Mr.
Green is moved to take the ultimate stand by running for city council against
Gladhand in an election. Just from one
passionate speech about the well-being of his neighborhood, his potential is
undeniably clear. Even with the great
support of the town and a strong campaign from Arnold, Mr. Green is unsure of
trying his hand at politics. I could say
that there’s no need to feel this way given how confident he was in his push
for improving the neighborhood, but the fact is being a butcher is what he’s
better at. Even if he has potential,
that doesn’t rule out being nervous about something he’s very new at.
Truth be told, his efforts are nothing
against Gladhand who leads in the polls.
By the way, with how uncaring he is for his people yet still having
enough supporters, I’d say Gladhand is pretty ahead of his time when it comes
to our future government officials. Anyway,
because of his status, Mr. Green tries to be more like Gladhand to improve his
chances. This practice proves to be way too awkward to help his cause because
he doesn’t understand the words he uses.
It only takes one talk from Arnold that following Gladhand’s ways should
never have been an option, and Mr. Green should promote himself by being true
to himself. This may sound like a basic
moral, but being true to oneself is the best advice for people of all ages,
inspirational even.
This story proves it
when Mr. Green wins over the public again by equating the city to a big slice
of meat. His popularity is so clear,
that a scene of Gladhand trying to get Arnold to get Mr. Green to drop out of
the race if he fixes the one pothole feels pointless. Arnold doesn’t even have anything to gain
from this. The pointless tone really
proves itself when Mr. Green wins the council position with no trouble at all
in the end. It’s an obvious ending, but
it comes off as inspiring of saying that anyone, no matter where they come from,
has potential to reach great heights in life.
Maybe it would shine more if Mr. Green’s councilman position was shown
more after this, but as this cartoon stands, it's still a very good starring role for him.
A-
The Ranking
1. Helga Sleepwalks
2. Monkeyman!
3. Veterans Day
4. Buses, Bikes, and Subways
5. Headless Cabbie
6. Grandpa’s Sister
7. Back to School
8. Helga’s Parrot
9. Oskar Can’t Read?
10. Dinner for Four
11. The Beeper Queen
12. Helga’s Masquerade
13. Stinky’s Pumpkin
14. It Girl
15. Polishing Rhonda
16. Baby Oskar
17. Synchronized Swimming
18. Weighing Harold
19. Big Gino
20. Mr. Green Runs
21. Chocolate Turtles
22. Friday the 13th
23. Grudge Match
24. Fighting Families
25. Phoebe Skips
26. Eugene’s Birthday
27. Weird Cousin
28. Egg Story
29. Student Teacher
30. Love and Cheese
31. Jamie O in Love
32. Deconstructing Arnold
33. Full Moon
The next Hey Arnold review has Helga take up therapy where everything known about her makes for a truly complex character study, maybe even one of the strongest in all of animation.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is the third part of the "Super DuckTales" arc.
If you would like to check out other Hey Arnold reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.
I know Arnold did at least acknowledge Helga's effort at kindness (albeit a false effort), but the way that scene showed him brushing her off after the costume change wasn't executed as smoothly as I would've liked. If anything, it made him look like a jerk who only valued Helga for her Lila-imitation. I know he said it was getting cold outside, but he could've invited her inside, or something. Anything but make that transition look like Arnold's a shallow twat. Oh well.
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