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Fandom
Pains
In my experience of watching shows and movies, I used to
enjoy watching them by myself thinking I’d be the only one who can truly
understand what I like. Nowadays, I find
more pleasure in sharing what I like with others, even if they don’t always get
it. For some shows, some people latch
onto a small element like one specific character or actor, or general cuteness
of the story. Interest in the rest of
the show usually grows gradually from there.
It may be a different perspective on the form of media, but I personally
find it fun to hear.
It’s for these
reasons I greatly relate to this cartoon, made even better for featuring the
Loud sibling with an interesting dark approach to life, Lucy. She enjoys having alone time watching her
favorite show, Vampires of Melancholia. However, she’s surprised to find that the two
oldest sisters, Lori and Leni, have suddenly taken interest in the show. Given their high feminine personalities,
they’re not here for the dark scary stuff the show is known for. They’re here because one handsome actor has
joined the cast for this season, and they continuously fawn over his
appearance. It’s not enough that their
excitement over this one actor is too much for Lucy. She’s also annoyed that the character he’s
playing is a total jock with an excessive use of teen slang that doesn’t fit
the show’s tone or her interests.
From
there, Lucy tries to get her alone time back through working silently instead
of blowing up about her true feelings to Lori and Leni. She comes up with ridiculous vampire related
rituals she hopes will be too much for them. In a humorous turn of events, when
you’d expect Lori and Leni to find them a nuisance, they find a way around
them. Plus, they both bounce off of each
other well with Lori describing something one way and Leni adding to it with a synonymous
phrase. Their fangirl mannerisms are
a little much, but I enjoy how exaggerated they are. They contrast with Lucy’s monotone
frustrations to her attempts backfiring.
Eventually, Lucy meets up with her Young Morticians Club who also show
disdain over the new hunky character in the cast. They get a lot of signatures on a petition to
get him off the show and rely on bats to get it to the show. This plan seems to work when the next episode
of the show kills off that new character, and Lori and Leni are sent into an
explosion of sobs when they see this.
Though prior to this, they start acting like casual fans mostly through
how they show respect for what Lucy likes about the show too. This is what sends Lucy into a funk when the
following week, she feels lonely without watching the show with her sisters,
getting more joy from that than watching it alone. For her sake, it works out with Lori and Leni
still interested in the show, having gotten into it from latching onto that one
thing, and that character gets brought back as a vampire.
Now, I must point out that there’s some
familiarity to all this. Lucy has problems with her sisters, tries to get back at
them, and thinks she’s succeeded at one attempt only to realize she never had an
effect. If you don’t remember, that’s
the same structure to “Spell it Out,” and while clichés don’t bother me,
directly modeling itself from another cartoon is a little much. Thanks to its message on the benefits of
sharing the media you like with others, I still think it stands out
enough. With that impact along with
appealing approaches to it from well-defined characters, this is a fun cartoon
that hits home for all TV viewers.
A
Rita Her
Rights
You know how the last episode had a cartoon with strong hints
that the parents of the Loud family were not capable of raising a big
family? At least Dad has plenty of past
performances where he successfully bonds with the kids. Since he’s had a lot of starring roles, it’s nice
that Mom is the star here. However, it’s
held back by not doing justice for her character.
Like with most mothers, Mom is overworked
with chores. It’s not a bad way to
incite the main conflict and Mom getting bombarded with a lot of requests is a
good way to understand her stress. True,
she should be used to it, but anyone can get overwhelmed at any time
regardless. Still, the way this issue is
presented doesn’t really have a way to stand out from how overworked mothers
are often seen in media, so this isn’t too interesting.
One thing that is interesting is what Mom
being overworked leads to. Her rushing to
get the kids to school leaves her with a bunch of parking tickets, and the only
way she can make up for them is community service. Community service ends up much less pressing
than her home life. She has to spend the
whole day at the park picking up litter which doesn’t take long at all, leaving
her to do as she pleases for the rest of the day. This is a fascinating way of finding good in
a bad situation, but what becomes of it makes Mom pretty mixed. She enjoys doing community service work, so she
starts breaking laws deliberately to do it longer. It only takes a single look at the chaotic
life of the Loud House to support her decision.
Mom would rather go out and break laws than see her family. It’s at this point where it feels like she
doesn’t understand motherhood. She may
need a break, but abandoning her loved ones like this is going too far.
I’ll say this much, the stunt of getting out
of extra work by deliberately getting tickets is a creative move that makes the
cartoon stand out. To be honest though, the creative approach is kind of problematic too. If all she wants to do is go to the park, why not just do that after dropping off the kids at school? There aren't many huge problems of leaving the house in the afternoons, so breaking laws is very pointless overall.
Mom’s actions don’t
last long though. She discovers the bad
part of getting a lot of tickets when she gets enough to amount to a crime
spree which means jail time. This also
forces her to confess to her family what she did, and they respond by saying
she should have just said she needed a break, a far more logical solution. That said, it’s hard to believe that they’d
take the fact that their mom became a criminal to get away from them so
lightly. Mom still has genuine regret as
she hopes for a way she can still be there for the family.
That turns out to be an all-too-easy fix as
Mom easily helps every kid one at a time in jail, though she does so much
easier than before. Even easier of a fix
is the cop letting her go just because she sees what she has to deal with as if
it’s all it takes to make up for the laws she broke. Also, while Mom still gets a break at the end
showing growth from the family, she technically leaves the cartoon without
adhering to her role as a mother. The
promise that she’ll be relaxing more often brings unfortunate implications that
she’s unable to do the hard work that naturally comes with running a big
family. It’s not always about doing what
you want. Parenthood comes with
responsibilities you just have to put up with.
I can’t beat down too hard on this cartoon since the good intentions are
clear, Mom still sees the error of her ticket racking, and family love shines
through at the end. Nevertheless, it’s
rather off-putting as to how these parents, specifically the mother, are honestly
not cut out for running the Loud family.
C-
The Ranking
1. Roadie to Nowhere
2. Fandom Pains
3. Insta-Gran
4. Selfie Improvement
5. Net Gains
6. No Place Like Homeschool
7. City Slickers
8. Fool Me Twice
9. Tripped!
10. White Hare
11. A Fridge Too Far
12. Pipe Dreams
13. Rita Her Rights
The next Loud House review shows Clincoln McCloud at work as they help their gym teacher find love, and there's a relatable look at breaking into the entertainment business featuring Lucy and Luan.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is "Adventures in Light Distortion" from Steven Universe.
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