If you like this review and want to stay updated for what else I have in store, become a follower of this blog, click here to like the official Facebook page, and click here to follow me on Twitter. Now on with today's review:
Love and
Cheese
Remember “Operation Ruthless,” a cartoon about Arnold trying to win over his current love interest at a fair devoted to cheese with Helga trying to sabotage the couple? Well that formula is brought back with this cartoon, only Arnold’s love interest this time, Lila, is far more age appropriate. Also, instead of being too nervous to talk to Lila, Arnold just goes ahead and asks her out right from the start, and they’re together for the whole event. While this makes the viewing experience much less awkward and dull, there are lots of glaring issues to be found. It’s not necessarily with the story itself, but more with the idea of Arnold’s crush on Lila.
As some may remember, Arnold getting into
Lila is an after effect of a misunderstanding that she thought he loved her
from the start. With the truth known, Lila
ever since decided that she likes Arnold as just a friend, but he keeps trying
to get her to like him-like him. This
make Arnold look kind of pushy and oblivious to the way things are. It really doesn’t measure up to the mature
image he’s built up at this point in the series. It would make much more sense for him to just
accept that she’s just not into him, and that’s how love works a lot of the
time.
Not helping is that Lila’s overly
sweet personality seems to get overbearing with every role. It kind of makes me long for the day when
there was a suggestion for a somber reason for her need to be happy and perfect
all the time. Without it, she’s
“ever-so” one-dimensionally nice that she’s not worth getting invested in. She also puts somewhat of a damper on the fun
of the Cheese Fair. She advises Arnold not to hit other bumper cars even though
that’s the point, and coaxes Arnold to win her a teddy bear only to say she
doesn’t need it afterwards. Not to
mention, she’s totally unmoved at throwing up after going on a ride at top
speed. There’s just something unnatural
about how well she’s able to take everything.
Then there’s Helga’s attempts to ruin this date which, while in line
with her own feelings for Arnold, feel really bad even for her. They don’t just amount to sabotaging
pranks. Some include legit harm like
ramming Arnold and Lila’s bumper car, making that ride go too fast, and worst
of all, making them sink in the tunnel of love.
It’s kind of disturbing that Helga resorts to hurting Arnold to get
closer to him. It doesn’t feel right
that she’s doing this to Lila too. For
one thing, it was Helga who caused the misunderstanding that got Arnold into
Lila. Lila even knows about Helga’s crush for Arnold, further explaining why she’ll never like him as more than just a
friend. The latter point could very well
show this plan has no reason to happen since Lila clearly shows support of
Helga getting together with Arnold. This
also makes the cartoon confusing when you look at the signs of support towards
Arnold and Lila. Her good attitude
towards Arnold despite everything, stakes during the sinking scene, and sign of
hope that she may love him some day aim to make them feel closer. Plus, Helga all alone as the Cheese Fair
lights go out ala “Operation Ruthless” invokes the same somber mood for the
more interesting potential romance.
This
is still a decent cartoon on its own, but the unfortunate implications from
everyone in this love triangle hold it back.
C-
Weighing
Harold
I notice that most people are very self-conscious about their
weight and often try to adopt healthy lifestyles to keep themselves fit. I’m like that too, though I imagine that when
people are younger, they don’t seem to care much about how large they are. A good example of a character like that is
Harold, someone well-known for eating a lot for the fun of it. With this cartoon, it shows that even the
largest of kids can feel like something’s wrong with how they look.
After a round of eating a lot of ice cream
bars, Harold slowly becomes self-conscious of his weight. There are comments on being the Jolly Olly
Man’s best customer, his “friends” Sid and Stinky bad-mouthing him behind his
back, and a random woman calling him a fat boy.
It legitimately feels like the world is calling Harold out for being
true to himself and that he absolutely needs to lose weight. This is a potential move that is a very
healthy option for Harold, but the pressures behind it are clear since comments
from the world around him inspire him to do this.
There’s a suggestion for a creative way for
him to do this with a cruise designed to help obese kids lose weight. You’d think this is where we’ll see Harold
try to lose weight, but this setup isn’t even shown. We only see Harold leave on the cruise and
return after a scene dissolve which is disappointing. Even more disappointing is that Harold comes
back much fatter than normal, overly bloated in fact. That’s kind of frustrating considering it
goes completely against the cruise’s purpose.
There’s a legit reason for this later with Harold revealing to have done
nothing but eat there, but you’d think the cruise counselors would discourage
that.
I do give credit for the relatable
direction of overeating being the reason for Harold’s larger weight, knowing
it’s a common response to stress over what other people think. It’s also the reason Harold can’t be seen the
way he is. Arnold does take him out in
secrecy to bring his weight down with exercises and toning down the
eating. His advice about Harold losing
weight by his standards and no one else’s is also relatable advice for anyone
with a weight problem. Really, not
worrying so much about what other people think is one of the best things to
hear about anything. I just imagine how
more interesting this would have been if Harold learned all this at the
cruise. No matter what, when Harold
appears much thinner than ever and is praised for it, it’s a satisfying
conclusion all around…until he decides to celebrate by eating more ice cream
bars. This implies that he’ll just get
fat again, but it is still Harold being true to himself, and the show wouldn’t
be the same if he just stopped eating a lot.
It may not take the most creative directions, but I admire this cartoon
for reaching out to the overweight and self-conscious in such a respectable
manner.
A
The Ranking
- Headless Cabbie
- Helga’s Parrot
- Oskar Can’t Read?
- Dinner for Four
- The Beeper Queen
- Stinky’s Pumpkin
- Weighing Harold
- Big Gino
- Chocolate Turtles
- Friday the 13th
- Phoebe Skips
- Eugene’s Birthday
- Student Teacher
- Love and Cheese
- Jamie O in Love
- Full Moon
The next Hey Arnold review features Helga become a famous star and hate it, and the world decides to forget the benefits of Arnold's advice and make him stop giving it.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is "Sweet Dreams" and "Lava Lake Beach" 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.
